William Blake-Words and Images

Sometimes you do find treasure on the internet.

I was reading about William Blake in preparation for the October Sunday Salon at The Writers Place. The Salon is held the third Sunday of every month and hosted by Sharon Eiker. A different writer is discussed each month. Attendees take their own approach to learn about the life and works of each writer and share their perspectives.

Blake was both a visual artist and a poet. As this biography on poets.org explains, he expressed an interest in painting at the age of 10 and his parents sent him to drawing school. At 14, he was apprenticed to an engraver and was assigned to sketch the tombs at Westminster Abbey. He saw a variety of Gothic styles that he used as inspiration throughout his life. He went on to become an engraver and illustrator of books and magazines.

As I was looking for information about Blake, I hoped to find some of his poems and images. I didn't expect to find the William Blake Archive. I urge you to take a look for yourself to learn about this still-growing resource. I will give you a tip. After you have pulled up an image, hit the compare button.


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Poetry in Photos

This month, a new exhibit opened in The Changing Gallery at the American Jazz Museum. It is called Beyond Words {A Fusion of Poetry (+) Visual Art (+) Jazz}. If you are like me, you will want to go to this exhibit, which remains open until April 26, 2013, several times because you will take something new away from it each time.

I have been working with combining poems and photographs since early 2011.  The poem and photo are distinct pieces that are being viewed together. The poem is an entity in itself and can stand alone.

After visiting the exhibit a couple of times, I created a new piece using the same photograph and elements of the poem. In this piece, the words and photo are truly joined.

How you ever created visual (or concrete) poetry? Would you be willing to give it a try?

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Conventional Wisdom about Social Media

I guess for me seeing is believing. Like many people, especially of my generation, I have entered the world of social media begrudgingly, participating some but never truly embracing it. That changed earlier this week when I attended the 2012 NACWAA Convention in Kansas City.

At this multiple-day event attended by hundreds of people, I could observe how the organization promoted the use of social media, primarily Twitter, and the response it got. I could also read the individual tweets and see what elements other people chose to highlight about an experience I was sharing.

Based on both observation and presentations I heard, here are a few thoughts I came away with:

• There will be some trial and error in building a platform.
• Platform building also will take time, and therefore, patience.
• You can tell a story even if you only use 144 characters.
• An important part of a platform is helping others.

So, I think I'm finally ready to embrace the use of social media. How about you?


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Memories in the Air

I'm having a really bad allergy season this fall. Sometimes, especially when one is grieving, I think memories can be like an allergan. I was feeling that way when I wrote the following.

Memories Alert

Memories are in the air.
Create an emotional smog
that permeates the atmosphere.
Fill the lungs
but can't be expelled
no matter how hard we exhale.
Get in the eyes,
produce tears and
blur the vision.
Relief has to be self-generated.
After all, we are all responsible
for what we put
into the environment.

Related Post-I Keep You with Me-Looking at Grief with Verse


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