| June 2005 | Café Society's Poetry News Update |
| June 2005 | Café Society's Poetry News Update |
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| Nordette Adams is an award-winning fiction writer. She is also a journalist and poet
who lives in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, was born in Memphis, TN, but considers herself a daughter of New Orleans, LA, the city in which she was raised. As well as the poems featured on the link page below this interview feature, you will find more of her work on her first site -Writingjunkie.net or at AuthorsDen.com. A number of writers and organizations have chosen to link her multimedia site NexusNord.com, with which she has lots of fun.
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When I checked into HTML I discovered it was very much like the old word processor code I’d learned in the early 80s, and so I had no trouble picking it up. I finished college in 1996 (I was a nontraditional mommy student), and started a magazine called Augusta Aiken Family that was picked up as an affiliate by Disney’s now defunct Family.com. Observing marketing trends, Disney, About.com, Ivillage, only made me more positive that writers should move toward the Internet. My magazine went under, but in my next few jobs I made sure I gained more Net-related skills. Unfortunately, divorce and illness closed doors down an Internet career route, but I’ve put some of my skills and knowledge to use personally with NexusNord. Actually, the technical skills I use are outdated now, and my promotional skill set is mostly instinct at this point. I haven’t been following trends.
Also some of the poems by Diana L. May, who’s removed her hotter examples, rate up there.
I feel that my attempts at erotica are like a schoolgirl practicing her kissing skills on an orange when I read the erotic words of these poets. My hang-up is probably tied to a history of sexual abuse and a fear that readers imagine the writer in the situations written, which they do. If you read some of the comments, you can see how often readers assume the work always reflects an actual occurrence in the writer’s life. Oh, too much Judeo-Christian angst, I suppose, on my part, not that I haven’t overridden my angst many times.
On the other side of the coin you have the poets who declare, “I haven’t trained anywhere, I don’t know nothing, I don’t wanna know nothing. Poetry is all about feelings. It’s not an art form. You just write what you feel, and if I have to look up a word when I read a poem or I personally don’t recognize a reference to Mars as the God of War, then the poem’s no good and the poet is a stuck-up prick. Anyone dares to tell me otherwise I’ll call them out on the carpet as an elitist bastard and see how they like it.” These poets also produce a lot of work, but have no respect for poetry, its origins, or its masters. Yet no matter what drivel they cast into cyberspace, they demand respect from everyone else.
Raw talent is a beautiful thing, but other creative artists understand you must pay your dues even when you’re gifted. Musicians know you must practice your instrument. Dancers know you have to go to the studio and learn technique. Painters study even if they do no more than copy the works of others first. But for some reason, we have a whole crop of Internet poets who think you just call yourself a poet and boom you’re a poet.
I find both these types of poets, the well-educated poet who looks down on others and the uneducated poet with the chip on the shoulder, to be equally annoying. At least the first one probably knows he or she is arrogant. Poets in the second group usually think they’re the underdogs, and anyone who’s bothered to read a book of real poetry is automatically less creative. The ease of publishing on the Net in many ways has made it more difficult to tell quality from trash because we are publishing ourselves, and ego-tripping folks, no longer at the mercy of editors and publishers, don’t want to be accountable to anyone. We’re all self-declared geniuses these days.
Yes, I think everyone should be encouraged to express him or herself creatively, but I think honest people are open to criticism, and sane people recognize that some people do indeed know more than other people. Furthermore, mature poets respect poetry as craft.
Poetry L & T:
How and why did you first start writing poetry, Nordette?
Nordette: My grandmother used to say I came here talking. I don’t know, maybe I was spouting poetry from the womb. All I know is that I had my first poem published in The Times Picayune, the daily newspaper of New Orleans, LA, when I was five years old I think. My mother says I was not the kind of child to ask “why” questions, but always “what if?” Like, “Look, Mom! The moon’s yellow and big on the bayou. It’s following us. What if it follows us home and lands in the back yard and the man who lives there comes down to see us. What will you do?” She says the “what ifs” drove her crazy. I guess that’s the germ of most stories, “what if?” So, all I can say is that I started telling stories and thinking poetically early, and my mom has only herself to blame because she read to me a lot and had me memorizing and reciting poetry in front of church groups probably from age three.
Poetry L & T: Who are your favourite poets?
Nordette: This is always a hard question for me. I like bits and pieces of so many people, songwriters too like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Carly Simon, and James Taylor. Because my family is what they call “race proud,” I grew up on the words of African-American poets like Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Phillis Wheatley, and James Weldon Johnson. As I got older I discovered Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Margaret Walker, and Ntozake Shange. But I was also exposed to Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, TS Eliot, Walt Whitman, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. And I like Homer and Euripides. Hey, give me a Greek chorus and total craziness. I tend to like classic writers. Not a poet in the traditional sense, but one with a lyrical writing style is Toni Morrison. I love writers who sing drama and paint scenes with a rich language and clear rhythm that shakes the soul. I like to read people who have not only talent, but also love the art of writing and honor the craft. Lately I’ve discovered the poet Aberjhani on Authorsden, a unique voice. His words and rhythms make me hum.
Poetry L & T: Have any of your experiences as a journalist ever directly influenced your poetry?
Nordette: Now that’s a funny question and I’m smiling. I’d have to say yes. Some of my poetry that’s tinged with a social activist or justice message has probably been influenced by my experiences as a journalist. It’s hard to work in the news industry, especially with hard news like politics, and not develop a certain amount of skepticism and cynicism. I also have experience in public relations, and so I’m often aware of people building images and retooling a story for spin. Consequently, I don’t always attend events and get emotionally undone because the speaker was charismatic or attend a poetry slam and get charged by the social message of the featured poet. I suspect that while he may be on stage reciting his own brand of humility, he’s probably been backstage bullying the show’s promoter about his placement in the star line-up. Usually I have to fight myself not to overanalyze, not look for the boogieman, and just enjoy the show. Still, I’m prone to walk away composing poetry in my head about tails wagging dogs, arrogance, and comedic schemes behind the scenes of dog and pony shows. Oh, stuff I can’t print without making enemies.
Poetry L & T: How did you first discover the joys of multimedia, which has helped to make your NexusNord.com website so popular?
Nordette: I found my way to the Internet back in 1994. I already had some training in graphic arts and typography from working as a layout artist at a newspaper. I started with Gopher, and then moved to AOL. As a journalist thinking about print media, I read about the Net and saw how it would change the face of publishing. But I was especially intrigued by the possibilities presented that anyone could launch an enterprise like a radio or TV station.
Poetry L & T: Would you say that the internet has helped you a lot, as a poet?
Nordette: In terms of producing quality poems, I’d have to say no. However, the Net has helped me gain exposure, which has helped build my confidence, which had taken quite a beating during my marriage. I’ve met so many generous, talented people through the Web, and that’s encouraged me to pursue my own art, and to try to produce work on a more regular basis. In that way, the Internet has definitely helped me as a poet.
Poetry L & T: I enjoyed the sensory feast of your poem "A Long Ways from Paris Ave". From reading it, I feel as though I have been there too. Have you been back there since writing the poem?
Nordette: No, I have not been home since I wrote the poem. Haven’t had the money to go, and I am definitely homesick.
Poetry L & T: Another of your poems that strikes me as very richly-evocative is "Lovely Man". Do you have a website where more of your love poems can be found, in one place?
Nordette: I’ve been trying to get better at putting love poems in one spot. On the NexusNord.com site, if you click Love À La Carte on the left menu rail, the link takes you to a list of love poems. I guess if you search for me at AuthorsDen.com by putting in my name and the word “romance” or “relationships” you may come up with a good selection.
Poetry L & T: With your poem "Hell of a Mojo", you hit the nail on the head with the concept of not being able to get over a lost love until you forget what they look like. A loved one's looks can be part of love's addiction. It can be fun in a bittersweet way to write about love... but are there any subjects which you find hard, emotionally, to write about?
Nordette: I know some people will not believe this after reading my work, but I find it hard to write outrageous, in your face erotica. Oh, I can rant and cuss up a storm misnaming every body part in a rage. I guess because then it’s like violence in a Quentin Tarantino movie. But steamy, I can’t breathe no mo’, drop your drawers because you feel like the words are climbing all over your body and sucking off your clothes? Ugh. Well, I keep thinking my mama’s coming or my ex is gonna drag me before a judge again and have me explain it. To give you some examples of what I mean, Mitzi Kay Jackson has this poem called “The Sounds Orchids Make” , and a friend of mine, Iva Lawson, wrote a poem called “Waking Dream” And finally, Aberjhani has a poem called ”Shadow Candy”. [*Editor's note: readers will need to sign into AuthorsDen to read adult material]
Poetry L & T: What is your idea of a good, or memorable poem?
Nordette: Unique imagery and phrasing, but not so unique to the poet that only the poet grasps it. Neither should the phrasing be forced so much to fit a rhythm or rhyme that the reader spends extra minutes trying to figure it out or it hurts the ear. I think good poetry should have grace in the sense that it has rhythm or flow. Some people today seem to forget that poetry is a cousin to music. It should sound good read aloud. However, poetry need not have the traditional rhythm of a stale rhyming greeting card. For instance free verse is still poetry. When it’s said it has no discernable rhythm that does not mean it has no rhythm at all; it simply means that the rhythm is random. You’d drive yourself nuts trying to do scansion on the poem. But it does have rhythm the same way excellent prose has rhythm. Good poetry speaks to a human condition that others relate to even if it speaks only from the poet’s narrow experience. Somehow it strikes notes in the universal mind. A good poem need not always evoke an extreme emotional response but it should evoke either an emotional response or deeper thought, alleviate a burden, inspire, or commiserate with the reader. An excellent poem should stay with the reader a bit like a good meal, whether for pleasure or for health. Now for us writers, we get to a point when we begin to read with a more critical eye and ear, and so sometimes we just read the darned thing and go, “Gee, that poet can write. Next!”
Poetry L & T: Is there anything you read in modern poetry online that you find unappealing, or irritating?
Nordette: Flip sides of the same coin. On one side you have the know-it-all, been there done that, I’ve trained at the best schools poet. He or she tends to do a minuet in ME dipping toward the reader with poetic masturbation. They really don’t give a damn if anyone understands what the hell they’re saying. They just want to show how many obscure mythological or literary references as well as only-found-in-the-Scrabble-dictionary words they can shove into one poem and how deeper than your average Mensan they are. Just as bad as these poets are their entourages who comment on their work and tell them how wonderful and profound they are when in reality, they don’t know what the hell the masturbating Mensan poet said either. They just want everyone who reads the reviews to think they’re smart enough to understand Mensan.
Poetry L & T: Do you like to write poetry in a spontaneous way, or do you prefer to re-draft and revise?
Nordette: I don’t have a preference. Sometimes my poems come to me as phrases, sometimes a rhythm or idea comes first. They grow from there. Often poems speak themselves in my sleep. I’ve been teased a bit about the poem “She Said, Part 2” which is kind of wild but it happened pretty much the way I said it did in the poem’s summary. At other times as a writing exercise, I just focus on something, close my eyes and write. Whatever comes comes. The poem “A Spill on Ice” was written like this. Once the poem is written, I edit. Rarely do I rewrite. I have some poems posted that are not serious at all. They were written strictly for fun or to let off steam. Some poems stay on the hard drive because they’re redundant, same poem different channel. I blog poems that I want to share but don’t want everybody and his grandmother’s comments because maybe I didn’t edit it. If you read a poem in my blog and it means something to you, send a note.
Poetry L & T:
Finally, Nordette, what are your main ambitions for the future?
Nordette: My ambitions are driven by my desire to see my children healthy, content, and stable, especially in the event that I do not get a kidney. The doctors say I will need one in about seven or eight years. I have a grown daughter still in college and a teenage son. Both are adjusting to post-divorce fallout. Right now I’m pushing myself to get back to my novel. For most of my life I’ve thought of myself as a fiction writer not a poet, although I started from a child writing poems. While I’m beating myself up about the novel, I have friends beating me up about a book of poetry. They’re pushing me to pull my work together in manuscript form. So I suppose, to sum up, my main ambitions for the future are to see how I can make my love, meeting the needs of my children, and my passion, writing, coalesce into challenge meets solution. I want to push this writing thing until I hear cha-ching! Then whether or not the ex does right by us financially will only be an issue between him and God.
Poetry L & T: Thank you for the interview, Nordette.
Nordette: Thank you for spotlighting me. It's been a pleasure.
 | NEW - in our merchandise store: the Poetry Life & Times Poetry Journal... click image to find out more.
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| Dear Poets, Welcome to the June 2005 issue of Poetry Life & Times (For those of you reading this on a mirror site and not poetrylifeandtimes.com, click here).
This month's interview features award-winning fiction writer, journalist and poet, Nordette Adams.
Featured Poets include: Ian R. Thorpe, Janet Caldwell, Kevin McCrum and Yoav J. Tenembaum.
Resident Poets feature Robin Ouzman Hislop, Richard Vallance, Jan Sand and Sara L. Russell. See below Featured Poets for the link to this page.
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In the Vallance Review for June 2005, Richard's Review No. 46 features Historical Evolution of the Sonnet: 4A. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose: Tradition Persists.
Fans of The Perils of Norris cartoon: You can buy Norris merchandise for home and office, including apparel and stationery... Click here to visit the store at CafePress.com. More goodies will be added as soon!
My own poetry can be found on AuthorsDen, these days. The links in the left-hand column of my pages include books and articles as well as poetry. Some of the articles give advice on making chapbooks, or finding publishers - and there is even an item on ghosts.
My latest e-book: Worlds Inside The Head, is now available, featuring animated poetry pages, short stories, video & audio recitals, plus pages in PDF format. Click here to scroll down to the animated ad at the bottom of the page, and click the link to find out more.
NEW - Poetry Life & Times Mobile Phone Pages + Free Ringtones & Wallpapers! We now have new mini-sized Poetry Life & Times supplement pages for mobile phones, which include information on the main site, occasional interviews, short poems + free ringtones and wallpapers. If you have a WAP-enabled mobile phone with a colour screen, point your mobile's browser at these pages (on your mobile you can usually omit http//:):
www.poetrylifeandtimes.com/pltmobile/index.htm
Ringtones are both classical and new original music (my own). Wallpapers are mostly from The Perils of Norris cartoon.
Any comments on this issue or back issues can be emailed to me on the link at the bottom of the page. Announcements are always welcome (brief if possible), you can also promote poetry books here.
Poetry submissions should be in plain text in the body of an email, with a small jpeg author picture attached, also a bio, with the URLs of any ezines mentioned, so that they can be shown as links. This increases the chance of inclusion, especially for late submissions. Pictures are best at a maximum of 520 pixels across, otherwise they take ages to arrive by email, especially in bitmap or TIFF format. I recommend that poets click the submissions link on our main page, for full guidelines, and please, always use a spellchecker.
Poets can submit previously-published work here. If another editor likes it, there's a chance we'll like it too.
Best Regards,
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Richard Vallance reviews sonnets, both classic and modern.
Featured Poets this month include Ian R. Thorpe, Janet Caldwell, Kevin McCrum and Yoav J. Tenembaum. Many thanks to all contributors. See below Featured Poets for our Resident Poets' page link.
Click title below for this month's Vallance Review feature
IAN R. THORPE
Seriously, Ian has been away some time but is back with this selection
from a work in progress based on what he calls "single source myths,"
the mythology of India, Arabia and Celtic Europe.
JANET CALDWELL
Janet Caldwell was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, USA, and describes herself as a free spirit. She has a book of poetry published by authorsden: Over 200 pages of gripping poetry where Janet Caldwell bares her soul in reflections of real events from her life and fictitious renderings of her innermost feelings.
Various sites on the web hold her writings and she held a byline in a newspaper. In the early 1980s she attended North Texas State University, taking CE classes now known as UNT. Janet has been influenced by writers such as Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Edgar Allen Poe, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Van Morrison, John Lodge & Justin Hayward. She has done volunteer work for the mentally challenged and is an advocate for others. She is also a certified optician in the state of Texas, USA and worked full-time for over 20 years in the optical field, fitting eye glasses and contact lenses.
KEVIN J. MCCRUM
His poetry has been published in Skyline
Magazine, Poetry in Emotion, his self published book
Glimpses of My Soul, and the soon to be released *New
Pleiades Anthology of Poetry, which features 14 of his
best poetic works.
Kevin has won several awards, including:
Golden Web Award: 2002-2003, 2003-2004; Art Space 2000 World Web Award: 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005; Maralyn's Expressions Romantic Poetry Award, Tucmangoria's Poetry Site Award and more... visit his website Glimpses of My Soul for full list.
YOAV J. TENEMBAUM
I have lived in various countries, including Britain, Israel, Argentina, the
United States (New York), and Spain.
I have pursued my academic studies in Israel (B.A. in History at Tel Aviv
University) and in Britain (Masters in International Relations at Cambridge
University, and Doctorate in Modern History at the University of Oxford).
A childrens' book of mine (The Planet of Mendaoor) was published in Britain in
1995.
Poems of mine have been published, among other places, in the following
literary magazines in the United States: ForPoetry, Tryst, Promise, Poetic
Voices and Subtletea, and in The Other Voices International Project, also in
the United States. Some of my poems have been published, as well, in the
Canadian-based A Little Archive of Poetry and in AboveGroundTesting.
Mnemosyne
© Ian R. Thorpe
(for a friend who was complaining of writers block)
She sought, not knowing for what she sought;
a talisman perhaps, some mystic key
to arouse her muse from deepest ennui
and conceive new life with the fertile thought.
"Observe the many rules", a high priest said,
"Follow this way", whispered the charlatan
but a silent voice advised "look within,
then face truths you find without fear or dread
and germinate each recollection's seed
and from among them nurture those you choose."
Then from within Psyche's deep vault she freed
A treasury of inspirations to use.
Seek out no secrets, seeker, but concede
Mnemosyne is mother of the muse.
From a very old book called Ancient Myths of the Greeks,
in a chapter on Minor Deieties: The Muses
Daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, they are known for the music of
their song, which brings joy to any who hear it. There are nine Muses,
each with her own specialty: Clio (History), Urania (Astronomy),
Melpomene (Tragedy), Thalia (Comedy), Terpsichore (Dance), Calliope
(Epic Poetry), Erato (Love Poetry), Polyhymnia (Songs to the Gods),
Euterpe (Lyric Poetry).
Chalk Stream
© Ian R. Thorpe
Joyous water dances between green banks,
catching and juggling the silver light
of a late summer day. Willow wands hang
trailing slender fingers in the stream.
Tails dusted with pollen, nectar - laden bees
hover in heavy air, each taking turns
to plunder foxglove, lavender, daisy.
A baronial heron stands, eye on the flow;
scorning minnow and perch to wait
for a more noble meal of trout or carp.
By green, secret depths, under jutting banks
water - vole and otter coddle their young
while on the filmy surface nymphs cavort
and a water boatman sculls to a fat stem.
Mallard and moorhen lead chick flotillas.
A fork - tailed swallow swoops and feasts
while dragon flies and damsel flies make haste
to fill up their few hours of precious life.
Magic runs in the young river. Mysteries
and eternal truths manifest in the flow
of water filtered through ancient chalk
that witnessed the making and unmaking
of numberless lives. Like an enchanter
the process suspends time for moments
while we stand to watch the constant stream
that begins in regions not inhabited
by time. Far from our rushing, counting world
where meaningless measures govern all,
curtailing and constraining minds as they
struggle to break free of stifling knowledge,
to explore beyond logic and analysis.
CWM TUDU
(Welsh: Bay of Seals)
© Ian R. Thorpe
Enclosed by guardian hills' embracing arms
as if protected from the encroaching hoard,
the Bay of Seals hangs off the edge of land,
sealed between rock walls and caressing tide.
The Celtic Sea, this shore's constant lover
has mocked Gods and Conquerors as they fail
to gain dominion over nature's treasure,
to hold the tide and calm the restless waves.
In deep rock pools starfish mimic sky
proclaiming each puddle a universe
to the unseen creatures that inhabit
each shadowed niche and weed encrusted stone
Tide surges slosh into a shallow cavern,
to sound a dead march for past generations
who came in longships or rust stained oilers,
whose voices cry eternally from the depths.
And Cwm Tudu today seems full of ghosts.
A mournful sigh sung by the distant shoals
Is echoed in the tide's insistent hiss,
Sounds unchanged since Druids mapped the stars.
A cantor wind plays among the tall stacks,
lashing salt spray from the racing wave tops;
its skirling notes accompany dog seals'
harsh yelp and seagull's plaintive keening cry
The Celtic Sea washes clean the slick rocks,
creeping crabs pick over each tide's debris
and all renews itself, water's cold touch
purges all wrongs. All things begin again.
In the lonely silence gateways open,
and understanding rises like the sun.
Cwm Tudu keeps watch on this renaissance
Until I turn away and think of home.
A shadow moves darkly among the rocks,
a passing cloud, maybe a trick of light?
Or is my soul forsaking human folly,
returning to the source of what I am.
Déjà vu Tide
© Janet Caldwell 2001-2005
How did you find me,
love of mine?
I know that you hail from
another place in time.
It doesn't matter,
warmth surrounds me,
tide dancing,
surging in the ancient sea.
Your scent lingers.
on this wave I ride,
transported,
borne on the déjà vu tide.
Ancient Lover
© Janet Caldwell 2001-2005
part I
I found myself dreaming, floating
A great sea surrounding me
The waves crashing, foam splashing
Incredible, lovely, lovely, dream
Swimming through the channel
Of love so deep, colors without name
Silky objects so provocative
Meaty, taunting, teasing so easily
Whirlpools with a thousand
Tiny fingers take me with might
Moving me on a wave of ecstasy
Hurling me through worlds known
And unknown yet all faces seen
Ancient lover, greatest passion
My love without question
Reaches for me...
part II
His hands so familiar
Make my rubies hard
My flower of nirvana
Is his greatest reward
Slowly and deliberately
He peels my every petal
Tasting and licking my vine
A sea flower, so tasty am I
Full of color and sustenance
Of the loving kind, I am lost
In this erotic sea, I don’t want
To ever wake up…
Seven times he took me extreme…
Far to the other side, swimming laps
Through his columns, I couldn’t get enough...
For at least a thousand years,
He’s been in my dreams
And he took me once and again
To a place that he’s shown to me, I see that
My ancient lover is coming
Home from the turbulent sea
Kevin J. McCrum lives an hour outside his native Baltimore,
Maryland.Requisite Love
© Kevin J. McCrum
carefully my love was carried upon your shoulders
like delicate porcelain
balancing precariously between night and day
winter and summer
my life circles in awkward momentum
as I beseech the universe to reinstate my mortal wealth
so I may once again have you in my blood
I need to drink the sustenance of uncommon possession
which is your soul
every inch of my screaming existence yearns to caress your blood filled skull
your mountain of life
I want the liquid of your being
and the salt of your tears
and every unsanitary texture of you
to beguile me with fruits of passion
and in so doing
destroy the recollections of my emptiness
From Kevin's Book "Glimpses of My Soul"
Summer Storm
© Kevin J. McCrum
abruptly
rain fell like a million hammers
ripping across the streets of Baltimore
we walked arm-in-arm
into the ferociousness of the storm
splashing our way toward pneumonia
with no trepidation
our bag of delight was open wide
as we chased sunbeams
like fire flies
speckled against the dark gray canopy
of the afternoon sky
Soon to be published in The New Plieades Anthology of Poetry
Sing to Him
© Kevin J. McCrum
This man,
Heavy footed,
And oft moved to tears,
Loves you more than life.
So his words are stones,
Like his marrow,
But golden are his ways,
And never ending.
With rainbows,
Not rose colored glasses,
He sees you,
In your skin so ambrosial.
Your vivacious demeanor,
Bouncing off hearts,
Leaving permissive dimples,
In its wake.
His scars are quiescent,
But easily forgotten,
In the shadow,
Of your solicitous adulation,
Where poignant moments,
And speech,
Are soft like nocturnes.
Together,
Your gallantry,
And his obdurate will,
Can make music.
Love,
Crafted like topiary gardens,
Which flows like wine from a fountain.
Stroke your violin.
Open your eyes.
Sing to him.
Soon to be published in The New Plieades Anthology of Poetry
How Many Kisses?
© Yoav J. Tenembaum
How many kisses
Do I have to send you
For you to know
How much I miss you?
Would a thousand kisses
Be enough to say?
Would one kiss
Suffice to know?
How many would you count
And realise how much I miss you?
Is there a scale
To be able to tell?
How Lucky is the Sunshine
© Yoav J. Tenembaum
How lucky is the sunshine
That it never doubts
Never questions itself
“Should I rise in the morning?”
“Should I set in the afternoon?”
How fortunate
The sunshine
That it does not query
The wisdom of its actions
“Perhaps I should stay longer in the winter?”
“What about if I encircle the sky more quickly in the summer?”
What a relief it is
For the sunshine to have no dilemmas
“Why must I go on in this monotonous life of mine?”
“Who shines upon me as I do upon the others?”
Or maybe it does
The sunshine
Questions
Queries
Poses a dilemma
But has no answers
So it continues doing what it does
While it doubts
Day after day
Life after life
And nobody knows
That behind the solid face
Behind the rhythmic proud
Walk in the sky
There lies an excruciating mind
Hiding in a yellow mask
Smiling to us
Without even a hint
Of the question mark
On which it stands.
Originally published in Promise, USA
If I Had a Heart to Spare
© Yoav J. Tenembaum
If I had a heart to spare
I would let it rest for a while
A long, long while…
I would send my heart to sleep
Cover it with a blanket
Bid it good night
And wait till the first whistle of the birds
Of the emerging sunrise are heard
Many a sunrise into the future from today
And then I would wake my heart up with a smile
And ask it as softly as I bode to it goodnight:
“Are you ready to come back to me?”
Originally published in Makata, Philippines
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Photo © by Richard Vallance, 1993 (Northern Ontario)
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 | An amazing new e-book published by Kedco Studios Inc. Curious? Click the picture link! |
 | SONNETTO POESIA ISSN 1705-4524 (Canada) Vol. 4. no. 2 spring 2005 is going to print. Featured in our first ever print issue are several well-known contemporary sonneteers including Eric Linden, Joe Ruggier & Richard Vallance from Canada; Robin Ouzman Hislop and Sara Russell of the UK; and Sondra Ball, Esther Cameron, Jim Dunlap and Carrie Ann Thunell of the USA. Subscription rates are $4.00 per issue/ $10.00 per year = 4 issues/Quarterly in C$ or US$. |
laissezmoienpaix@coolgoose.ca
Please do not send your submissions inline in the body of your e-mail. We will contact you only in the event any of your sonnets are accepted for publication.
Richard Vallance,
Editor, SONNETTO POESIA ISSN 1705-4524
dmoz open directory
Listed in The Poet's Market 2006 (August 2005)
Click the above banner to discover our free weekly market e-zine and searchable database of writer's guidelines with 1,000 publications - 200 that publish poetry.
Poetry Life & Times won The Prix Poesie's laissez-faire Grand Prize in 2002
- thanks Richard!
[Click the banner to learn more about this award.]
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Q U I C K I E S - an e-book of erotic/humorous stories for women |
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Come Meet our Poet Friends!
Check out the poetry sites of some of our friends and
Voulez-vous recontrez de nos amis poètes et rédacteurs Meet my literary friends! Rencontrez mes amis littéraires!windasm v9 fre download
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Visit Crystal Rose's Place
Val Magnuson Galactic Poet Award
An exciting new anthology, by Kedco Studios Artist Profile Press,
The Crystal Rose © Ice Shard
OUT NOW! CRYSTAL DAWN
ISBN 1-878431-71-9.
Award-winning poetry, a full novel, 10 Shakespeare plays plus free photographs for any use. Contributors: Robin Ouzman Hislop - Richard Van der Draaij - Cara Alson - Gillian Stokes -Jasmine
Dienes - Tyler Wiseman - Doctor C. S. Shaw - Vladimir Orlov - Monica Smith - Nick Zegarac
- Aurora Antonovic - C. S. Snow - K. V. Davis, full novel.
THE PERILS OF NORRIS, #58 - The Absinth Fairy does her stuff with 3 wishes.....
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The image of the Hill's Absinth bottle in this episode of The Perils of Norris cartoon was used by kind permission of Dan Hill at hillsabsinth.com. For more information about this exciting bohemian drink, plus Vicky Vixen cartoon and info about Hill's Absinth cocktails, click the bottle link on the left to visit their fun, interactive website... |
NEW: The Poetry Life & Times Store
Buy Perils of Norris Merchandise online, including mouse mats, clocks, tote bags and postcards. |  |
The Perils of Norris started in August 2000. To catch up on past episodes, click the links below.
The Perils of Norris Page 6 (Current adventure)
The Perils of Norris Page 5 (page 2 of earlier adventures)
The Perils of Norris Page 1 (early stories, start page)
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Email us early
with poetry, articles or poetry news, by 20th June for the July 2005 issue.
