"George Bulwer-Lytton writing contest at San Jose State
For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity's affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss--a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity's mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world's thirstiest gerbil.
Molly Ringle
Seattle, WA
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
In The Pink
Mr. Jonathan Sutton, p-h-d,was in the pink.
At the pinnacle of his career
a consultant,
married into a rich family,
blessed with a generous spouse.
He lived in a liberal ghetto in Maryland,
“by choice” as his wife says.
Their large, paneled, oak, front door
framed by two brass lamps, polished weekly by
the handy man.
The steps, round,
of used, red brick and granite.
A fat Australian Shepard always on the by the door,
appeared in all the Christmas photos,
his blue eyes reflecting the Brinks security sign
on the lawn nearby.
His wife, a thin, delicate and exacting intellectual
took videos of the new snow on their deck
and sent them to their friends
and the kids in Florida.
He, goofy looking since his teens,
used his heavy, ivory comb to fit, calibrate,
a lock of hair carefully across his forehead,
each morning, polished his gold, rimless glasses
and wore brown, corduroy pants that
squeaked as he walked
stiffly
in cordovan loafers.
Mrs. Sutton has problems with her menstrual cycle,
making her life
and those around her,
miserable and on tippy toes
as she lay in the living room,
her eyes covered with a wet, linen cloth –
two, maybe three days each month.
- James Edge
-------
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental
At the pinnacle of his career
a consultant,
married into a rich family,
blessed with a generous spouse.
He lived in a liberal ghetto in Maryland,
“by choice” as his wife says.
Their large, paneled, oak, front door
framed by two brass lamps, polished weekly by
the handy man.
The steps, round,
of used, red brick and granite.
A fat Australian Shepard always on the by the door,
appeared in all the Christmas photos,
his blue eyes reflecting the Brinks security sign
on the lawn nearby.
His wife, a thin, delicate and exacting intellectual
took videos of the new snow on their deck
and sent them to their friends
and the kids in Florida.
He, goofy looking since his teens,
used his heavy, ivory comb to fit, calibrate,
a lock of hair carefully across his forehead,
each morning, polished his gold, rimless glasses
and wore brown, corduroy pants that
squeaked as he walked
stiffly
in cordovan loafers.
Mrs. Sutton has problems with her menstrual cycle,
making her life
and those around her,
miserable and on tippy toes
as she lay in the living room,
her eyes covered with a wet, linen cloth –
two, maybe three days each month.
- James Edge
-------
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Blue Hour Press
Blue Hour Press
Our reading period is now open. Here are the guidelines:
Submissions
- Chapbooks should be sent to submit@bluehourpress.com as either a .doc or .pdf attachment (the latter preferred). In the subject of the email, please put, in all caps, your last name, your first name, and the title of the project (i.e. ASHBERY JOHN SOME TREES). If you choose to do so, include a short cover letter as the body of your email; this should include a small bio and restrained publication history—please, no "explanations" of the work or statements of purpose.
- Attachments should have a cover page, then an acknowledgements page (if the poems have appeared elsewhere), then the content.
- Chapbook should be somewhere between 10-40 pages in length. If your project falls on the outside of these limits, email us first before submitting.
- If your chapbook is under consideration by another press, please make this explicit in your submission and notify us if it is accepted elsewhere.
- Our reading period will remain open until August 1st. Unsolicited work after this time will not be considered.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
After We Quit - by Kushal Poddar
After We Quit
The air
after quitting smoking
is flavored profusely by us,
our smells,
as if
suddenly
we begin to exist.
Your sweat,
my paintbox,
the tubs of blue flowers on the porch,
the bees with honey on their legs,
the dung of wayward animals
behaving normally.
Chapman’s resonating voice
seems milk
and we complain
about how milk smells.
I am assured
the milk is all right.
We are just beginning to inhale.
After we learn to live
without smoking
one or two birds come inside,
they usually do,
this time we notice
they smell of half the forest
and half our neighborhood.
The puffs of clouds
are going south.
© All Rights Reserved By Kushal Poddar 2010
Kushal Poddar (1977- ) resides in the city of Kolkata, India. Apart from poetry, he has written fiction and scripts for television mini-series. His English poetry have been published in online and print magazines all over the world. Examples include: “Shine”, “Apparatus”, “Heron’s Nest”, “Word Salad Magazine”, “Turbulence”,” Birds on line” “Four and Twenty” and “DR. NI'S NEWS”. He is the author of “All Our Fictional Dreams” and he has been published in “Poor Poet’s Pantry: Collaborative Poems”. A forthcoming book is “Surviving Cyber Life”.
Kushal Poddar (1977- ) resides in the city of Kolkata, India. Apart from poetry, he has written fiction and scripts for television mini-series. His English poetry have been published in online and print magazines all over the world. Examples include: “Shine”, “Apparatus”, “Heron’s Nest”, “Word Salad Magazine”, “Turbulence”,” Birds on line” “Four and Twenty” and “DR. NI'S NEWS”. He is the author of “All Our Fictional Dreams” and he has been published in “Poor Poet’s Pantry: Collaborative Poems”. A forthcoming book is “Surviving Cyber Life”.Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday Writing Essentials: June 3, 2009 | Gather
Wednesday Writing Essentials: June 3, 2009 | Gather
The components of constructive criticism include:
The components of constructive criticism include:
- objectivity No need to run down someone's work because it doesn't appeal to you.
- encouragement Your goal is to educate, not embarrass.
- honesty that reflects sensitivity to the writer's feelings
- specificity Rather than ramble about the article's weak spots, get to the point.
What's in it for the writer? The benefits of receiving constructive criticism depend on the receiver. Ideally the writer will be open to others' thoughts and opinions. The writer can learn differing points of view and more fully understand how his or her work was received by others.
My experience in receiving concise feedback is that I feel very affirmed. I know that my work was carefully read. I consider what others had to say and then compare that to how I intended my work to be interpreted. If I feel a valid point was made, I have an opportunity to change my words. I don't have to take every comment, regardless of who makes it, and acquiesce to their suggestions. Sometimes, I believe I wrote exactly what I meant to say and I don't change my words.
By Susan Budig, Mindful Poet
Friday, June 18, 2010
What is the future of poetry? | Books | The Guardian
What is the future of poetry? | Books | The Guardian
The Poetry Society's Palmer says the open-ended nature of poetry worries many readers, and the effect can be most insidious with teachers. "Poetry has not been taught well in schools for a long time," she says. "Because of the national curriculum, teachers have not been allowed to try things out freely. So instead of looking at a poem and saying 'Don't you like these words?', or 'Doesn't it make you think interesting thoughts?', they are saying to students 'Where is the adjective and the adverb here?' Knowledge of poets is shockingly low among primary school teachers, and because people are now teaching who were themselves taught under the national curriculum, they are scared of poetry. They look at a poem and ask, 'Is this right?', as if it's a puzzle you can unravel, but poetry is ambiguous and multi-layered. Poems will mean different things to us at different times in our lives."
The Poetry Society's Palmer says the open-ended nature of poetry worries many readers, and the effect can be most insidious with teachers. "Poetry has not been taught well in schools for a long time," she says. "Because of the national curriculum, teachers have not been allowed to try things out freely. So instead of looking at a poem and saying 'Don't you like these words?', or 'Doesn't it make you think interesting thoughts?', they are saying to students 'Where is the adjective and the adverb here?' Knowledge of poets is shockingly low among primary school teachers, and because people are now teaching who were themselves taught under the national curriculum, they are scared of poetry. They look at a poem and ask, 'Is this right?', as if it's a puzzle you can unravel, but poetry is ambiguous and multi-layered. Poems will mean different things to us at different times in our lives."
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Search Results | Gather
Search Results | Gather: "- Sent using Google Toolbar" Poetry groups at GATHER.COM
http://gather.com
http://gather.com
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The 'Technique' of Rereading - Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More
The 'Technique' of Rereading - Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
You have to learn to learn, if you're serious about writing. It's not that hard. First, you should realize that no teacher is going to tell you all that he or she knows. Second, however much he or she tells, you will hear only as much of what is said as you are able to at the moment. You can take from a given teacher a few tricks, perhaps one or two ways of writing, but what you might better seek beyond that, for the long haul, is an attitude toward writing and an attitude toward how to read as a writer.
You have to learn to learn, if you're serious about writing. It's not that hard. First, you should realize that no teacher is going to tell you all that he or she knows. Second, however much he or she tells, you will hear only as much of what is said as you are able to at the moment. You can take from a given teacher a few tricks, perhaps one or two ways of writing, but what you might better seek beyond that, for the long haul, is an attitude toward writing and an attitude toward how to read as a writer.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Pastor Allbright
a man the community knew.
A pious man
diddled his niece
under the Thanksgiving table
testing her leg with his
salad fork
and inching
his bulbous thumb
across her thigh.
Slipped out back
through the screened porch
stepping into the
starry, autumn night.
out of sight of the family
and lit a smoke.
A sixty pound ball
of frozen waste
a blue ball of doom
dislodged
from the belly
of a passing airliner
struck the pastor
square in the center
of his baldpate
killing him instantly
his cigarette
still burning
in his mouth
as he lay across the
kid's
red wagon,
not
to be found
until
everyone
had
their pie
and
coffee.
##
Published in Turbulence #11, October, 2012
.
A pious man
diddled his niece
under the Thanksgiving table
testing her leg with his
salad fork
and inching
his bulbous thumb
across her thigh.
Slipped out back
through the screened porch
stepping into the
starry, autumn night.
out of sight of the family
and lit a smoke.
A sixty pound ball
of frozen waste
a blue ball of doom
dislodged
from the belly
of a passing airliner
struck the pastor
square in the center
of his baldpate
killing him instantly
his cigarette
still burning
in his mouth
as he lay across the
kid's
red wagon,
not
to be found
until
everyone
had
their pie
and
coffee.
##
Published in Turbulence #11, October, 2012
.
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