Page 12 of 127

Posted on

through the ache of time, a poem . . . and your next Wednesday Writing Prompt

Courtesy of Greg Rakozy, Unsplash

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.” Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living

see it moving – Life!
moving through the ache of time
seeking that place
where identity isn’t worn on a sleeve,
where individuals challenge the tribe,
where beauty frees itself from convention,
where the chains of fear dissolve

© 2020, Jamie Dedes

WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

What do you think Life seeks to express through us?  Tell us in your own poem/s and …

  • please submit your poem/s by pasting them into the comments section and not by sharing a link
  • please submit poems only, no photos, illustrations, essays, stories, or other prose

PLEASE NOTE:

Poems submitted through email or Facebook will not be published.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 17 by 8 pm Pacific Time. If you are unsure when that would be in your time zone, check The Time Zone Converter.

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.

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

Jamie Dedes. About /Testimonials / Disclosure / Facebook / Medium / Ko-fi

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

Link HERE for Bernie’s schedule of events around the country.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

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

Posted on

Thank you and Apologies, News and Updates; the sacred teachers, a poem

“It’s easier to die than to move … at least for the Other Side you don’t need trunks.” Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

Thanks for your patience.  My apologies for not coming through with the February 5 Wednesday Writing Prompt. Challenging times. I am preparing the prompt for this coming Wednesday now, to insure that it is done.

Courtesy of Erda Estrmera, Unsplash

I’ve successfully moved out of the old tiny studio and into – though not settled (still unpacking!) – a lovely one-bedroom apartment adapted for handicapped access and aging in place and with plenty of room for all my medical equipment. It was a rough move that I could never have accomplished without the help and support of the CitySon Philosopher, my friends, and the management, office, and maintenance teams here at the Casa. I’ve had days without WiFi and days of physical pain, fatigue and oxygen hunger that have prohibited anything but getting through the minutes and hours.  I appear to be on the mend now though and my WiFi is working. I’m not sure I’ll be fully productive yet, but I’ll get some things done. Thanks for hanging in with me and for the many emails and Facebook messages expressing concern and wishing well. I haven’t been able to keep up with Facebook and email either, but I’ll get to both as I can.

Much appreciation to The BeZine Contributing Editor Michael Dickel (Meta/ Phor(e) / Play). Michael kept things going at the Zine while I have been offline and out-of-action. If you’ve been following, you know we’ve dedicated February to posts on illness and disability. Thanks also to Kella Hanna-Wayne, Zine team member, founder of the social justice site YOPP!, and partner in this month-long effort, and to all the contributors who helped to keep this event going with their essays and poetry.

The Zine is still open for submissions for February blog posts on illness and disability and for submissions to the next edition, the March 15 issue of The BeZine, themed Waging Peace. Submissions for Waging Peace close on March 10. Email bardogroup@gmail.com

Mbizo Chirasha

Our efforts on behalf of Mbizo Chirasha, Zimbabwean poet in exile, continue and hope for safe harbor thrives.  If you know anyone who would be able to host Mbizo in Germany or elsewhere, please connect with me by email thepoetbyday@gmail.com

out of the threads of your sacred languages
out of the spare sculpture of your homely wisdom
we formed clubs and built ironclad dictates
we spawned conspiracies of hate –
now we are goose barnacles clinging to the rotting flotsam of old boats,
we are weighted with the dust of fear and the mold of suspicion

though we bluster and grandstand our way through time,
the original purity of your intentions is still rooted in Eternity,
your guileless simplicity is stronger than the dogs of war,
it is the calm light at the center of our frenzied dark
it is the grace of rain after a drought,
the rivers of compassion that flow as tears

sometimes we hear your spirits whispering
in the mindful pleasure of our morning tea
in the rhythmic stirring of a pot of oatmeal
or in a fresh dawning after a tide has turned
and the wind of rectitude has cleared the air

© 2017, Jamie Dedes

Jamie Dedes. About /Testimonials / Disclosure / Facebook / Medium / Ko-fi

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

Link HERE for Bernie’s schedule of events around the country.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

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

Posted on

Gone the Winter Gods, a poem; the next Wednesday Writing Prompt will be on February 5

Photograph courtesy of Johannes Plenio, Unsplash

“As we get older, it matters less where you are and more who you’re with.”  Crystal Woods et al, Write like no one is reading (a collection of life quotes by independent writers)

The gods of winter arrive windy, whooshing
and cackling to chastise autumn’s ripe reds,
casting nights darker than indigo, spinning
a whorl of days, steel-blue and hoary
. . . . . . Like life sometimes
Rest is welcome after the frenzy of canning,
freezing fruit for deep-dish pies and the days
pass like the color of joy with shocks of silver
……….Not unlike my hair
One blink, gone the winter gods for those of spring
and my seventieth year
…………I’ll be here

© 2018, Jamie Dedes

I’m in the middle of moving, so I’ve put off the next writing prompt to Wednesday, February 5. All are welcome to come out in play: beginning, emerging, and pro poets. It’s all about exercising that writing muscle and meeting other poets.

Jamie Dedes. About /Testimonials / Disclosure / Facebook / Medium / Ko-fi

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

Link HERE for Bernie’s schedule of events around the country.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

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

Posted on

“Thoughts” by Myra Viola Wilds; the Internet Archive; Public Domain Day, January 30, 2020

Myra Viola Wilds / Public Domain


“A copy of each verse I retain in my own handwriting, after this, they are copied in a book by my husband. I beg your kind consideration of the plain, simple verses herein: I do not seek Wealth, Fame or Place, ‘among the great ones of my race.’ ” Myra Viola Wilds in her Preface to Thoughts in Idle Hours, 1915

What kind of thoughts now, do you carry
In your travels day by day
Are they bright and lofty visions,
Or neglected, gone astray?

Matters not how great in fancy,
Or what deeds of skill you’ve wrought;
Man, though high may be his station,
Is no better than his thoughts.

Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly,
Let each one an honor be;
Purge them, scourge them, burnish brightly,
Then in love set each one free.

– Myra Viola Wilds

Poem-a-Day (Academy of American Poets) published this poem, which is in the public domain. I’d never heard of the poet so I went on a hunt. She’s a folksy poet and there’s nothing significant to be found online. Her book is not included in the Gutenberg Project, but it is included HERE in the Internet Archive.  If you haven’t explored this wonderful site, you must.

Good resource for poets, writers, researchers.

The Internet Archive “is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, the print disabled, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.

“We began in 1996 by archiving the Internet itself, a medium that was just beginning to grow in use. Like newspapers, the content published on the web was ephemeral – but unlike newspapers, no one was saving it. Today we have 20+ years of web history accessible through the Wayback Machine and we work with 625+ library and other partners through our Archive-It program to identify important web pages.” MORE

RELATED:

Details on Public Domain Day HERE / Courtesy of the Internet Archive
Poetry Rocks the World!

Jamie Dedes. About /Testimonials / Disclosure / Facebook / Medium / Ko-fi

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

 

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

Link HERE for Bernie’s schedule of events around the country.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

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