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The Plotting of a Story, a poem … and your next Wednesday Writing Prompt

“Here I am alive, and it’s not my fault, so I have to try and get by as best I can without hurting anybody until death takes over.” Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

There are open spaces in the plotting of a story
I print out for edit during the work hours
In the silence of creativity, a sweet lavender
lends its fragrance, color and calm
Outside squirrels skip, toddlers play
Grandmothers stand-watch in doorways,
chili stewing and stacks of tortillas, warm and
soft, rest and wait under clean kitchen towels

Spring is moving into summer and neighbors
tend their herb and vegetable gardens
They imagine the yield dressed in salads
They’re willing to share the harvest with friends
A world away soldiers download ordnance
synchronized to the hum and click of my printer
Bodies fall, hearts stop, eyes water and
the manuscript is blue-pencilled* by rifle fire

© 2018, poem and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved

* For the younger generation: back in the day light blue pencils were used to note corrections to writing because they would not show up in the reproduction process. This is rarely seen now that we use computers for production.

WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

What would the world look like if we called a global moratorium on murder, torture, separation, and starvation?  How might we get to such a place ?  How would the story of the human race change? Tell us in your poem/s.

Share them on theme in the comments section below or leave a link to it/them. All poems on theme are published on the following Tuesday.

 No poems submitted through email or Facebook will be published. 

IF this is your first time joining us for The Poet by Day, Wednesday Writing Prompt, please send a brief bio and photo to me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com to introduce yourself to the community … and to me :-). These are partnered with your poem/s on first publication.

PLEASE send the bio ONLY if you are with us on this for the first time AND only if you have posted a poem (or a link to one of yours) on theme in the comments section below.  

Deadline:  Monday, February 4 by 8 pm standard.

Anyone may take part Wednesday Writing Prompt, no matter the status of your career: novice, emerging or pro.  It’s about exercising the poetic muscle, showcasing your work, and getting to know other poets who might be new to you. This is a discerning non-judgemental place to connect.

You are welcome – encouraged – to share your poems in a language other than English but please accompany it with a translation into English.

ABOUT

Testimonials

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Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. I currently run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded.  I am a weekly contributor to Beguine Again, a site showcasing spiritual writers. My work is featured in a variety of publications and on sites, including: Levure littéraure, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature,Compass Rose, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman. My poetry was recently read by Northern California actor Richard Lingua for Poetry Woodshed, Belfast Community Radio. I was featured in a lengthy interview on the Creative Nexus Radio Show where I was dubbed “Poetry Champion.”

The BeZine: Waging the Peace, An Interfaith Exploration featuring Fr. Daniel Sormani, Rev. Benjamin Meyers, and the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi among others

“What if our religion was each other. If our practice was our life. If prayer, our words. What if the temple was the Earth. If forests were our church. If holy water–the rivers, lakes, and ocean. What if meditation was our relationships. If the teacher was life. If wisdom was self-knowledge. If love was the center of our being.” Ganga White, teacher and exponent of Yoga and founder of White Lotus, a Yoga center and retreat house in Santa Barbara, CA

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.” Lucille Clifton

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS OF COMPASSIONATE WORKS . . . “Mercy for the Displaced”

 “ . . . for there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one’s own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.”  The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera

COMPASSION ANTHOLOGY has been publishing anthologies of “compassion-based works of visual art, essays, stories, poems and video” since 2015.  The editors are interested in work that inspires and engages compassionate tendencies including mindfulness and meditation. It is partnered with The Charter for Compassion founded by Karen Armstrong. Submissions are open through January 31, 2019 for the next anthology, which is themed “Mercy for the Displaced.”  

“key terms: refugees, caravan, California fires, Puerto Rico, hurricanes, Syria, illegal immigrants, family separation, deportation, RAICES*, domestic violence)”. RAICES is a refugee aid project in South Texas.

Submission guidelines HERE.

I just found out about the Compassion Anthology and I think so many of us have something to say on this topic, but do note the deadline is pending.

ABOUT

Testimonials

Disclosure

Facebook

Twitter

Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. I currently run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded.  I am a weekly contributor to Beguine Again, a site showcasing spiritual writers. My work is featured in a variety of publications and on sites, including: Levure littéraure, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature,Compass Rose, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman. My poetry was recently read by Northern California actor Richard Lingua for Poetry Woodshed, Belfast Community Radio. I was featured in a lengthy interview on the Creative Nexus Radio Show where I was dubbed “Poetry Champion.”

The BeZine: Waging the Peace, An Interfaith Exploration featuring Fr. Daniel Sormani, Rev. Benjamin Meyers, and the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi among others

“What if our religion was each other. If our practice was our life. If prayer, our words. What if the temple was the Earth. If forests were our church. If holy water–the rivers, lakes, and ocean. What if meditation was our relationships. If the teacher was life. If wisdom was self-knowledge. If love was the center of our being.” Ganga White, teacher and exponent of Yoga and founder of White Lotus, a Yoga center and retreat house in Santa Barbara, CA

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.” Lucille Clifton

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PEN AMERICA STANDS UP FOR ARRESTED CUBAN ARTISTS’ FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, ASKS ARTISTS AROUND THE WORLD TO JOIN THE PROTEST

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1949)—Article 19 states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”

The repeated arrest of eleven Cuban artists, all of whom are active members of a campaign against Decree 349, a new law aimed at restricting independent art and culture, is an intolerable affront to free expression, says PEN America.

Artists Tania Bruguera, Iris Ruiz, Michel Matos and his wife Sandor Pérez Pita, Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, Amaury Pacheco Omni Poeta, Yanelys Nuñez Leyva, Veronica Perez Vega, Miguel Yasser Castellano, Javier Moreno, and Adonis Milan were arrested on December 3, and their whereabouts are currently unknown. Performance artist Tania Bruguera was briefly released yesterday. However, while on her way to the Cuban Culture Minister to ask for the freedom of artists and to discuss Decree 349, the police arrested her again with artist Javier Moreno. Bruguera shared a photo of herself wearing a ‘No Al Decreto 349’ (No to Decree 349) T-shirt on social media, saying she will go on a hunger and thirst strike with her fellow artists if she is detained again. Decree 349/2018, one of the first pieces of legislation signed by Miguel Diaz-Canel since he succeeded Raul Castro as president in April of this year, institutionalizes censorship of independent art and culture and establishes violations for artistic services that are not regulated and recognized by official cultural institutions in Cuba.

“This decree is an attack against artistic freedom and the arrest of these eleven artists, in addition of the many artists already behind bars like rappers Maykel and Pupito, is more than an individual attack on free expression,” said Julie Trébault, Director of the Artists at Risk Connection at PEN America. “This repression is not new, but represents a continuation of the Cuban Ministry of Culture’s policy to intimidate and censor critical and independent artistic voices.”

PEN America has also witnessed an alarming increase in arbitrary travel bans, detentions, and harassment of activists and artists by Cuban police officers leading up to December 7, when the decree will come into effect. Brief detentions are the standard response to opposition protests in Cuba, which considers dissidents to be mercenaries supported by the United States to subvert their own government.

Read more about Decree 349 and join the campaign here.

PEN America leads the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a program dedicated to assisting imperiled artists and fortifying the field of organizations that support them. If you or someone you know is an artist at risk, contact ARC here.

*****

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. The organization champions the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Its mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. pen.org

ABOUT

Testimonials

Disclosure

Facebook

Twitter

Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. I currently run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded.  I am a weekly contributor to Beguine Again, a site showcasing spiritual writers. My work is featured in a variety of publications and on sites, including: Levure littéraure, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature,Compass Rose, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman. My poetry was recently read by Northern California actor Richard Lingua for Poetry Woodshed, Belfast Community Radio. I was featured in a lengthy interview on the Creative Nexus Radio Show where I was dubbed “Poetry Champion.”

 The BeZine: Waging the Peace, An Interfaith Exploration featuring Fr. Daniel Sormani, Rev. Benjamin Meyers, and the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi among others

“What if our religion was each other. If our practice was our life. If prayer, our words. What if the temple was the Earth. If forests were our church. If holy water–the rivers, lakes, and ocean. What if meditation was our relationships. If the teacher was life. If wisdom was self-knowledge. If love was the center of our being.” Ganga White, teacher and exponent of Yoga and founder of White Lotus, a Yoga center and retreat house in Santa Barbara, CA

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.” Lucille Clifton

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The BeZine: Guidelines and Calls for Submissions to the December Issue

The BeZine is published quarterly: March, June, September and December on the fifteenth of the month.  We suggest that you read our Intro and Mission Statement and at least one back issue of The BeZine before submitting work for possible publication.

Please be mindful that our core team (The Bardo Group Beguines), guest contributors, and readers represent the world’s diversity. Nonviolence, respect and inclusion are core values.

All work must be submitted in English and properly edited for publication. Submissions in languages other than English are acceptable and encouraged but they do need to be accompanied by an English translation.

Please send submissions to bardogroup@gmail.com and put “submission” in the subject line.  If you were referred by one of our core team please put his or her name in the subject line along with “submission.” Please include a brief bio. If you have published the work submitted on your own website, blog, YouTube channel or other online venue you may send a link. Response time can be up to three months. Responses are generally sent out after deadline.

PLEASE NOTE: We apply the same standards with regard to content, quality, submission guidelines and reading policy that all high-caliber literary magazines do with the exception that we will consider work that is already published. The copyright, however, must be yours.

DEADLINE: The 10th of month prior to publication, however ~

The deadline for the December issue has been extended from November 10 to November 30. 

THEMES remaining for 2018:

December – A Life of the Spirit; subtheme – Gun violence/history/issues.

THEMES for 2019:

  • March: Waging the Peace
  • June: Toward a Sustainable Earth
  • September: Social Justice, 100,000 Poets (and Friends) for Change
  • December: A Life of the Spirit

NOTE: We encourage work that doesn’t just define or highlight a problem but offers solutions, especially when those solutions are already in place somewhere in the world and proving productive.

COPYRIGHT: You retain your copyright for work published in The BeZine. If you are doing multiple submissions, please let us know that you have submitted the work to other publications and advise us immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. From our perspective this does not preclude publication in The BeZine but we need to know if another publisher has contracted for first-time or exclusive rights.

We regret that we are unable to offer payment or editorial feedback. While we don’t offer payment, we also don’t charge for submissions or subscriptions. The BeZine is a volunteer effort and a peace and justice mission.

All creative arts that lend themselves to online publication are acceptable for consideration: visual arts, literature and poetry, and music and film (video). Please, no more than one submission a quarter.  While many have the impression that we are primarily or exclusively a poetry publication, we are not restricted to poetry. Other forms of writing and art are welcome and encouraged. 

FICTION/NONFICTION/ESSAY: Should you have anything to submit for consideration that is over 1,000 words, please forward a one-paragraph summary description for our initial evaluation.

POETRY: Please don’t bomb us with work. Restrict your submissions to three at a time every three months.  Be selective. Send us your best. No odd layouts please.

VIDEO: One video at a time.

PHOTOGRAPHS and ILLUSTRATIONS: If you include these with your poems, fictions and features, then you must include the source with url and licensing information. We do not accept work that is not properly – respectfully – identified and credited.

BOOK REVIEWS: Starting in 2019, we welcome book reviews but please query first.

READING SCHEDULE: While we read all year, we don’t respond until we have all submissions in for a specific issue; i.e., after the 10th of the month before publication.

THE BeZINE blog: We are interested in seasonal work, especially work that celebrates holy days, historic moments, national or regional festivals and so forth that are entertaining but also provide readers with information, insight and education. Regional, artistic and cultural history and science (especially as it applies to environment, environmental justice, and sustainable agriculture) are welcome. Art work, music videos, and drama (videos or short scripts) are enthusiastically encouraged as well as poetry and prose.

BEST PRACTICES: We have a strong interest in learning about peace, sustainability and social justice initiatives that are working no matter where in the world.  These are considered for both blog and Zine.

Send your work to bardogroup@gmail.com. Only work submitted to this email are considered for publication.

We look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you!

On behalf of The Bardo Group Beguines and in the spirit of loving community,

Jamie Dedes,
Founding and Managing Editor
The BeZine