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We delight in the beauty of the butterfly,
but rarely admit the changes it has gone
through to achieve that beauty.
Dr. Maya Angelou
April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
In Memoriam
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Changing Tides
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Changing Tides
The tide came in and
almost knocked
us off our feet.
We kept our balance.
The tide went out,
and left behind countless
pieces of broken shells.
I examined several
then decided I didn't
want any souvenirs.
Thanks to Kasie Whitener for this week's Wordsmith Studio Creative Prompt-Summer Romance.
Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog,
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Buried Lies
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Buried Lies
Take your stance.
Dig in so
you won't slip.
Going back, cock
your wrists quickly
then propel the
club head downward.
Ball and sand
fly together.
It takes
a firm blow,
but we can
escape from
buried lies.
Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this site link to follow this blog.
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Summer Reading-The Game's Afoot
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The Game's Afoot
The solitary cyclist rode by
the Priory
School
three students came out.
"Have you seen the
dancing men?" he asked.
"No," they replied. "Why
don't you ask Charles
Milverton Augustus?"
"He went to the empty house
to speak to the Norwood builder,"
Further up the road, the cyclist
saw the noble bachelor
wandering among the copper beeches.
He was wearing his golden
pince-nez and examining
the blue carbuncle.
"Have you seen the
dancing men?"
"Yes, they went
to Wisteria Lodge to
entertain the Red-Headed League.
The creeping man says
this will be his last bow.
How many references to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes can you find? What tops your reading list this summer?
Thanks to Carol Early Cooney for the Wordsmith Studio Creative Prompt-Summer Reading.
Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog.
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Seaside Chat
The ocean
is right outside
with a
beach made for walking.
I take to
it often, with
a notepad
and pencil in hand.
I’ll be
ready when the inspiration
comes, as I
know it will.
The ocean begins to speak.
Where do you go to find inspiration?
Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog.
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Reflections, snoitcelfeR
I love to take pictures of reflections. They are the two-fers of photography. For example, you can take one picture and capture buildings on opposite sides of the street. You also can get two pictures of the same objects in one frame, such as a tree and a tree standing on its head.
Thanks to Rebecca Barray for this week's Wordsmith Studio Creative Prompt-Bonus. Wordsmith Studio has Twitter chats every Tuesday. Join us at #wschat at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern time.
Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog.
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
What will Replace Letters as a Connection to the Past?
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The Women’s Interstate Network
The letters written by the women in the family
kept them connected across the miles
and through the
years.
The points of origin were on each coast,
in the desert and
near the Great Lakes .
These were the epistles of Lil, Stelle and Jean,
Zena, Camille and Mary
and Ann, Em and Roxie.
They carried news of brothers and sisters
and their spouses and children,
of home and places never seen by the readers.
Some were written in the same Catholic school cursive.
The words spoke from the paper in distinctive voices,
heard with the heart
instead of the ears.
No matter how far the letters had traveled,
when they were read, the authors were
as close as the next sentence.
I read this poem at a reading at the Downtown Neon Gallery in Kansas City in January. I half jokingly asked the audience, "You do know what letters are, don't you?" I got the laugh I was seeking, but also some acknowledgement that my question wasn't that outrageous.
The letters Mother received from her sisters and sisters-in-law helped me get to know them and uncles and cousins, most of whom I saw only a few times in person. How many of you have read letters from your ancestors?
Letters written by prominent figures have allowed us to be privy to what they thought were private conversations. Here is a link to the first of the poet Ranier Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, that gives insights into his thoughts on writing.
Will blog posts, other social media posts or even emails reveal as much to future generations as letters have revealed to us? Are they as intimate? Do you have a favorite letter or collection of letters that has special meaning to you?
Connect with me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog.
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Writers on Writing
I like to collect quotes on different topics. Things that resonate with me for various reasons. Of course, a number of the quotes I save pertain to writing. I decided to share 10 of those today:
...I write to keep in contact
with our ancestors and to spread truth to people. Sonia Sanchez
Never keep
a poem waiting; it might be a really good one, and if you don’t get it down it’s
lost. Ruth Stone
I have never started a poem
yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering. Robert Frost
As soon as
coffee is in your stomach, there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move…similes
arise, the paper is covered. Coffee is your ally and writing ceases to be a
struggle. Honore de Balzac
For a long time now I have
tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write
better than I can. Ernest Hemingway
She was so much a writer that
she didn’t need to put the words on a page—the world was her paper. Isabel
Farhi about her grandmother Betty Friedan
I must write it
all out, at any cost. Writing is more than living, for it is being conscious of
living." Anne Morrow Lindbergh
An idea, like a
ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself. Charles
Dickens
If you read a great poem aloud--for example, “To
a Skylark” by Percy Bysshe Shelley--and read it the way he set it up and
punctuated it, what you are doing is breathing his inspired breath at the
moment he wrote that poem. That breath was so powerful it still can be awakened in us over 150 years later. Natalie
Goldberg
You need to know that your
poetry muscles can get bigger. Nikky Finney
Do you have a favorite quote about writing?
Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog.
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
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