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SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Calls for Submissions, Contests and Other News and Information

“I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man’s. I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.” William Blake, Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion

 

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

THE CINCINNATI REVIEW, University of Cincinnati accepts submissions starting on September 1 and going through March 1. miCRo submissions for its weekly online flash features, hybrid works and poetry are open all year. No submission fee. No payment. Tip jar. Details HERE.

ENTROPY MAGAZINE publishes quite a wide range of material including poetry. Guidelines HERE.

INTO THE VOID, Gripping, Unflinching, Award-Winning Literature & Art publishes short stories, creative nonfiction, flash fiction, poetry and images. The deadline for Issue 9 ends June 7. Details HERE.

NARRATIVE publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Calls are open for General Submissions, Story of the Week, Poem of the Week, iStory, iPoem, Six-word Stories, Cartoons and Graphic Stories. Paying market. Submission fees can be as high as $22. Details HERE.

SPLIT ROCK REVIEW has an open call for submissions to its Waters Deep: A Great Lakes Poetry Anthology. Deadline is June 30, 2018. Calls for journal submissions of poetry, short creative nonfiction, graphic narratives and comics, artwork and cover art for its fall issue close on July 31, 2018. Details HERE.

THE STRAND MAGAZINE publishes mystery and suspense. Query by email strandmag@strandmag.com. Website HERE.

YEMASSEE, The Official Journal of the University of South Carolina Since 1993, reads year-round for poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Details HERE.

ZETETIC: A Record of Unusual Inquiry publishes prose and poetry and is a paying market.  Details HERE.

The BeZine

Call for submission for the June issue.

THE BeZINE, Be Inspired, Be Creative, Be Peace, Be. Submissions for the June issue – themed Sustainability –close on May 10 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.  

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 June 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. 

  • 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

Deadline for the June issue is extend to May 20th.

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 for consideration. 

CONTESTS

Opportunity Knocks

New:

THE SWANEE REVIEW, First Annual Fiction & Poetry Contest will open July 1 – 31, 2018 for a set of 1-3 poems or a short story of up to 10,000 words. Cash award: $1,000 and publication. Details HERE. The poetry judge is Dan Chiasson.

SEQUESTRUM LITERATURE & ARTS 2018 New Writer Awards for fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Cash award and publication. Submission fee. Deadline: October 15, 2018.  Details HERE.

Reminders:

MAGMA POETRY will announce the details for its pamphlet competition soon. Watch the site for information.

TARTS FICTION AWARD of Livingston Press at the University of West Alabamayearly deadline is December 31st. The entry fee is $20. Standard royality contract. Details HERE.

TERRAIN.ORG, 9th Annual Contest in Poetry, Nonfiction and Fiction is accepting submissions through September 3. $15 submission fee. Cash award: $500 to first place. Publication for first place winner and finalists. Jane Hirschfeld is the poetry judge. Details HERE.

EVENTS

  • WRITER’S DIGEST ANNUAL CONFERENCE, NYC, August 10-12, 2018.  Details HERE.
  • SEWANEE WRITERS’ CONFERENCE, hosted by the University of the South, July 17-29, 2018. Details HERE.
  • THE BREADLOAF WRITERS CONFERENCE, August 15 – August 25, 2018. Details HERE.
  • OPEN MOUTH POETRY FESTIVAL, November 1-3, 2018, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Workshops. Readings. Details HERE.
  • ART and DHARMA, Cultivating Awareness through Creative Expression, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, May 19, 2018.  “Experientially explore our inherent potential for spacious awareness by weaving together music, visual art, textile and other mediums. There will be periods of sitting, walking in nature, and time for our creative expression. Through mindfulness practices and play, we hope to deepen our awareness of the moment-to-moment ebb and flow of life as it awakens our senses. We welcome artists and those who don’t consider themselves artists! Bring your interest, curiosity, love of the Dharma to this day. Participants are encouraged to bring their own artwork as part of this experiential day. Starting at $75 PAWAN BAREJA, PHD, has a body-oriented counseling practice based on Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing™ (SE) work for coping with trauma and life changes, and is also an assistant in SE Trainings. She is currently in the Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Register here https://calendar.spiritrock.org/events/art-and-dharma/
  • CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARDS CEREMONY, June 11, 2018, 415-869-5939 bookawards@commonwealthclub.org
  • And on May 19th in Morocco :

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 or status. 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. Due to other Sunday commitments, this post will often go up late in the day.
  • 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.

Reminder:

WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

  • responses to the last prompt – A Hunger for Bone – are due by Monday, 8 p.m., May 7.

KUDOS TO

  • MICHAEL ROTHENBURG, cofounder of 100,000 Poets for Change. Michael’s novel, The Drums of Grace, is being issued as  an audiobook! Johnny Lee Schell, blues hall of fame guitarist, will produce the recording at Ultratone Studios (Eric Burdon, Loudon Wainwright III, Taj Majal). Michael says, “This is a dream….” … “Music as the healing force of the universe is the poet’s regard. It certainly is Michael Rothenberg’s in his fantastic prose dystopia where natural beauty is beyond the control of encroaching fascism. A fable not too distant from our contemporary climate of fear politics. Rise Up!” Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth
  • PC VANDALL (PC VANDALL) for the publication of two poems in PRISM International.
  • THERESA LOLA (poet.), named joint winner of the prestigious 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize.
  • DEBASIS MUKHOPADHYAY (debasis Mukhopadhyay, between ink and inkblot) for recent publications in Better Than Starbucks (May 2018). Late last year his collection, Kyrie Eleison or all robins taken our of contest, was published.
  • RL SENDRA (aka Sendra the Poet) for the publication of his chapbook, Getting Up and Falling Down (poetic salve for a difficult world).

OTHER INFORMATION & NEWS

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.

ABOUT

Posted on

SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events, and Other News and Information


Happy Easter – eyd fash saeid – to my family and others who are honoring the day. xo Chag sameach to my Jewish friends who are honoring Passover. xo No matter religion or lack thereof, may our hearts, minds, souls and bodies be ever free. I hope everyone enjoyed the day and now – LOL! – back to work.

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

DIRTY PAWS POETRY REVIEW published its first issue in December and is preparing to publish its second. Submissions are now open through May 25, 2018. There is to be a special section of Women of the South. Details HERE.

OYSTER RIVER PAGES has published its inaugural issue  featuring fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual arts by sixty-plus contributors. It is an annual publication with an open call for submissions to its second issue through May 15, 2018. No submission fees. No payment. Details HERE. Internship 2019: Opens for applications in December 2018.

RATTLE publishes poetry and translations of poetry. It is open for submissions year round. There are no fees for submissions. Payment for print publication is $100 and a subscription. Publication online is paid $50. Rattle’s 2018 Fall issue is dedicated to previously unpublished poets. Rattle’s editors say it will celebrate fifteen or twenty first-publications. The deadline for submissions to the Unpublished Poets issue is April 15. All free submissions are automatically considered for the annual Neil Postman Award for Metaphor, a $1,000 prize judged by the editors.

RATTLE YOUNG POETS ANTHOLOGY requires parent, legal guardian or teachers to submit poems. Teachers may submit poems from up to five students. Submissions are open through June 15, 2018.  Youth must be under sixteen years. Details HERE.

RED HEN PRESS, A Nonprofit Literary Organization, publishes fiction, nonfiction and poetry books. Submission guidelines are HERE.

THE RUSH LITERARY MAGAZINE, a publication of the MFA program in Creative Writing at St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles is accepting submission of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and visual art and photography through April 15, 2018. No submission fees. No payment. Details HERE.

STILL POINT ARTS QUARTERLY, a publication of Sharti Arts, is honoring the 75th anniversary of the 1943 publications of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms paintings, These were based on President F.D.R.’s 1941 State of the Union address with its fall issue, The Four Freedoms Reinterpreted. The April 1 deadline for writing submissions has been extended though May 1, 2018. Submissions may include fiction, non-fiction, essay and poetry. The art submissions deadline is July 1, 2018 and includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and more. Acceptance notification by August 1. Details HERE. Shanti Arts also offers online classes in writing and photograph that run from $160-$190. Details HERE.

CONTESTS

Opportunity Knocks

THE 2018 AGNES LYNCH STARRETT POETRY PRIZE COMPETIONS of The University of Pittsburgh Press is open for submissions through April 30, 2018. $25 submission fee. Cash award of $5,000 and publication. Details HERE.

THE CAROLYN FORCHÉ PRIZE FOR HUMANITARIAN POETRY is open through August 15, 2018. The prize winner and ten runner-ups will be published in the 2018-2019  anthology, Elusions: Refugee Poems, to be published by WaterWood Press. Cash award: $1,000. Submission fee: $10. Details HERE.

“Different people have articulated … [poetry as] the natural prayer of the human soul. I feel very blessed to have this vocation. ” Carolyn Forchè

THE CLIFF BECKER BOOK PRIZE IN POETRY TRANSLATION for a book-length manuscript is $1,000 and publication by White Pine Press. Submissions accepted through April 16, 2018. Submission fee: $25. Details HERE.

$10,000 RATTLE POETRY PRIZE submission deadline: July 15, 2018. $25 entry fee. Details HERE.

RED HEN PRESS LITERARY AWARDS offeres several opportunities each year. Two of their competitions are currently open for submissions: The Quill Prose Award (150 pages by a queer writer), which closes on August 31, has an entry fee of $10 and a cash award ($1,000) and publication; 2018 Red Hen Press Nonfiction Award, closes on April 30, $20 entry fee, and $,1000 cash award and publication.

THE DIAGRAM 2018 CHAPBOOK CONTEST is accepting submission through April 27. Entry fee: $20. Cash award of $1,000 and publication. Details HERE

FELLOWSHIP

RUTH LILLY and DOROTHY SARGENT ROSENBERG POETRY FELLOWSHIPS sponsored by the Poetry Foundation (U.S.) is a national competitionaccepting application through April 30, 2018 from poets age 21 – 31 years. The award is $25,800. Details HERE.

EVENTS

  • East Bay Launch for “Invisible Gifts, Poems” (Manic D Press) with Maw Shein Win and Guests, Pegasus Books Downtown, Sunday April 15, 7:30 p.m. “Themes of vulnerability and power emerge through reflections on family, art, and loss from an award-winning poet.” Details HERE.
  • Poetix: Poetry Events for Southern California 
  • UK Poetry Festivals,The Poetry Business
  • The European Poetry Festival, April 5 – April 12, 2018. Forty poets. London. Five events. Details HERE.
  • Book Festivals U.S., 2018, Book Reporter

KUDOS TO

  • Bozhidar Pangelove, Bulgarian poet, for the publication of On the Sand They Remain in Oddball Magazine.
  • Denise Fletcher, American poet, for two poems included in The Words Are in My Soul Anthology, available now at Amazon
  • Michael Rothenberg, Terri Carrion and others in 100TPC for their poetic protest against gun violence, which was featured in the Tallahassee Democrat HERE.

OTHER NEWS AND INFORMATION

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.

ABOUT THE POET BY DAY

Posted on

SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events and Other News and Information

Excuse the modesty and lateness of this week’s announcements. I’m still in the process of unpacking and settling in after my recent relocation. Good luck with your submissions. / J.D.

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

ABYSS & APEX MAGAZINE publishes fiction, flash fiction, poetry and small press reviews.  Next fiction deadline is February 2019. The reading period for poetry opens this May. Details HERE.

NINTH LETTER accepts submissions of fiction, poetry and essays from September 1 – November 30 for its print edition. Details HERE. Ninth Letter is interested in submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for a special online edition to be published at ninthletter.com in Winter 2018.  Submissions (poetry and short fiction or nonfiction) will be open from September 1 to November 5. Details HERE.

SPLICKETY PUBLISHING GROUP “fills gaps in the modern reader’s day with concise, poignant fiction under 1,000 words. We want stories that hit fast and strike hard––stories that, no matter the genre, can cut through the day’s troubles and grip readers with short attention spans.” Paying market. $0.02 per word. Submissions Guidelines HERE.

THE BeZINE’s next issue is scheduled for June 15, 2018 and the deadline for submissions is May 10, 2018. More details to come in a post next week.  Meanwhile, please read to prepare for submissions.

TIFERET (tiff-éh-ret), Fostering Peace Through Literature & Art is “a non-sectarian, non-dogmatic publication and community at the nexus of literature and spirituality.” The editors consider fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art and photography. This journal is published twice yearly. Submission guidelines HERE.

Image may contain: fire and text

CONTESTS

Opportunity Knocks

NINTH LETTER LITERARY AWARDS is open through April 30 for submissions of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. Cash award: $1,000. Publication in Fall/Winter 2018-19 issue. Entry free $17. Details HERE.

SEQUESTRUM’S LITERARY JOURNAL 2018 Editor’s Reprint Award is $500 to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Prose and poetry are judged separately, with a first-prize winner and a minimum of two runners-up per genre.  Deadline: April 30, 2018. Details HERE.

EVENTS

  • DISABILITY POETRY WORKSHOP. Poetry of Disability, Thursday, March 29, 5-7 p.m CDT Room 200A of the Library of Health Sciences – Chicago UIC, 1750 W.Polk Street, Chicago, Illinois 60612. “All experience levels are welcome to a discussion and creative writing workshop led by Poetry Foundation Library Coordinator Maggie Queeney. In March, we will read and discuss poetry of disability. A creative writing workshop, where participants will be guided through composing an original poem, concludes the session.”
  • POETRY OFF THE SHELF hosted by the Poetry Foundation & Poetry Magazine and featuring Jorie Graham on Thursday, March 29 from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. CDT at 61 W Superior St. Chicago Illinois.
  • JASON BAYANI IN LOCUS OF CONTROL hosted by the Poetry Center San José at Cafe Stritch, 374 S. 1st St. San Jose, California. Tickets HERE. Early purchase: $10. At the door: $15. Directed by award-winning performing artist, Kat Evasco, the show explores the lives of Filipino immigrants in America, taking you through Bayani’s hip-hop inspired youth, club-going college days, and turbulent adulthood. Locus of Control navigates his experience dealing with race, mental health, addiction, and his status as the first American-born child in his family. Utilizing poetry, storytelling, music, and multimedia, Bayani pieces together the different threads of his life while struggling to make sense of Walter Benjamin’s notion of redeeming the past in present time.

Jason Bayani is the author of Amulet (2013 Write Bloody Publishing). He’s an MFA graduate from Saint Mary’s College, a Kundiman fellow, and works as the Artistic Director for Kearny Street Workshop. Jason performs regularly around the country and recently debuted his solo theater show, “Locus of Control” in 2016. His second book, Locus, is forthcoming from Omnidawn Publishing in 2019.

  • MIKE McGEE, SANT CLARA COUNTY POET LAUREATE INAUGURATION, April 7, Noon – 2 p.m. Milpitas Library Auditorium, 160 N. Main Street, Milpitas, California 95035. A celebration of the beginning of Mike’s two year term as Poet Laureate, 2018 to 2020. Enjoy a lively performance by the Poet Laureate, Mighty Mike McGee, international poetry slam champion and local artist and icon. Free. (408) 262-1171

Image may contain: cloud, sky and text

APRIL 10, 2018, 7:30 PM – 10 PM UTC+03. The arc 25 public reading in Tel Aviv. Hosted by Mark L. Levinson and Lois Michal Unger at 17 Rashi Street, Tel Aviv

CELEBRATING INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES WITH

CELESTE NG

500 STORES ACROSS THE U.S.

Food, Music, Books, Books, Books

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.

ABOUT THE POET BY DAY

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A Moral Failure; poems by Michael Dickel and Jamie Dedes written in the aftermath of shootings; protests and resources

 

“Cowardice asks the question – is it safe? Expediency asks the question – is it politic? Vanity asks the question – is it popular? But conscience asks the question – is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.” Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. from his speech, A Proper Sense of Priorities, February 6, 1968, Washington, D.C.

When we speak or write about gun control, the fingers point to second amendment rights, to the suggestion that a complex problem may resolve with the application of one strategy, or to the NRA position and lobby. Democracy is messy, but safety and citizen rights are the concerns rational people hold in common.

No matter the side on which we stand, we are guilty of a moral failure. Gun control is not going to be the entire answer. It’s a beginning and as the U.K., Australia, Japan and Germany have proven it’s a huge and rewarding beginning. I think that most who advocate gun control understand that the issues of violence in America are complex. Not the least of other initiatives would be mental health interventions, mitigating poverty and youth unemployment, creating more educational opportunities and subsidizing arts programs, revisioning our materialistic values, fostering the reimagination of masculinity, and honoring our stated religious convictions. Many of us understand gun ownership as the gateway drug to violence and murder, a contradiction to those convictions. The U.S. is predominantly a country of the Abrahamic traditions and the law we share: “Thou shalt not kill.”

– Jamie Dedes

A Priest’s Lament

i

Starting from the outside,

the labyrinth’s path moves closer,

further, closer, as it takes a poet

deviously toward the center.

 

Mosaic patterns, partly broken

by frost, perpetually bloom there.

Gray, mossed-stones line the path—

they frame the wanderer’s flower.

 

ii

We wandered that desert

for forty years. All we had

for communication were

specially designed tents

 

built from detailed plans—

each folding floorboard

and floating nail exact—

a cellular plan from God.

 

iii

That lonely God longed for

our calls, the return of a gift

we could not understand.

We just turned on each other

 

instead. We hoarded words

into locked arks as though

we owned them or understood

what they meant. We didn’t.

 

iv

We meant to know more. Ever since,

with poor reception, a limited data plan,

we still pretend we can call God

whenever we want. We pray

 

for every child shot in school

as though words could unlock

such cruelty. We pray that we

will not long be held responsible.

 

v

I long for the days before

those instructions were given,

before we built the tabernacle,

before we transformed the tent

 

to stone on top of a mountain,

before we thought we knew

what God wanted us to do,

before we decided we were priests.

 

Poem of separation (kodesh)

(vi)

A wandering God longs for us

from outside a forty-year labyrinth,

folding time, returning space, locked

into receiving words that cannot be given.

 

We thought we knew.

 

(vii)

On the seventh day, God rested.

We have not seen or heard

Creation since. Our language

overwhelms the world.

 

We thought we knew.

© 2018, poem, Michael Dickel (Meta/ Phor(e) /Play), All rights reserved (Written during the 100,000 Poets for Change 2018 Lake Jackson Poetry Residency Program)

February 23, 2018 — 7:00 pm

Poetry Reading with Michael Dickel
A Sublimatus / HamiltonSeen Production
The River Trading Company Bookstore
Facebook Page | Facebook Event
559 Barton St. East
 Hamilton, ON L8L 2Z2  Canada

A note from Michael:

Stoneman High School students who survived the shooting are resisting. If you haven’t yet, see the widely shared video of one articulate student “calling” BS the excuses and people refusing to ban assault weapons through her tears. Facebook Page: March for Our Lives

Collateral Damage

bullets
……….perforated

and were laid to rest in her
sterile room on steel tables
lined-up like school children
awaiting lessons

Math

counting wounds, counting dead

Biology

which the death-dealing injury

innocent life forms wept

….trees
……..birds
…………earth
…………….sky

children

in the stillness between breaths
she boxed and stored her tears
making way for scalpel and saw

best

yes, best

to keep her heart locked-down

until . . . until

a whiskey

a bed

oblivion

©  2018, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved

POETS AND OTHERS STAND AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE

At this writing, according to the Gun Violence Archive in 2018 there have been 6,975 incidents, 1,922 deaths, 3,330 injuries, 71 children killed or injured, 377 teens killed or injured, 32 mass shootings, 41 officers shot or killed, 312 subject or suspect killed, 235 home invasions, 192 defensive use of guns, and 229 unintentional shootings in the United States.

MAR21

A World With Peace: A Place to Lament and Resist Gun Violence

100,000 Poets for Change Co-founder, Michael Rothenberg and The BeZine team member, Michael Dickel, have initiated a day for poets to gather wherever they are in the world to resist violence, especially gun violence, and raise awareness of the need for appropriate gun legislation in the United States and elsewhere. Beguine Again founder and another member of The BeZine core team, Terri Stewart, Guns Don’t Save People, Poets Do founder Evelyn Agusto and I support the effort and encourage you to organize events. To publicise your events post your event on the 100,000 Poets for Change Facebook Communication Page and on The BeZine 100TPC Facebook Discussion Page. I’ll do my best to catch all and post them to The Poet by Day Facebook Page and The Bardo Group Beguines (publisher of The BeZine) Facebook Page. Post to  Evelyn’s Facebook Page as well.  March 21 is also World Poetry Day.

NATIONAL SCHOOL WALKOUT

Women’s March Youth EMPOWER is calling for students, teachers, school administrators, parents and allies to take part in a #NationalSchoolWalkout for 17 minutes at 10am across every time zone on March 14, 2018 to protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods. We need action. Students and allies are organizing the national school walkout to demand Congress pass legislation to keep us safe from gun violence at our schools, on our streets and in our homes and places of worship.

Students and staff have the right to teach and learn in an environment free from the worry of being gunned down in their classrooms or on their way home from school.

Parents have the right to send their kids to school in the mornings and see them home alive at the end of the day.

We are not safe at school. We are not safe in our cities and towns. Congress must take meaningful action to keep us safe and pass federal gun reform legislation that address the public health crisis of gun violence. We want Congress to pay attention and take note: many of us will vote this November and many others will join in 2020.

Join us in saying #ENOUGH!

Add your event to the map or find one near you here: https://www.actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/enough-national-school-walkout

THE RESISTANCE POETRY WALL

A reminder about this. I just noticed no one’s posted since October 2017.  Go for it. Have your say.

100tpc20122

The RESISTANCE POETRY WALL “We want your poems! Share this information.”

A MESSAGE FROM 100TPC cofounders Michael Rothenberg and Terri Carrion.

“The RESISTANCE POETRY WALL has been opened in response to the call by many for an open place to post poetry about the recent USA elections. Poets from around the world are invited to post. Feel free to share this link. Post your poems in the comment box at the bottom of the page. Your poem will appear on the WALL in approximately 1 hour.”

En Español:
“Se ha abierto el MURO DE POESÍA EN RESISTENCIA como respuesta al reclamo de muchos por un espacio abierto donde publicar poesía relacionada con las recientes elecciones en los Estados Unidos. Se invita a poetas de todo el mundo a publicar aquí. Por favor compartan esta liga. Entren a la página y peguen sus poemas en la caja de comentario (‘comment’), al calce. Su poema apareceré en el MURO en aproximadamente 1 hora.”

“The poetry and art posted on the WALL are not limited to the USA elections. There are many issues that concern us all and we welcome your contribution.”

I AM NOT A SILENT POET

UK POET, REUBEN WOOLLEY hosts a zine, I Am Not a Silent Poet, and a Facebook Discussion Page. You may post to the later and submit to the zine.  There are already some anti-gun violence/pro-legislation pieces shared. Check them out.

“I am not a silent poet welcomes quality poems of protest. We have been seeing such increasing evidence of abuse recently that we felt it was time to do something. I am not a silent poet looks for poems about abuse in any of its forms: colour, gender, disability, the dismantlement of the care services, the privatisation of health services, the rape culture, FGM, our girls in Nigeria are just some of the examples that come to mind at the moment. It is not a site for rants.

“Please send all contributions for consideration to: reubenwoolley52@gmail.com. I would prefer attachments (especially for poems with unusual formatting and graphic material. You can add a brief biographical note and/or link to your website or blog.” Reuben Woolley

ABOUT THE POET BY DAY