Showing posts with label Jessie Carty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jessie Carty. Show all posts
Saturday, March 9, 2013
AWP 2013, Boston- Almost Over
It has been a journey. And one that has so many things going on, ones head spins.
My roommate Athena has been a good experience. She tends to be a bit shy around people, and with the apartment situation, she on one end, me on the other, everything has worked out.
There has been lots of snow here, making it hard to get around, and that has been a challenge for me physically. Water puddles as people slush through, my shoes full of icy fallout, and still fighting residual flu cough. I actually think now it has turned into bronchitis. Thank goodness the doctor gives me extra antibiotics just in case.
I will go home later today and with a pile of books. The readings have been great, and the classes and panels even better. Networking is the name of the game here. I will most definitely go next year. A few people have already been notified of my arrival. Yes, I am a planner! Athena and I have decided to have a table together at the bookfair. Maybe even Jessie Carty will join us- Linden Avenue Literary Journal, Red Dashboard Publishing, and Jessie Carty books.
How are all of you? May your last days of winter be filled with peace and forgiveness...
(photo above- Towne Restaurant with new friends, left to right, Maurice, Athena, Terri, Me, and Seema)
Friday, September 2, 2011
Feeling Secure- Poem Share
Are we? Really?
I often feel driving is the safest mode of travel. But in the past, experts say flying is safer than driving.
I have airplane issues, so I prefer to drive. You see more, creative juices flow, and so on...
Trying to decide where to go with this. The photo above is like a story of someone who runs from their fears or monsters, but at every turn they see them in unlikely things.
Monday I discovered the pool was open and decided to take a walk. When I saw it was possible to go for a swim, I did. The water over the past three weeks, with night air cooling down from the eighties, this was no different, it has been cold. Maybe a few degrees cooler, uh yes, but I could handle it right? I went in head first. It was then the memory of hitting the river in 'As The World Churns', well, it hit me. A cold blast of somewhere between I cannot breath, and what was I thinking. But the body and mind did worked together.
With help from my legs. I pushed on and used it for an advantage, of weight control. Exercising vigorously the past two months has been great. Another monster to conquer. But the pool is no river. A bit calmer.
Rivers are monsters we should never challenge.
I have never tried using Greek Mythology in my poems before, until this. I have heard a local guy who attended my open mic, reading his own GM filled works. At times I felt it was boring, and had heard others say the same, but now I think his work will make more sense, and I have a greater appreciation. I do like reading about mythology. Jessie Carty has switched our poem share from Thursday to Make Friday Write!
Before Man Grew In Numbers
"Wild as the blasts of roaring Boreas, or shouting Notos
when with hurricane-swoop he heaves the wide sea high,
when in the east up-rises the disastrous Altar-star
bringing calamity to seafarers." -Fall of Troy
their voices proceed
lurking, just beyond dense wood
where primordial son, Euryalos run
cyclops wide stepping and clumsy
moving land and
leaving the fallen under feet
to brothers rot and decay
under gods who
make sanctuary of gray monument
of rivers reaping blood
forging tears from woman's womb
filling a monsters shoes.
Here are my original lines that lead to the above-
I begin looking for the fallen
down rich green paths
man made signs direct us, past
gray monuments
our feet pressing down
new shoots, flowerless
bottom life forced back
a beetle settled on green leaf
speaking to the sky
talking of water gods
they had already arrived
for centuries left in command
brothers fear and paralysis
began laying the foundation
bringing this sanctuary to a close.
Not sure where I will go with these. I am trying, and have written many more lines.
This is the river view after it took part of Route 287 (above and below). Local police and road workers look down in amazement. I look at the layers of dirt and sand put down over the years as the road is built, then widened, and see how the power of water can do such damage. I also understand how monsters are used to create more power.
But do monsters have a conscious? Or do they just unleash nightmares...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Voices CarryTo Friday- Poem Share
Are we immune to our surroundings? How often do we just sit and listen to the silence? Does your mind speak louder than white noise?
Yes, I think way too much. Or so I have been told.
(Poem removed by author for submissions)
I stumbled upon a great video poem site, Moving Poems by Dave Bonta. (Toon, you should start checking these sites out, and join us/share your work via creative writing teacher/poet, Jessie Carty's 'Blog' site!) Well, really it was through Diane Lockward's 'Blogalicious' recommendation where I found this wonderful blog. I could spend hours in that site. And it did inspire something.
You can go watch Raymond's video poem Orphan's here, but do not turn down the volume, and yes, I really did watch a show on television with the fan on and no way to hear them talking, and the rest is...in the poem.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Raw Footage
We survived our family white water rafting excursion on the weekend, but with bumps and bruises (they show up days later); it has taken Mary and I a few days to recover physically and mentally. None the less we are forever changed by what happened, and how we use these situations to grow. I saw this quote on facebook and it fits...
- A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour." Author unknown
I consider myself one of those truly happy people.
Today is the 11th year anniversary of my daughters passing. My life forever changed. Really the day she was born, but facets move about in obscure ways.
I woke up extremely early and could not go back to sleep. Something I have not done in a while. Maybe an unconscious awakening, maybe not. I need rest because today I have my homeless 'Homefront' meal project this afternoon. We will cook and package food for at least 90 people who are living in motels around the city, many of them are children.
I discovered this photographer Greg Friedler (mentioned on here once before), a New Orleans born artist who was highlighted in a documentary called Stripped: The Naked Las Vegas. His work is fantastic, and great for some inspiration prompt writing. Last night I decided to check his website for his latest 'Daily Compositions'. In doing so the site offered a link to some of his 'Naked' work. Viewing some of this work, I was inspired to write this for Jessie Carty's Thursday Poem Share.
This 'Mattress' link is my inspiration...Thanks Greg for your wonderful contributions to my life...
A Window Junkie's Next Fix
Eyes bend forward
taking in
and exhale life,
saying goodbye to innocence.
Lips become dry
turning tables
giving words back,
finalizing kisses
swept across the skin.
Fickle hearts move on
never remembering a name
the reason, or last time
love stroked Eden’s cradle.
Infernal fires rained down
closing doors,
never knowing
the side
a place, a corner
where hurt felt like
a last breath,
seedy back lot rooms,
before dawn gave way
to ghostly stains.
(Photo above was taken on our Jim Thorpe train ride along side the river...looks mild right?)
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