“In the midway of this our mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood, astray…”
Inferno Canto 1, Durante (Dante) degli Alighieri
in a mood
he stood at the wood’s edge and thought
……….why?
lost
this pained walk
under dark skies
living on the verge
wondering if he was
the plaything of his Lord, if so
a cruel game
from somewhere brightness beckoned
on the wing beat of sudden insight ~
it’s not your memory melting in the heat of time
or your true music dissolving unsung
nor the whimsy of some capricious god
it is, perhaps, Dante’s transformative hell
no love without yearning
no compassion without pain
no charity without failure
a Moses, he fell before the flaming bush
A Phoenix, he rose from the ashes
in his found humanity, he embraced life whole
There are moments, sometimes light and sometimes dark, that are transformative. Tell us about that in a poem and if you feel comfortable share or a link to it in the comments below. All shared work on theme will be published here next Tuesday, January 9. All are invited to participate no matter the status of your career: beginning, emerging or pro. Deadline is Monday, January 15 at 8:30 pm PST.
Here are the responses to the last Wednesday Writing Prompt, January 3, Too Late for Miracles, which asked poets to share what’s on their minds as we move into the new year.
Welcome to newcomers: Isadora De La Vega, Miquel Escobar, Sheila Jacob, Elaine Reardon and Anjum Wasim Dar. As is custom for new poets, their bios are included by way of intro.
Thanks to Colin Blundel, Paul Brookes, Denise Aileen DeVries, Renee Espriu and Sonja Benskin Mesher for coming out to play again.
Together these poets have given voice to joys and concerns that we all share and they’ve done so beautifully from their diverse perspectives.
Anyone who would like to join in tomorrow for the next Wednesday Writing Prompt is welcome to do so no matter the status of career: beginning, emerging or pro. All work shared on theme will be posted in the next collection on the following Tuesday. If you are sharing work for the first time, please send your bio and a photograph to me at thepoetyday@gmail.com. Meanwhile, enjoy these poems. I hope they delight you as they do me.
ISADORA DE LA VEGA, my homegirl (we’re both from New York) is: “Intriguing, sensitive, mysterious, loving, artistic and crackling with excitement for life is a pretty good description of who I am. I’m retired from the art world where I sold my Artfully Designed Handmade Jewelry for 28 years. Art will always be a part of who I am no matter what venue I choose to express it. I’m always dreamin’ of ways to touch the hearts of those who visit me in far greater ways then before they happened upon my blog. ”
Everyone Counting
a lost year
just gone by
just gone
just
oh hell
one argues as much there
lost as hope wants to bubble
up ahead uncreated
winter
— built-in grace period up
until thawing
the real bear the lost was —
is in hibernation
the carryover is pure genius
the straddling
the picture
sitting on the fence
absence of go-go dancers
ultimately
ten weeks in the grand
scheme of things
means
there is no good answer
to the question
yet
while the northern
axis observes
this tilt
can we
respect metaphorical roots
as much as continue to use them as
excuses
After a long career in software technology that is in its last few years, MIGUEL ESCOBAR is newly living alone and channeling what he calls his other Self from bygone years: poet, musician, songwriter, aspiring editor, appreciator and sometimes critic of the Arts. He shared regularly on social media off and on in 2007-2008 and now again since 2015. He’s had a small number of poems published with Luciole Press, and Diaphanous Press and looks forward to a future of defining, developing and evolving a personal Art life that right now feels almost like a religious calling.
As the old year ends
Days and nights
bring silver moons
and tangerine sunlight
melting snow
from the mountains;
tell of a rose bush
bearing crumpled flowers
and branches scarred
by summers long gone,
summers to come.
SHEILA JACOB was born and raised in Birmingham, England and now lives in North Wales with her husband. She has three children and five grandchildren. She resumed writing poetry in 2013 after a long absence. Since then her work has been published in various U.K. magazines and websites. Her ambition is to have a collection of her poems published before her seventieth birthday in three years.
New Year
The cold.
Unrelenting.
Pushes through each
thin crack by frigid wind
I greet the two degree temperature
happily. It’s climbing! Housebound,
I walk the stairs between the woodpile
and couch, hot water bottle ready.
I aim the heater to the back of the cabinet,
so it warms the pipes on the outside wall.
I cut my compost into small pieces,
lay them on the snow to feed the hungry
driven to my front door in the full moon’s light.
The radio on is on for company, against
the all day quiet. I hear about North Korea first,
then President Trump’s bigger button. Is this his
New Year’s address? I remember us all
crouching beneath our desks at school drills,
head tucked in, dog tag on, when I was a kid.
Was that the Bay of Pigs? Maybe there is some
hope, if we now send cruise ships to Havana.
Maybe one day NorthKorea will welcome cruise ships, too.
ELAINE REARDON is a poet, herbalist, educator, and member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. Her chapbook, The Heart is a Nursery For Hope, published September 2016, won first honors from Flutter press as the top seller of the year. Her writing includes featured poet in the January 2017 issue of stanzaicstylings.com ezine,Bella,Three Drops from a Cauldron Journal and yearly anthology, poetrysuperhighway.com, naturewriting. com, And MA Poet of the Moment. Elaine also published global curriculum through University of Massachusetts Press. She lives tucked into hillside forest in Western Massachusetts.
Who Knows What Life May Have in Store
The year ends,
leaving gifts joys and blessings
reunions , joining relationships
for some the time is joyful
for some full of pain
as days of sorrow and parting
come back again
this year I feel peace and joy
yet sorrow and fear move along
for life manifests hungry poverty
threats to security and liberty
enemies restless firing bullets
innocent killing goes on…
some enjoy the snow and play
for them cold snow is a game
some lie shivering,no name
some build bonfires the same
sing dance and be merry
for tomorrow is,no blame
will come to shine and light
my heart says forgive more
make happiness and space
for others to share, spend less
save more, war looms ahead
who knows what life may have
in store,
work work and work
make life meaningful and easy
for others,help them if you can
smile smile smile
be grateful for all the blessings
look around there are miles
and miles and miles of them
ANJUM WASIM DAR says she is Srinagar born and Kashmiri educated at St. Anne’s presentation Convent High School Rawalpindi. She has a Masters Degree in English & History and is a professional ELT /TEFL teacher and trainer. Anjum is dedicated to serving the cause of education and English Language Training in Pakistan.
Impulse is potential.
Emotion without mind is violence.
The mind without heart is sterile.
The unfiltered will is scattered.
The untethered will is impotent.
Harmony is passion and reason,
refined and anchored, to perfect,
that conscience may be as leaven
in Humanity, to honour and express
the Beauty of the cosmic sum.
The heart beats. The mind’s job is to justify its rhythm to the soul.
It was the year of air raid drills,
learning to crouch under desks
in the third grade classroom.
Little did we know, the world had ended the year before.
By my high school graduation,
I had survived five annihilation
predictions, not counting
my personal teenage tragedies.
After four more apocalypse dates,
I finished college, married,
moved closer to ground zero.
The world ended six more times
and my first child was born,
a sign of hope in a hopeless world.
Four more Armageddons passed
and I gave birth twice, still hopeful.
Twenty-three holocausts later,
my last child was born. Life
persisted. The world
has not ended, despite predictions
and even our heartfelt wishes.
I have stopped counting cataclysms.
It’s time to do the dishes.
Little miracles happen every night in life.
That’s what the old blind man told me, leaning against the rugged bench in the park. And at this point, a ladybug shone in front of my eyes. He saw – he smiled at me – it was the mother of the seven-color arc.
He smiled again
and
went over the rainbow.
Paul’s most recent collection, She Needs That Edge (Nixes Mate Books, 2018) is available now from Amazon US HERE and Amazon UK HERE. Another fabulous read by this indefatigable Yorkshire poet. This time with his singular style and and acute insight into the human condition, Paul takes us through five stories, pictures of the great and small ironies of life drawn as we observe the daily routines, rituals and reactions in lives where birds have jam sessions on rooftops, mausoleums live on fridge doors, the memory of a touch stays with the skin; lives where hands are telling and people hunger, give what’s not wanted and take what’s not given. In short, Life with all its pathos and ethos. SheNeedsthatEdge is well worth your time and pennies.
Dreams of Flight
Closing my eyes dream like synapses
coalesce images of youthful fears
tainted by mountain high and
valley lows of emotions
feathered wings in flight I fancied
releasing me from my humble dawning
with the smell of lemons and lilacs
growing against a backdrop of cement
tainted with the odors of asphalt
on the other side of town peppered
with factory workers, shop owners
life ached for gleaming upscale as
housewives tended children crying
dutiful lives of status quo
but only dreams took me flying
into the darkness of night
smelling of sweet honeysuckle
scaling walls of rising freedom
as now all dreams of tender youth
have left me I no longer fear
nor struggle from whence I came
for the spring of my soul
bubbles forth a peace within
2 ELIZABETHS, A Literary Magazine with a Heart for Community publishes flash fiction and poetry. Submission fee. Paying market. Details HERE.
FLORIDA REVIEW, University of Central Florida, accepts submissions of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic narrative, book reviews and interviews year-round . Details HERE.
INTERIM: A JOURNAL OF POETRY & POETICS is open for submissions of poetry, hybrid, translations, essays and book reviews to be considered for its next issue. Deadline March 1. Nominal submission fees. Details HERE.
THE BeZINE, Be Inspired, Be Creative, Be Peace, Be. Submissions for the March issue – themed Peace – closes on February 10 at 11:59 p.m. PST .
New rules: Please send text in the body of the email not as an attachment. Send photographs or illustrations as attachments. No google docs or dropbox or other such. No rich text. Send submissions to bardogroup@gmail.com.
Publication is March 15th. Poetry, essays, fiction and creative nonfiction, art and photography, music (videos or essays), and whatever lends itself to online presentation is welcome for consideration. No demographic restrictions.
Please read at least one issue and the Intro/Mission Statement and Submission Guidelines. We DO NOT publish anything that promotes hate, divisiveness or violence or that is scornful or in any way dismissive of “other” peoples.
The BeZine will be published on quarterly schedule in 2018 and for the foreseeable future:
March 2018 issue, Deadline February 10th. Theme: Peace.
June 2018 issue, Deadline May 10th. Theme: Sustainability
September 2018 issue, Deadline August 10th, Theme: Human Rights/Social Justice
December 2018 issue, Deadline November 10th, Theme: A Life of the Spirit
Suggestions for sub-themes are still being reviewed. Send yours to thebardogroup@gmail.com. (Current suggestions include: domestic abuse, eckphrastic poetry, the meaning/importance of poetry, and restorative justice.)
The BeZine is an entirely volunteer effort, a mission. It is not a paying market but neither does it charge submission or subscription fees.
Previously published work may be submitted if you hold the copyright. Submissions from beginning and emerging artists as well as pro are encouraged and we have a special interest in getting more submissions of short stores, feature articles, music videos and art.
THE MATADOR REVIEW, alternative art and literature, is now accepting submissions for the Spring 2018 publication. They publish poetry, fiction, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction, inviting all unpublished literature written in the English language (and translations that are accompanied by the original text) as well as many forms of visual art. The call for submissions will end February 28.Submission information can be found at: www.matadorreview.com/submissions ; Submissions can be sent to editors@matadorreview.com ; Questions and concerns can be sent to contact@matadorreview.com ; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matadorreview ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/matadorreview
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SATURDAY EVENING POST seeks nonfiction, fiction,
‘lighter side”, cartoons and post-it jokes. Details HERE.
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SESHAT, a Homeschool Literary Magazine named for the Egyptian Goddess of Writing, has an open call for submissions of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, and drama. Adult writers and children over 13 are invited to submit. Deadline for the second issue is February 15. Details HERE.
WEST TEXAS REVIEW is open year-round for submissions to its quarterly journal and is interested in poetry, essays, flash fiction and photography. Details HERE.
WORDRUNNER eCHAPBOOKS is open through January 31 for its spring 2018 themed chapbook anthology. This press reports that it has published 32 online chapbooks – fiction, memoir and poetry. Nominal payment if accepted. Nominal submission fees. Details HERE.
OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUTH
BRIDGE: THE BLUFFTON UNIVERSITY LITERARY JOURNAL extends an invitation to writers aged 14-24 to submit work that “demonstrates virtuosity an wonder, original writing that delights and challenges us.” Review details for submission.
CONTESTS
2 ELIZABETHS SPECIAL WRITING CONTEST ends on January 31, 2018 for short fiction (up to 6,000 words) and poetry collection. Submission fee. Cash award. Details HERE.
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BROKENPENCIL, The Magazine of Zine Culture and Independent Arts announced that it has extended the deadline for Indie Writer’s Deathmatch 2018 through January 15. “The Deathmatch Short Story Contest, the world’s only and most dangerous interactive short story competition. . . What exactly is the Indie Writer’s Deathmatch? It’s an online battle. The top 16 stories battle it out online complete with reader voting, author trash talk and lots of comments. It’s fun and crazy and all about finding and promoting new voices!” Entry fee. Cash award. Details HERE.
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THE [2019] SEVENTH ANNUAL GREAT AMERICAN FICTION CONTEST is hosted by the Saturday Evening Post. The winning story (between 1,500 – 5,000) words will be published in the January/February 2019 issue. Winner and five runner-ups will receive cash awards. Submission fees. Deadline: July 1, 2018. Details HERE.
VITA BREVIS LITERATURE / MONTHLY COMPETITION: There is no paywall or reading free. The editors simply ask that poets send in only one piece of their best work. First place winners will be paid $15 and will be published on the site. Second and third place winners will get an honorable mention and will also be published on the site. Details HERE.
WELLS COLLEGE PRESS, 2018 Chapbook Competition invites submissions of Poetry Chapbooks through January 15, 2018. Entry fee. Cash award and publication. Details HERE.
WEST VIRGINIA WRITERS, INC. hosts writing contests for adults and children living in West Virginia. Online submissions from Jan. 2-Mar. 15, 2018, with a late submissions period between Mar. 16 and Mar. 31, 2018.Contests are open for student writing (Grades 6-8 and 9-12) and adults: short and long poetry, short stories, nonfiction, humor, mystery, and emerging writers prose. Details HERE.
U.S. KIDS COVER ART CONTEST
Residents of the U.S. between the ages of 2 and 12
Artists ages 2-6 years old should enter Humpty Dumpty Magazine‘s contest.
Artists ages 6-12 years old should enter Jack and Jill Magazine’s contest.
A free poetry workshop sponsored by The Reader Berlin and The British Council and hosted by Sharehaus Reguio will be tutored by award-winning UK poet Nick Makoha on 28 January. The workshop is free but places are limited. Registration is obligatory. Sign up here: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/BritLitWS2018For all enquiries regarding the workshop, please send an email to Lucy Curzon at lucinda.curzon@britishcouncil.de
Registration is now open for the 33rd British Council Literature Seminar. We are delighted that the renowned writer Professor Bernardine Evaristo MBE has agreed to chair the event once again. The seminar will take place at the Werkstatt der Kulturen, Wissmannstr. 32, 12049 Berlin, from Thursday, 25 January, to Saturday, 27 January 2018. The focus will be on gender diversity in contemporary UK writing. Details and registration HERE.
The Annikki Poetry Festival, 9 June 2018, Tempere, Finland “has grown to be one of Finland’s foremost poetry events … Annikki Poetry Festival aims to vitalize contemporary poetics and to put together surprising combinations of performers, as well as redefine the very boundaries of what poetry events can be.” Details HERE.
2018 Palm Beach Poetry Festival will be held for the 14th year at Old School Square in Delray Beach Florida, January 15-20, 2018, a week of poetry, poets, and poetry events. Details HERE.
Cheltenham 2018 Poetry Festival themed “Powerhouse” is scheduled for Wednesday 18 – Monday 30 April 2018 at Venues throughout the town and promises “a rich and electrifying programme of spoken word, poetry, comedy, music, slam, workshops, film, hip hop and dance.” Details HERE.
Cork International Poetry Festival 13-17 February 2018. Details HERE.
Accessible anytime from anywhere in the world:
The Poet by Day always available online with poems, poets and writers, news and information.
The Poet by Day, Wednesday Writing Prompt, online every week (except for vacation) and all are invited to take part no matter the stage of career (emerging or established) or status (amateur or professional). Poems related to the challenge of the week (always theme based not form based) will be published here on the following Tuesday.
The Poet by Day, Sunday Announcements. Every week (except for vacation) opportunity knocks for poets and writers.
THE BeZINE, Be Inspired, Be Creative, Be Peace, Be – always online HERE.
Beguine Again, daily inspiration and spiritual practice – always online HERE. Beguine Again is the sister site to The BeZine.
Rev. Terri Stewart
Terri Stewart (Beguine Again) shares a post-Christmas poem.
The Work of Christmas
by Howard Thurman (1899-1981), African-American poet, theologian, and civil rights leader
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
Vita Brevis Literature (Vita Brevis, The New Poetry Magazine) editors for a successful and tasteful launch this past November and for garnering enough donations to be able to award a small cash prize to the winners of their monthly contest.
YOUR SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS may be emailed to thepoetbyday@gmail.com. Please do so at least a week in advance.
If you would like me to consider reviewing your book, chapbook, magazine or film, here are some general guidelines:
send PDF to jamiededes@gmail.com (Note: I have a backlog of six or seven months, so at this writing I suggest you wait until June 2018 to forward anything. Thank you!)
nothing that foments hate or misunderstanding
nothing violent or encouraging of violence
English only, though Spanish is okay if accompanied by translation
your book or other product should be easy for readers to find through your site or other venues.
TO CONTACT ME WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS AND OTHER INFORMATION FOR THE POET BY DAY: thepoetbyday@gmail.com
TO CONTACT ME REGARDING SUBMISSIONS FOR THE BeZINE: bardogroup@gmail.com
PLEASE do not mix the communications between the two.
Often information is just that–information – and not necessarily recommendation. I haven’t worked with all the publications or other organizations featured in my regular Sunday Announcements or other announcements shared on this site. Awards and contests are often (generally) a means to generate income, publicity and marketing mailing lists for the host organizations, some of which are more reputable than others. I rarely attend events anymore. Caveat Emptor: Please be sure to verify information for yourself before submitting work, buying products, paying fees or attending events et al.
Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine 