Back in May, my poem, “The Vineyard,” was published in Heart of Flesh Literary Journal. Through Heart of Flesh’s editor, Veronica McDonald, I learned about chapbooks. A chapbook is a short book of poems (usually 20-40). Often, the poems touch a single theme. In the next few months, I plan to self-publish a chapbook calledContinue reading “The State of Mercury”
Tag Archives: grief
The Devil’s Thesaurus
When Samuel Faulk said something about haiku at the Bible study we attended, I thought, “This guy either writes or reads poetry.” I asked him about it later, and he admitted to reading AND writing poetry. We got together to talk poetry, and he told me about a book he’d been working on for awhileContinue reading “The Devil’s Thesaurus”
Published Haiku!
In a previous post, I mentioned one of my haiku would appear in the August edition of the journal, Better than Starbucks. Well, August is here, and my haiku has been published 😊. To date, this is my third published poem. If you’d like to check out my haiku online, you can read it here.Continue reading “Published Haiku!”
These Are the Clouds
I’ve been reading through a book of poems by Yeats. So far, his work is marked by eclectic and contrasting elements. Many of his poems draw imagery from Irish mythology; the natural and supernatural worlds blur into something that is both yet not quite either. Other poems strike decidedly modern notes. This isn’t surprising sinceContinue reading “These Are the Clouds”
Longing
At one time or another, most of us will feel longing in some way: a road not taken, a friend who moved, disappointment with work, wanting to have children…the list goes on. Sometimes, we can’t put our finger on what we’re longing for; everything is just permeated by a vacuum. I’ve come to think ofContinue reading “Longing”
Frames of Dust
Feelings are like precious metals mingled and trapped in rocks. They’re not always valuable in their raw form. They must be processed and refined to become something beautiful. Writing poems has provided many writers a way to process and refine emotions. My own poems reflect all sorts of states: worship, whimsy, rage, rapture…poems are passionContinue reading “Frames of Dust”
A Delicious Concentrate
Sometimes, I read a poem that is everything I want a poem to be. The poem below, by Philip Larkin, is just such a poem: An April Sunday brings the snow, Making the blossom on the plum trees green, Not white. An hour or two, and it will go. Strange that I spend that hourContinue reading “A Delicious Concentrate”
For Sale
Robert Lowell (1917-1977) is a poet I became acquainted with by accident. I was trying to find a hymn I thought was by Robert Lowell—“The Angel’s Song”—only to realize later it was by Robert Lowry. Lowry is famous for hymns like, ”Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.” Lowell, as I came to learn, was aContinue reading “For Sale”
Shapely Poems
Shape poems or visual poems arrange text to form pictures. With some shape poems, the picture formed by words is more important than what the words say. Others use the shape to emphasize the verbal content. One of the first shape poems I read is also one of the best known. “Easter Wings,” by GeorgeContinue reading “Shapely Poems”
A Wandering Minstrel 