Coffee delayed

Normally I share these the same day they are posted, but yesterday there was a technology snafu… So here’s my post for coffee house writers from this week… I hope that you enjoy!

Monday poetry

Today my newest poem on Coffee house Writers posts. The posting rules for Coffee House are slightly different for the poetry department. In the poetry department there are two types, the type I am is devoted to poetry and rarely post else. Coffee House is devoted to growth of their writers. So, the poetry department that I am a part of does a weekly assignment. A challenge if you will. The weeks that you post you are required to at least attempt the assignment, and to comment on other attempts. This way we grow, we learn.

I have written free verse my whole life. I am I think comfortable, overly so sometimes, with free verse. I love the lack of restrictions on my writing.

The poet ee cummings used a lack of following the syntax rules to separate his poetry from the mainstream. I am in no way comparing my poems to his, but it was an argument that I used in high school when the teachers wanted me to follow all of the poetic rules. I have learned the rules since, because it is easier to break rules if you know them. In high school though, I was not worried about the rules of what I was writing. It was a coping mechanism. I was writing pure emotional purge, without care of what I was truly putting into the world. It wasn’t until later, when I was safer, that I started to consider how to improve my words.

So I am thankful now to attempt the challenges to improve. A good many of them are new forms. As poets, we often stagnate in single forms because they become easy to write. (The reason why I have been taking on Haikus lately.) I hate stagnation. Poetry should be fresh. A new view.

This week the assignment was a Ghazal poem.From the internet search “Ghazal
(Pronounciation: “guzzle”) Originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love, medieval Persian poets embraced the ghazal, eventually making it their own. Consisting of syntactically and grammatically complete couplets, the form also has an intricate rhyme scheme. Each couplet ends on the same word or phrase (the radif), and is preceded by the couplet’s rhyming word (the qafia, which appears twice in the first couplet). The last couplet includes a proper name, often of the poet’s. In the Persian tradition, each couplet was of the same meter and length, and the subject matter included both erotic longing and religious belief or mysticism. ” I did not follow the rules exactly… Wouldn’t be my poetry if I did. I did however try to get the setup right. Tell me what you think, did I get it close enough?

Old stones sitting quietly,
places found most blindly.

Nature reclaiming,
places man lived.

Grasses growing freely,
ivy around everything you see.

Ancient things sleeping,
memories man is keeping.

Is resting continued,
when nature is what is new?

Monday Poetry

Usually I post my own poems on Monday… Though I have featured other poets. Today I am adding another layer to the possibility of Monday poetry….. A discussion of what poetry is. For me, it is part of who and what I am.

Poetry is something different to each person. It is I think often misunderstood. I have lost count of how many times people have said that they didn’t like poetry… The different forms of poetry so often are lost to time. Poetry is a broad umbrella. Songs and raps, these are both forms of poetry. They require a skill to write that not all poets possess.

A friend and I were having a conversation about some beautiful songs that she had written. Because they were not yet sung, she had been told that they were just poems… Which is both true and not true. I am a poet, but I cannot write songs. It takes a special ability to be able to write lyrics.

I write mostly free verse. I can do other types of poetry. Haiku, sonnets, slam poetry, etc… I am capable of writing other styles. I every now and then challenge myself to write in a structure that I am not used to.

Poetry is a personal form of expression. Every poet does their writing different. Some like my friend Michael who does the Haiku a Day, prefer the structure of a rigid poetry form. Some like me love the lawless freedom of free verse. There are so many versions of verse that you can write however you are most comfortable.

Not everyone is meant to write poetry, but poetry is not meant to be only for the elite. Even bad poetry is worth having in a world of so much suffering. So share with me your poetry! Let me read your soul.

Poetry doesn’t have to rhyme,

be in meter, or keep certain time.
It doesn’t have to be flowery,
filled with love, flowers and cheer.
The only thing that is for sure
Is poetry is a place for your heart
from which to outpour…

Poetry does not have to be shared
it can be written and then hid,
Shoved away into a drawer,
Given a time to mellow like wine.
Growing much finer given time.

Poetry can be shared,
spoken proudly and displayed.
Given to everyone in the light of day.
Put it on public display
Shout it out,
It’s all okay.

January Links

Books I was involved in Editing /publishing:

Under the Mists:
(www.books2read.com/underthemists)

Faery Footprints
(www.books2read.com/faeryfootprints)

My main links :
Come see me on Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/pattimouse)

my author page on Amazon
(https://www.amazon.com/Patricia-Harris/e/B012U5ZRD2)

My Coffee House Writer’s articles: http://coffeehousewriters.com/author/pattimouse/

My storenvy store
(https://www.storenvy.com/stores/1172892-serenity-studios-ooak)

Paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/1654411841/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_pNTdEbPNSES3X

Ebooks
Www.books2read.com/dylanpetzombie
=========================

Beauty’s Tears
Www.Books2read.com/beautystears
==============================

Serena’s books-

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The Death Of Neverland

Mobi – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06VTCKZ3H

Paperback – https://www.amazon.com/dp/1729360181/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_StH1Bb9MJD9M5

Draft to digital – https://www.books2read.com/u/mVB5p5

************************************

Rust, Gore, and the Junkyard Zombie

Mobi – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B7J5FSS

Paperback – https://www.amazon.com/dp/1980471320

Draft 2 digital – https://www.books2read.com/u/47ZAa7

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Under the Mists (a multiple author anthology)-
https://www.books2read.com/underthemists

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Faery Footprints (a multiple author anthology)-
https://www.books2read.com/faeryfootprints

💥💥Book Birthday : Beauty’s Tears 💥💥

So I actually published this a few days ago. The paperback edition is still not available… I’ll be fussing about that shortly. But the link for the ebook version is here. So I figured that I would let you have that until I can get the paperback live for you.

Coffee House Writers

My latest poem is live on Chw. Hope you enjoy.

http://coffeehousewriters.com/spirits-of-christmas-past/

Thursday Tea Party

Well, well, what have we here? Our last tea party for all of this year! Gracious, this year has been one filled with growth… And strange adventures. I certainly have many planned for 2020.

Faery Footprints, the next anthology from Fae Corps Publishing, is due to be released on January 6. I will have a link for the preorder by Monday.

The submissions deadline for Through the Sunshine, a light fae anthology by Fae Corps Publishing, is January 30. It will be released around June/July 2020.

Beauty’s Tears, having been set aside so I could do layout for Faery Footprints, is about to go into layout. I am planning a release around the first of February.

The illutrations for Dylan and the Pet Zombie are nearly done. Once they are completed, I will be doing layout for it and announcing that release date.

Serena is still working with Kingdoms of Sin and Life, Guilt, and Undeath. She is hoping to finish one if not both in 2020.

I am still working with Coffee House Writers. I have been accepted to attempt a place in their anthology. I also am planning to submit to a couple of others in the upcoming year.

I personally still have to finish Attack on Shoe Mountain, and of course the poetry volumes. There is so much writing that I have to finish. So I plan to be busy.

Of course I will be updating you as I know more! This year should be a busy one.