A Day in the Country

The cur dog
tethered to a stake
across the road
runs back and forth
barking all day
then breaks free.
He’s off and running
down the road, happy 
as a dog can be.

Across the road Willie 
in his rocker on the porch
cheers the dog’s escape 
and tells his wife 
knitting in another rocker
that he’s a cur dog, too,
tethered to the Earth 
but only for a spell.
He’ll break free as well,

something he has told her
many times before in
50 years of marriage.
Despite his fantasies
she loves him still 
and fills his pipe, 
sticks it in his mouth
and lights it as he did
for himself for years. 
Then she tells him we'll
do what the dog did, Willie.
We’ll bark all day and see.


Donal Mahoney

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Monday, November 28, 2016

How to Compose a Five-Paragraph Essay Under Pressure

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Thursday, November 24, 2016

50 Blogging tools to help you work smarter, write faster and become irresistible to your readers

Content Idea Generator - Portent

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

5 Steps to Surviving Your Copy Edit | WritersDigest.com

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

How to Write Email with Military Precision

Monday, November 21, 2016

Top Reference Works for Writers and Editors

Friday, November 18, 2016

Monday, November 14, 2016

Classic British and American Essays and Speeches

Friday, November 11, 2016

2 Elizabeths - Literary Magazines

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Improve Your Writing Skills with 6 Free Online Courses | edX Blog

Monday, November 7, 2016

70 Buzzwords and Jargon Phrases Salespeople Should Avoid

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Popshot Magazine — The Illustrated Magazine Of New Writing

Monday, October 24, 2016

How Not to Write a Letter of Complaint

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Illustration: Writer. Artist unknown.

The Writer

Friday, October 21, 2016

Word Counter Tool - Get The Word Count Of A Given Text

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Monday, October 17, 2016

Hard-Headed Advice for Aspiring Writers

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Monday, October 3, 2016

Handwriting: Definition, Examples, and Discussions

French train stations have machines that dispense free short stories | Metro News

Past Winners - Poetry Society of America

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Zine and E-Zine Directories

Zine and E-Zine Directories

Don't blame me for "dirty" words.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Infographic: How to Write an Internal Communication Strategy

Monday, September 26, 2016

Phony Rules of Writing - Grammar and Usage Myths

Definition and Examples of Word Aversion (or Logomisia)

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Don’t Try to Make a Living Writing Short Stories | WIRED

Thursday, September 22, 2016

6 Unexpected Ways Writing Can Transform Your Health | Huffington Post

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

technical communications MOOC - Google Search

Citation style guides - Citing sources - LibGuides at MIT Libraries

Monday, September 19, 2016

Submit. Beiträge — The Transnational

THE TRANSNATIONAL - Literary Magazines

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Invitation from WORD WEAVERS for new members - SEQUIM

We have traditionally met at noon for lunch and socializing before beginning to share our writing at 1:00 p.m. We try to finish by 3:00 p.m. Readings are limited to about 2500 words maximum in order to give everyone a chance. Likewise, we limit the number of readers to ten in any one meeting, though others are welcome to come as guests or non-reading members for a particular session. Meeting days have varied, but are now the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month (exceptions for holidays).

Our current venue is The Family Dining Room at The Lodge. The fixed price lunch for non-residents is $11.40. The menu is varied and the food is good.

All topics and genres are open within the limits of good taste. (A former member defined "good taste" as anything you would not mind letting your 18-year-old granddaughter read knowing you wrote it!) Pieces longer than 2500 words should be broken up and a brief synopsis provided at the beginning of second and later segments.

Contact info: Jack Barnes: jbarnes@slonet.org 360-683-1094

Monday, September 12, 2016

The Top 25 Grammatical Terms in English

Saturday, September 10, 2016

How to Write Articles and Essays Quickly and Expertly ~ Stephen Downes

Friday, September 9, 2016

Proofreading Marks Designers Should Know - Print Magazine

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Deadline: New Writer Awards

Friday, August 26, 2016

The latest post of Donal Mahoney poem

People Who Live Above Stores


It's two in the morning 
and people who live above stores
have sprung from their beds
this cold winter night.
They're leaning out of their windows
and bellowing into the street

at the deaf baker who launched the alarm
in the Rogers Park Donut Shoppe.
It's been ringing for hours 
and the police haven't come.
Not even the firemen.
The donuts will never get done

and it appears now that 
people who live above stores
will remain in a rage
leaning out of their windows
waving cigarettes like strobes
and bellowing the rest of the night.


Donal Mahoney

Fwd: Fourth Friday Readings - August 26

FOURTH FRIDAY READINGS

Friday, August 26, 2016 – 6:30 pm

At The Lodge (Media Room)

660 Evergreen Farm Way (off 5^th Avenue), Sequim

AN ENTIRE EVENING of

5-MINUTE OPEN MIC READINGS

Bring poems, short-short stories or memoir/novel snippets.

Rehearse in advance, Reading are timed.

Sign in to Read

Guidelines available. Heidi@olypen.com

Arrive early for snack and coffee at The Espresso bistro

Sponsored by Writers on the Spit

Monday, August 22, 2016

Guidelines for Using Semicolons, Colons, and Dashes

25 Weird, Witty, and Wonderful Language-Related Terms

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Word or Not – how much English do your really know? | The Red Ferret Journal

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Free film about screen writing. Commericals, but easy to skip.

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/dreams_on_spec

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

A Poem by Donal Mahoney

Lifts Her Like A Chalice

The weekday Mass at 6 a.m.
brings the old folks out 
from bungalows 
around the church.
They move like caterpillars  
down sidewalks, 
some with canes, 
some on walkers. 

Father Doyle says the Mass 
and then goes back to the rectory 
to care for his mother 
who cannot move or speak 
because of a stroke.

And every Sunday at noon 
when the church is full, 
Father Doyle, in full vestments, 
wheels his mother
in a lump
down the middle aisle
and lifts her like a chalice 
and places her in the front pew  
before he ascends to the altar.

Sometimes at night,
when his mother's asleep, 
Father Doyle comes back to the Church 
and rehearses in the dark 
three hymns she long ago 
asked him to sing at her funeral.

He practices the hymns 
because the doctor said  
she could go at any time.
When that time comes,
he doesn't want to miss a note.
The last thing she ever said was 
"Son, I'll be listening." 


Donal Mahoney
for background on Donal.
 https://fifthcoffee.blogspot.com/search?q=Donal+Mahoney

Watch for more of Donal's poems to come.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Definition and Examples of Grawlixes in Comics

Monday, August 1, 2016

Never Say Die: Euphemisms for Death

Friday, July 29, 2016

Poem by Donal Mahoney

In Certain Matters of the Heart

It's a matter of the heart,
the doctor says, 
and he can fix it 
with catheter ablation. 
"It works miracles," he says, 
"in certain matters of the heart."

He's been a cardiologist for years.
"Take my word for it," he says.
"You'll be sedated. Won't feel a thing."

No excavation in my chest, either. 
Instead, he'll make little holes 
in my groin and snake tiny wires 
to the surface of my heart 
and kill the current that makes 

my heart race like a hare 
at times and mope 
like a turtle other times.
He's never lost a patient.
"You'll be fine," he says. 
"Trust me."

Nine out of 10 ablations work.
I'll save hundreds a month, he says, 
on medications. No more Multaq. 
No more Cardizem. And I'll never 
have to wear a heart monitor again.

"Shall we give it a try?" he asks.
"I've got an opening 
two weeks from Monday.
It's an outpatient procedure.
You'll go home the same day,
rest for a week and then resume
your usual activities, even bowling.
Do you like bowling? My nurses do.
I prefer woodcarving."

"Okay, Doc," I tell him. 
"I'll give it a try, but tell me, 
where were you 40 years ago 
when the kids were small
and I was young, like a bull, 
and a different matter of the heart
dropped me like a bullet.
Are you sure my heart's still ticking?
Where's your stethoscope?
I haven't felt a thing in years."


Donal Mahoney

See:  https://fifthcoffee.blogspot.com/search?q=Donal+Mahoney 
for background on Donal.

Watch for more of Donal's poems to come.

The Top 50 Best Blogs For Men

How to Write and Publish Listicles

WOW! Women On Writing

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Brainstorming Is Dumb | Co.Design | business + design

Monday, July 25, 2016

Stranger-Than-Fiction Writing Habits of 18 Famous Writers | WritersDigest.com

Top Tips for teaching poetry – The Poetry Society

Definition and Examples of Plagiarism

Live Edit - How to Apply Simplicity, Clarity & Elegance To Any Piece Of Writing - Elite Writing Academy

Saturday, July 23, 2016

The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Long Exposure Magazine | Writing – Photography – Visual Art

Six Hens

Friday, July 15, 2016

Don't Overdo it! Examples of Overwriting - Books & Such Literary Management

SPONTANEOUS WRITING SESSION

Sniff lavender this weekend, then show up on Monday, July 18 for THE THIRD MONDAY SPONTANEOUS WRITING SESSION Free for writers who want to get their creative juices flowing. Begins at 9:30 a.m. sharp and ends at 11:30 a.m. at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Avenue. All writers are welcome regardless of experience. Bring paper and pen (no electronic devices, please). Prompts are provided. We encourage you to read what you write, but it’s okay to pass. Hosted by Ruth Marcus, Rmarcus@olypen.com

POEMSPHOTOSMOUL -Keith Moul's BLOG

POEMSPHOTOSMOUL

Thursday, July 14, 2016

The Verbs, a Pronoun publication – Musings, analysis, and advice from Pronoun

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Shapecatcher: Draw the Unicode character you want!

Sunday, July 10, 2016

George Orwell's Politics and the English Language Guide to Writing | New Republic

Friday, July 1, 2016

POETRY Submission Manager

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Fwd: Fourth Friday Readings - July 22

FOURTH FRIDAY READINGS

Friday, July 22, 2016 – 6:30 pm

At The Lodge (Media Room)

660 Evergreen Farm Way (off 5^th Avenue), Sequim

FEATURING

BILL MAWHINNEY

Plus 5-Minute Open Mic Reading

Bring poems, short-short stories or memoir/novel snippets.

Rehearse in advance, Reading are timed.

Guidelines available. Heidi@olypen.com

Arrive early for snack and coffee at The Espresso bistro

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Posit | A journal of literature and art

The Del Sol Review : A Literary Journal

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Typewriter Man - The Atlantic

Sunday, June 12, 2016

The Magic of the Book: Hermann Hesse on Why We Read and Always Will – Brain Pickings

Monday, June 6, 2016

How to Become a Writer by Lorrie Moore

a PDF file at: https://d18ky98rnyall9.cloudfront.net/_a98b2c81cfc418d01e9408aa044a66c5_How-to-Become-a-Writer---Lorrie-Moore.pdf?Expires=1465344000&Signature=WIaWMRP2yCWNRigH4NV~9E2-Miy7ZPzo4b38bcqN0pIbNUWV17dPxBt~tdydeGe6eNSQqXFQ1~CbVNPWcMkePbAtrjvToO9vdathq9iVdjdSPv9QXPwNF0-FPJ3LsHIoULzFmyn-VNWQPwcwMy~tPh6jsSPQVbMobHM7ijwdILE_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLTNE6QMUY6HBC5A

How to Write about Africa | Binyavanga Wainaina | Granta Magazine

Friday, June 3, 2016

FoxType - analyze sentence structure

FoxType

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

(2) WernerBot

Saturday, May 21, 2016

What makes bad writing bad? | Books | The Guardian

Monday, May 16, 2016

Definition and Examples of Overwriting

Poem. SAUSAGE

FRY me an abruzzo
or an andouille
charge me full price
or give it to me free

A black pudding is nice
lots of blood and fat
filler of bread crumbs
and an old baseball hat

Blood sausage or boudin blanc
sometimes a bockwurst or
a fat Hebrew frank

A blutwurst, salty and cooked
bockwurst or boerewurst
spicy, full of season
I don't need an excuse
for amounts beyond reason.

To suck up the boudin
a rouge or a white
Eaten with bread
It's love at first sight.

Bangers or Chaurice
hot spicy creole
burns going down
even wrapped in a roll.

Chipolata or chorizo
dry-cured or pepperoni
all special and tasty
not that store-bought baloney

Cocktail weiners or viennas
are choice.
Cumberlands with cabbage!
I will surely rejoice.

Fatty Italian pork
links drained of fat
Franks and Frankfurters
Haggis made from lung
Hot dogs and tube steaks
bockworst and tongue.

Griddles or steamed
free of Listeria
High in fat and salt
fuels my hysteria

Kielbasa and knublewurts
smoked polish stuff
Kiske and Kiska
intestines and suet
Lap chong, Chinese
because they are sweet
Linguicia or Loukanika
and other Greek meat

Danish pork sausage
Pepperoni that's chewy
Pickled pork and Pinkelwurst
or scrapple all gooey

Cooked with potatoes
onions and rice
any kind of sausage
or any kind of spice.

Poem

Yesterday Morning

He startled me
and people nearby.
He yelled and pointed
at nothing
in front of Safeway. 

He was out of his mind. 
I offered first aid
wishing to intervene
to put a stop to this annoyance
and spectacle 
that took my breath away.

I approached, walking backwards towards him
and sticking pencils up my nose as I did.  
When I reached him, I spun around quickly 
singing “I am the Walrus, Goo goo g' joob 
Goo Goo Goo g' joob.” 
His eyes popped out of his head and he ran 
screaming into the bushes 
behind the store.  

I did my good deed for the day.

Took the morning off to sharpen all my pencils...

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Emailing: 3rd Monday Open Mic Flyer.pdf

Monday, May 9, 2016

The Difference Between Good and Bad Writing

Sunday, May 8, 2016

The Words We All Misuse Quiz | HowStuffWorks

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Contemporary Women Poets

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Poetry Archives - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built + Natural Environments

a gala public reading,,,2:00 p.m. • Sunday, May 1, 2016

April, National Poetry Month, is coming a close.

Rainshadow Poets invite you to celebrate

a gala public reading,

2:00 p.m. • Sunday, May 1, 2016

at Olympic Theatre Arts

414 N. Sequim Avenue, Sequim

Poets of all ages, from Jefferson and Clallam County,

who were chosen to be published

in the 2016 Rainshadow Anthology

will read on the Main Stage.

Copies of the Anthology will be available for purchase.

All sales and donations go to Olympic Theatre Arts,

a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Poem: The Art of Poetry

The Art of Poetry

I've heard you can really stink up a poem
by making it too long, 
or dirty, 
or you throw in jesus,
angst
too many metaphors 
or descriptions of  your yard party 
where millionaires 
shoot songbirds in the garden.

You can stink up a poem good
if you talk about how 
you wrote it, 
where you were, how many drugs you had
in your system,  
or how dirty your fingernails
or your sheets were.

A poem has to jell.  It has to steep 
before you let it out into the world.   
If it's too cold
to go out by itself, 
you have to let it stew 
and simmer
before you take up the mic or send it off 
to some rag 
run by a bunch of MFA students
back east 
or a trio of retired teachers putting it together
in the den 
or the room over the garage.

The last time I read this poem
I watched it sneak off the podium
hightail it around the counter 
and slip out the door to the parking lot
head down 
and eyes on the ground.

I saw it perched on a low bush
as I walked home. 
Its eyes burning with shame, 
looking away as I strolled by.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Submissions | Clementine (Unbound)

Monday, April 11, 2016

Short poem

Pet

I was on the teeter-totter
by myself
watching a guy on the swing
talking to himself
so it seemed
as I watched and listened
it appeared he had
his invisible dog with him
that he loved very very
much.

The dog was off leash
so he wouldn’t get
tangled in the swings
heavy chain.

After a spell
he left
strolling ahead
but calling back
Comeon, boy.

~

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Learning the Poetic Line by Rebecca Hazelton

Monday, April 4, 2016

Poetry Friday: Dip your toe in | Minnesota Public Radio News

RAINSHADOW POETRY 2016 ANTHOLOGY

RAINSHADOW POETRY 2016 ANTHOLOGY TO BE RELEASED The anthology includes more than 100 poets from Jefferson and Clallam counties in Washington. Anyone interested in inquiring should contact Ruth Marcus: rmarcus@olypen.com

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Almost fifteen hundred POSTS since we started this BLOG

Submissions – Lunaris Review

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Cathy Park Hong

Site Search : The Poetry Foundation

Cathy Park Hong Reads 'Ballad in A' | PBS NewsHour

Friday, April 1, 2016

Raw Writing

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Profane - Literary Magazines

Monday, March 28, 2016

Writers Earn More Money as Bloggers - How to Blog a Book

Thursday, March 24, 2016

BRILLIANT flash fiction | Published quarterly on the last day of January, March, June and September

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Open Books: A Poem Emporium A Bookstore Devoted to Poetry

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The Most Dangerous Writing App

Friday, March 4, 2016

The New Guard - Literary Magazines

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Home — Bennington Review

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Litbreak Magazine

Monday, February 29, 2016

Indiana Review

Friday, February 26, 2016

The Creativity Webzine - Literary Magazines

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Flash Fiction Online - Literary Magazines

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Section 8 Magazine - Literary Magazines

Monday, February 22, 2016

Elevate your writing, photo and video content with 11 simple tools - Freelancers Union

The Ideal Length of a Sales Email, Based on 40 Million Emails

Sample Manuscript

The Indianola Review - Literary Magazines

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Literary Magazines

Literary Magazines: from EWR

The Delmarva Review

Posted: 19 Feb 2016 06:56 PM PST

The Delmarva Review is a literary review publishing short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and short reviews. The Review was originally founded to feature writing

The post The Delmarva Review appeared first on Literary Magazines.

Flint Hills Review

Posted: 19 Feb 2016 05:01 PM PST

Flint Hills Review is an annual publication with a national circulation. We publish work with a particular interest in region, including regions of place, regions of ethnicity,

The post Flint Hills Review appeared first on Literary Magazines.

The Arava Review

Posted: 19 Feb 2016 01:25 PM PST

The Arava Review is an on-line literary journal. We are looking for excellent works of poetry, fact, fiction and Visual Art. Though you don't have to be previously published do send us your best work.

The post The Arava Review appeared first on Literary Magazines.

CONSEQUENCE magazine

Posted: 19 Feb 2016 09:03 AM PST

CONSEQUENCE is a new literary magazine focusing on the culture of war in the twenty-first century. We believe that literature and art can advance the discourse a

The post CONSEQUENCE magazine appeared first on Literary Magazines.

Prole

Posted: 19 Feb 2016 08:55 AM PST

Prole is an exciting, new publication. We publish three issues a year. Our broad variety of poetry and prose

The post Prole appeared first on Literary Magazines.

Alaska Quarterly Review

Posted: 18 Feb 2016 11:25 PM PST

Alaska Quarterly Review is one of America?s premier literary magazines and a source of powerful, new voices. AQR publishes short stories, short novellas, novel excerpts,

The post Alaska Quarterly Review appeared first on Literary Magazines.

Fwd: Literary Magazines: from EWR