Tag: inspiration

politics, and sleep deprivation demons

Poetry woke me. it is not the first time, likely will not be the last. I have been working on two different projects as my poetry goes…I have been finding that I am writing a lot of political poetry…where I had not been before. I guess as I have aged my heart is just not in swallowing the rage I have been feeling for the way the world around me is. I don’t like saying nothing when I see a wrong being done. I have fought for my voice, so I guess I will have to use it. well not all of the poetry I have been writing is appropriate for this volume.

so I am writing two. I think the first one is either going to be smaller than my usual or take longer, I am not sure. it currently has twelve poems compared to the twenty nine in Handprints. Gathering Teardrops will be released in May and I am not sure if either of these will be available this year. I have a bit of a full schedule for publishing this year.

I will announce when each are done writing. I have another poem that is bouncing around my head wanting to be written, so I am writing instead of sleeping….sigh

oh…btw…I have an interview on Facebook on Friday…will post the link as soon as I get it.

Inspirational images

First, an explanation. I have been having tech difficulties for the last couple of days, which are making it more problematic to get the normal posts up. I am still not able to upload pictures properly.

Now… There are a couple of types of prompts… Text like the prompts that I often share… And images. I follow a couple of poetry twitter accounts and occasionally they post pictures to inspire. It is something that you look at the picture and write everything it makes you feel / that you see. Then you turn it into poetry.

This is a good writing exercise to get yourself writing over a block. Any image will work, but if you do not get it from a free source then make sure that you credit the artist/photographer. (I’m not sure who did mine… I got it from twitter poetry)

Write with me : prompt

Today I wonder what you would do with the prompt :

The winds of change blow

Echoes Into the Void

So I was having an email conversation with a friend about social media. He was pointing out the algorithm that sucks the orginality out of social media in general. While I agree with him and sometimes I think that I would be happier without the view of humanity that I recieve from reading the interwebs, I would miss the delight of seeing the creativity in the human soul.

The conversation ended with the idea that we both often feel unseen. It is not, I am sure, a novel feeling. To feel like instead of being actually heard… You are merely sending echoes into the void.

So I think that I want to hear the echoes…tell me something that you feel like isn’t being heard. One thing that you want to say. I will listen. And then go through the comments and hear others. Or pass the post on to others. Let’s get it to where no one feels like that echo.

Emily Dickinson

So, first I apologize for the lateness, today has been incredibly busy.

Emily Dickinson was the first poetry I ever read. I was amazed by the images her words… After her I found other greats such as Poe, Shakespeare, Blake, and other such poets. Still she was the first and still one of my favorites.

Sara Teasdale

Picture found on Google

Sara Teasdale is one of two poets that I found through Irene Hunt’s coming of age novel. I fell in love with the poem “I shall not care” and had to search for more by her. Admitted, I have not researched the poet as well as I did her work.

Her writing is flowing and feels like love poetry with out the sappy nature of some love poetry. I chose four of her poems to share as my favorite of hers. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do.

And a side note… I thoroughly recommend Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt. The story is dated, but it holds up well. The lessons the main character learns are just as valid sixty years later. I really felt like I was with her as she grew and matured.

Maya Angelou

Picture found on Google from (https://chapelboro.com/town-square/right-as-rain-that-time-i-flirted-with-maya-angelou)

So I have been thinking about this week and how much Tuesday has thrown off my schedule. My daughter was definitely more important and I have spent as much time as I could with her for her sweet 16th. So I also kinda missed my Monday poetry by telling y’all about my family.

A conversation with a friend of mine, another author, got my mind going. There are a few women poets who have been a big influence in my life. They helped me to survive and become me. So I am going to, until I cover each of them, share information about these poets daily. Yes it is going to include the weekend. I am also going to do next week’s normal posts if I have not finished by then.

I am starting with a legend. Maya Angelou.

Picture from snopes.com

I feel like her voice when she finally found it was what every survivor needed. A good deal of her poetry is about being a better person, about growing into something more. She was a woman of her age, and a activist who was an example for her community. For women, for women of color, for survivors, for people who are struggling. She was all of this, and more. She used this to leave words to inspire that will continue to help those who read them.

Her writing has a very lyrical quality. You can feel the rhythm as it is read. For me, there are several of her poems that resonate. I chose the three that I love most to share here. Her autobiography is a very interesting read. She was someone worth reading.