The pipeline is shrinking so get your work submitted! And please continue to share this new project – The Short of It – with people you think would enjoy having their poetry/writing showcased here. Perhaps you are a part of some Facebook or Twitter poetry groups – share this information with them!
Looking forward to reading more “short, sweet and to the point” pieces!
More information about the submission guidelines can be found by clicking this link.
A bond since 2018.
people
be they virtual
or in your face
if they are seeking you out
supporting you and your craft
making your efforts known
that’s love, acceptance, respect, and admiration
**This piece was inspired by John – The Mush from the Hill
Sorry, it took me so long, John!! I found my original notes finally! 🙂
Valentina taps into the head of a writer exquisitely with this piece. Enjoy!
I searched at the bottom of my lungs
and
I havefound the courage to exhale.
I rediscovered a forgotten sensitivity
to
black marks left on white bedsheets
I felt a pain under my right atrium
so
I got back to writing.
Recently, I wandered unto the Poetry Foundation’s site and stumbled upon this poem by Billy Collins. Several books of this American poet are sitting on my book table as I write this. I do believe I should take some time as soon as possible to immerse myself in his works if I can expect more like what I’m about to share with you.
What impressed me the most were the multiple layers. I could read through it once and see Collins speaking to readers on what to visualize; then, in the second read through, it struck me that he was also talking to writers and poets on how to be open to inspiration. He not only interjected humor into it like a professional comedian, but you could see he was authoritatively guiding a student’s mind as a teacher as well. Written with such ease but yet it was interweaving the subject matter like a piece of M.C. Escher art. I found this piece amazing. It left me with a smile on my face and sighing loudly. And hoping that I might one day write so well.
May this piece hit home for you as much as it did me.
Introduction to Poetry
by Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
memories
feelings
sentiments
history
humor
outcomes
truths
utterances of love
sorrow
joy
despair
words twisted
into eloquent meaning
this
the syllables divulge
Image credit pxhere.com
Has a piece left you crying, emoting, or visibly shaken? Can you relate to it intensely or identified with it so strongly you feel the need to share it? Have you witnessed some exceptionally good writing? Then please forward it to me!
This is a call to my readers to help spread the good stuff we so frequently encounter. I’d like to showcase some of the brilliant writers we all know! They deserve some recognition.
Please link to those pieces in the comments or email to me – sushibocks@gmail.com
I will repost them as they are made available to me. I’ll also share those beauties which I’ve found on WP and other places.
Thank you!! 🙂
Not trying to knock my efforts here, but I don’t know if I would call it great art. One definition of art is that it is a form of creation, so expressed in that way, I DID ART! And I enjoyed it very much.
I was excited to be notified today that my sketchbook “I’m Fine” was received and within the next 6-8 weeks, it will be digitized for the whole world to see. When it’s live, I will post more information so you can see my creation for yourselves. Please be kind.
To give you a little bit of backstory on this, last year I ran across an ad about it and decided to participate. My thought was to showcase my writing in a non-traditional way. Seeing how I delight in being untraditional, this made perfect sense. Plus their mission statement below encouraged me to say “Hey, why not?” I loved the inclusivity of this project and it gave me an opportunity to try something different than I would normally do.
12 years ago when I started The Sketchbook Project, I wanted to create an informal outlet for anyone to create art, with a purpose. I believed and still believe in the notion that a creative community is stronger than its individual artists and that a project can be impactful in a way that is different than a traditional gallery.
With over 45,000 sketchbooks from 30,000 different global creative people, we have grown over the past 12 years to be the largest collection of sketchbooks in the world. We have reignited art careers, inspired first-time creatives and even helped a few marriage proposals.
We find ourselves at the intersection of the social and digital transition and analog ephemeral needs.
By allowing anyone to participate, we have grown to a massive worldwide community of not only professionals but amateurs, moms, dads, mailmen and more.
We do not believe in the statement ‘I’m not an artist.” Because it doesn’t matter. Share your story, draw your stick figures, just own it.
We can promise you a lifelong commitment to keeping your artifact safe while continuing to act as a time capsule for global creativity.
Thanks for being a part of our community.
STEVEN PETERMAN
FOUNDER / DIRECTOR
For more information about it or if you’d like to get involved with the next one coming up – Volume 16, click here.
A peaceful and quiet place, all noise removed, has been my retreat for not only my writing but my sanity as well. The feeling of being in a calm, safe space translates into a much happier me. This human-made structure (my home), devoid of people with only the bare minimum house noises, is where I also feel the most productive. I would imagine this rings true for many of us here on WordPress.
Once intruded upon, my surroundings become less appealing. There goes my peace of mind as well. It’s as if the boundaries weren’t respected, and chaos ensues. I always wonder how others react to or cope with intrusions. For me, my space becomes a complicated atmosphere, and I become tense and charged. Does that sound about right for you too?
Even music was considered an intrusion. Never before have I been able to write with music playing until I started listening to LP. It’s like she’s a friend holding me through the process. It’s an escape to warmth and caring. I happened to discover this when I wasn’t in my usual quiet space and still needed to get some work done. The distractions around me needed to be drowned out. It was not sufficient only putting the earbuds in, so I also turned on her music. Yay, no more external noises pushing against my boundaries, but then I realized I could also write with her streaming in my ear. Wow!
Her music takes me to a zone I can lean into comfortably. It’s a rhythm like none other. My being and my body begin to move and sway with it. I feel like I’m in my bubble again, but it’s enhanced. LP does this to me every time. Her voice, along with the music, makes me want to glide and fluidly command the space. She taps into a part of my nervous system that responds with relaxation every time, without fail. It’s like it all becomes one with the core of who I am. She becomes a part of me, living inside of me. And I can write because she doesn’t feel like an interloper. LP helps the process.
But I digress with this tribute to my all-time favorite artist. I do highly recommend you search her out, though. She’s phenomenal. Shutting up now. I’ll get back on track as this piece started about the peace and harmony I find in my little world.
After a 50+ year existence, I’ve had a lot of trials and errors to determine what does happen to work for me. Right here, right now – having a feeling of peace and experiencing a quietness like this has done wonders for my life. Not saying that life doesn’t still throw curveballs, it does! But even those are mitigated as I feel so much more rational than I’ve ever felt. That must be part of what the aging process does to a person, or? The mind knows what it wants and grasps it. Or is that just me?
The kids have moved on to the lives of their choosing. I sit at my computer and type to my heart’s content – books all around me whose words I get to devour whenever I want to. My head allowed to roam freely, contemplating everything and nothing. Because of all this, I’m experiencing freedom in a way I’d not previously experienced. I’m exquisitely fortunate to have this space called home to express my thoughts, and for that, I’m grateful.
May it last until I close my eyes for the last time.
the important
rich epochal words
in laconic utterances
draw me in
with their martinet style
the writings feel heavy
but light in presentation
i aspire to reach
that level
of intensity
lifting others
in my understanding
