Poetry ‘n’ Pics III

Hello Dear Ones!

My book  – A Year in the Life of a Bus-Traveling Poet – went to the printers on June 29th. Blessings be, we beat the deadline! Since then I’ve been filling all my spare time writing poetry galore! Lots to include today … enjoy! Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Poetry ‘n’ Pics!

Hello Dear Ones!

Today’s Poetry Corner is being dedicated to a new category within M&M’s Musings: Poetry ‘n’ Pics.

Seems that two creative passions vie for my time and attention each day – poetry and fractal artwork. Many of you who know me through Twitter will be familiar with my micropoetry.  Individual tweets of my poems get sent out in that fashion on occasion. Yet there are days – like today – when I write six, nine, a dozen or more! I don’t like overloading inboxes with tweet after tweet of my verse.

The majority of you would be unaware that I also do art work through the computer. Many of my pieces have found their way to our Flickr site (click on Fractals: my work shows up under Marcia’s Apophysis Galaxies). Here are two of my favourite pieces – the Beribboned Buddha plus Mother and Child: Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – For Poetry Lovers

Hello Dear Ones!

It has been a rather dreary day, weather-wise. I needed a bit of a lift. Poetry always provides that lift for me. I  was moved to peruse through some of Mattie Stepanek‘s poetry with hopes of adding some exceptional quality to the emotional energy that seemed to be lacking in my day. I was not disappointed!

As I was preparing this post, I also went to Mattie’s website to happily discover the following article:

The World Premiere of “Heartsongs”, composed by Joseph Martin and based on the inspirational works of American child-poet Mattie J.T. Stepanek will be performed by the Houston Children’s Choir at Carnegie Hall on June 6 at 8:30 pm.  The concept of placing the young poet’s words into a choral setting, has been transformed by the composer into “a gorgeous musical experience that truly captures Mattie’s universally inspirational and life-affirming message”…

That event took place a mere few days ago.

I’m  sharing with you today, from his Journey Through Heartsongs book, Mattie’s accolade to someone in his life (obviously Mr. Thompson according to the poem’s title) who loves poetry. Being a poet, and loving the art as much as Mattie did, this poem is a gift to all people whose love of that art brings us all together in joy and the wonder of life. Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Haiku Galore!

Hello Dear Ones!

If I submitted a tweet for every haiku I write, everyone who follows me would see my smiley-faced avatar umpteen times a day. It also means I’d not have time to do much other than write haiku and enter tweets in to Twitter! I tweet enough as it is without adding an additional load to my followers’ HootSuite or TweetDeck or other such options!

As a result, today’s Poetry Corner will offer a compilation of the haiku and related styles of micropoetry that I have recorded the past week. They are provided here in the order in which they came to me.  Haiku subjects vary moment by moment in topic for me – just the way my mind works and my heart connects to all that is in my life. You’ll notice there is seldom a common theme: with one exception – the Progressive Haiku poems (seen as #progressivehaiku in Twitter) that have an emotional series or chain of thought over several stanzas from sadness to joy.  Enjoy! Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Punc:tu;a’tion!

Hello Dear Ones!

Over the years there has been controversy regarding the appropriate use of punctuation in poetry. From when to insert a simple comma, to the applicable introduction of a hyphen – and all the way to the final stop, or period.

Discussion ranges from using or ignoring an apostrophe, such as it’s and its, to the more demanding option of a colon or a semi-colon. Depending on the style of poetry used, punctuation can vary. Many poets use the breath as the only natural comma and hence end a line and create movement down to the line beneath it to effect that breath.

Gertrude Stein, who called the comma ‘servile’, expressed an interesting dispassion for semi-colons.  She wrote (notice her lack of commas in this writing) back in 1935 in her book “Poetry and Grammar”:

“They (semi-colons) are more powerful more imposing more pretentious than a comma but they are all the same. They really have within them deeply within them fundamentally within them the comma nature.” Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – One Breath Per Line

Hello Dear Ones!

An dear e-friend and great micropoet through Twitter: Tina Nguyen has recently inspired several of us to get into a more extended style of Haiku – known as Gogyohka:

Gogyohka is a new form of Japanese short poetry, founded and pioneered by Japanese poet Enta Kusakabe. Gogyohka is pronounced go-gee-yoh-kuh (the “g”s are hard as in “good”), and literally translated means “five line poem”. Gogyohka is five lines of free verse on any subject matter. There is no set syllable pattern, however the poem should be short and succinct. The goal is to compellingly capture an idea, observation, feeling, memory, or experience in just a few words.

Gogyohka is a fun and easy form, making poetry writing accessible to everyone, including children. Yet it is challenging as a method of practice for self-reflection, contemplation, and distilling one’s thoughts. Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Cosmically Dancing

Hello Dear Ones!

Today I am honouring a very dear e-friend – an amazing woman who continuously delights me with her upbeat and spiritual ways. She shares the deepest and richest of glows from her inner being to all around her. Wise and witty, playful and boldly brash when she needs to be, Nardine Neilson is a valued member of several forums of which Mike is an active member and I – well, I’m a lurker. Mike will notice a post or topic that he thinks might appeal to me and sends it my way. I usually respond and so am known to the groups. It is in this fashion that Nardine and I have since communicated more deeply the past many months.

The following is a poem that Nardine posted to the Astral Projection and Medaphysics Forum on April 30, 2010. She blessed me with the permission to publish it here for your enjoyment. What a powerfully spiritual piece! Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Remember Father on Mother’s Day

Hello Dear Ones!

As long as I can remember, every Mother’s Day – without exception – my Dad would be heard to say, at some point to anyone and everyone within ear shot: “Don’t forget Father on Mother’s Day!” Though we lavished Mom with gifts and flowers, cards and, usually, a meal out, we always remembered Dad in some fashion.

Though my Mother has left this world physically, she is with us in our hearts and memories. It is to our memories of her and our hearts’ yearning for her that I dedicate this post in advance of the Mother’s Day weekend. MoM, wherever you are and whatever celestial mischief you are getting into today … Happy Mother’s Day!

(BTW Dear Reader: if you hear thunder and see lightening on Sunday, May 9th, 2010 … that’s my Mother telling us ‘kids’ that she’s thinking of us! How do I know? Well, that’s a story for another day …) Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Belief & Inspiration

Hello Dear Ones!

Belief and Inspiration are my topics of choice this week. Starting with the theme of Belief (with more than a mere undertone of Inspiration within it!) , from a web search I found a sweet link to the following :

BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART

Author: Unknown

Believe in your heart that
something wonderful is about to happen.
Love your life.
Believe in your own powers,
and your own potential,
and in your own innate goodness.
Wake every morning
with the awe of just being alive.
Discover each day the magnificent,
awesome beauty in the world.
Explore and embrace life in yourself
and in everyone you see each day.
Reach within to find your own specialness.
Amaze yourself and rouse those around you
to the potential of each new day.
Don’t be afraid to admit
that you are less than perfect;
this is the essence of your humanity.
Let those who love you help you.
Trust enough to be able to take.
Look with hope to the horizon of today,
for today is all we truly have.
Live this day well.
Let a little sun out as well as in.
Create your own rainbows.
Be open to all your possibilities;
all possibilities and Miracles.

Always believe in Miracles.

Continue Reading →