While waiting for him to retrun, check out his past columns over at Oddball Magazine.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
New Intention
Going to submit to a journal I haven't been able to get published in for over two years.
This was ever since they got a poetry editor who rejected my work in record time.
That editor is finally gone!
I almost wanted to send the new editor all the old work that got turned down, but that would be too obvious.
Hope I can wow the new kid.
Lunch Poems
Trying to send some work to a new journal this lunchtime hour.
Don't even know if it's right for me, or if I'm right for it.
I guess I'll see.
If I'm working through lunch again, it may as well be some of my work.
It's Time
Poet Andrew O'Brien is joined by artist Dr. Regina Valluzzi to kick off this week's pandemic poetry at Oddball Magazine.
This Week's Most Distinguished Network Name
It's amazing what people will name their online networks. I'm always trying to hijack wifi when I'm commuting, so I often come across a number or interesting names. Every Tuesday, I post the most impressive and/or cringe-inducing names.
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| Nice pun, and it reminds me of a cool Aerosmith song. |
Monday, January 25, 2021
Welcome Back
Here's poet Jackie Oldham and artist Eric N. Peterson returning for another one-two political punch over at Oddball Magazine.
From Picture to Page: Pretend
Came across this on the corner of Huntington and South Huntington, waiting for the 39 bus. The word "Pretend" placed in solid letters up along building wall. No idea what this was put up for. Was it art? It couldn't be part of anyone's business, could it? I thought about it and wrote this poem today.
Pretend
That you greet lowly interns
with the reverence
reserved for your wife.
Amazing!
Geoffrey Fallon has something to celebrate. Read his comic "The Secrets of Skinny People" today at Oddball Magazine.
January 27: Stone Soup Helps Blackbyrd Save the Dudley Cafe
Join us on Wednesday, January 27 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM ET by clicking this link.
The meeting ID is 829 5121 2218
Password: stonesoup
Sunday Soup
My favorite soup hands down is tomato bisque. The first bowl I ever had was at Milano's Italian Kitchen, formerly on Berkley and Newbury in Boston, where I worked for two years. It would be over a decade later until I would get something comparable at the Hawaiian Hilton in Honolulu, where I was passing through to train new technicians in American Samoa.
Call for Submissions: Mamas, Martyrs, and Jezebels
Information courtesy of Diane Goettel. Click here for the Submittable page.
Annoying Thought of the Day
I almost feel bad for Florida.
Imaging having to give a f*** about Tom Brady and Donald Trump.
This Week's Friendly Reminder
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| From the Justseeds website. |
Joe Biden is president, but the problems that made us accept Joe Biden as a candidate still exist. Trump will be back. His followers are still here. It's up to us to continue to protect each other and to fight for what we want.
It was hard for me to keep active during Obama's administration. I'll be looking for ways to do it now. I am open to suggestions and will share when I can.
Article Up
The piece I worked on all afternoon yesterday is up. Read "America: The water cooler taken off the boiler" over at Politics Means Politics. Special thanks to J.N. Paquet for publishing my first piece of the new year.
Sunday, January 24, 2021
Your Weekly Dose of God
Last week my Mom took out my brother's cross for me to keep at my new home.
I didn't really understand what that meant. For all their beliefs, not even my maternal grandmother ever had any large, extravagant holy symbols. I was expecting something small.
Keith died before I was ever born.
I didn't realize it was the cross on his casket. Such a heavy thing.
Nwo I really have to really think about where to put this.
Saturday, January 23, 2021
Call for Submissions --Extended Deadline!
America is at a crossroads. The people have spoken and have rejected overt fascism, yet there is no going back to normal, to a world of failed policies that has pushed us to the very brink, one that continues to struggle through a global pandemic, with widespread poverty and an ever looming climate emergency. There is no time to wait to reshape our future and reimagine what America and this world around us can be.
Happy Birthday Robin Stratton
Check out the last few issues of Boston Literary Magazine.
And visit the main website for Big Table Publishing.
Friday, January 22, 2021
Wow
Just made a count of all of my poems published last year.
Sixty seven.
It's a lot of head line poems. Too many Jesus tanka.
Still...Sixty seven.
That's not even including my book.
I keep obsessing over doing more and doing better.
I have to stop and tell myself I did okay last year.
In fact, last year was arguably my best year ever.
Thanks to everyone who published and read a poem of mine in 2020.
New Series from Indolent books
Michael Broder has started A River Sings, a new series on his website.
From the Submittable page:
Beginning January 20, 2021, the Indolent Books website will publish a poem-a-day to celebrate the resurgent spirit of truth, justice, and democracy that awoke in our nation at noon on that day. We want poems about what we are seeing, hearing, thinking, feeling, hoping and fearing at the dawn of this historic presidency. Let's use poetry to engage in a rich and layered conversation about the ongoing polarization of this nation and the opportunities bringing the nation and its people together, for moving forward, for making a difference.
There's not an easy link from the home page to the page and the poems published so far, but it's there.
Read one of the poems from the new endeavor. This one's by Jade Yeung.
Inauguration Happened
Here's Janet Cormier's Bamboozled No More! to kick things off today at Oddball Magazine.
SAFE DISTANCE EDITION - Stone Soup Croutons, 1-20-21: After the Inauguration
Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions picked from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.
I also have an award nominated book out now collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.
Art Collins was our post-inauguration feature. He delivered the way I knew he could. Though I aim to be the same killjoy I've become over the last four years, I'm glad the poem from this reading came out as (mostly) positive.
That's all I want to say for now. Thanks for reading.
After the Inauguration
Kindness can kill you, but they can
make you vulnerable to final blow.
Well
Sometimes the scariest part of starting a project is knowing you can finish it.
No matter how much of an inferior final product it's likely going to be.
T.G.I.F.
It's a new era, a new Friday, a new ritual. Gotta change with the times but stay true to myself.
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| Inspired by DL Polonsky. |
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Bearing Fruit
From Liza Zayas' Future/No Future lecture comes two pieces today for The Underground Garden. It's up now at Oddball Magazine.
Post-Show Reminder
Don't forget to check out Art Collins' website. Keep checking back for news of his upcoming book.
It Wasn't That Long Ago
James latest poem is also a blast from the past that seems longer ago than it was. Read It's All One Thing today at Oddball Magazine.
In Search of a Deep Cut
Amanda Gorman isn't the first inaugural poet to be under scrutiny. I remember when Reg E. Gaines wrote a response to Maya Angelou's inaugural poem for Bill Clinton. He asked what was the big deal with her "becoming the second coming of rhythmless Robert Frosty the Snowman."
Wish I could find that poem online. Otherwise, I'll have to wait because t's in a CD buried in a box in my mom's garage.
Art Collins Features at Stone Soup , 1-20-21
From the weekly open mic. Art is working on a book, and when it finally comes out, we are definitely having him back! We're grateful for him featuring on this momentous day.
A New Day, A New Wave
Thanks to Art Collins for last night's amazing Stone Soup feature. Thanks to everyone taking time to stop by after a very full day. Stay tuned for more feature announcements.
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
The Time Has Come!
I'm heading home to get ready for Stone Soup's online feature tonight. Art Collins returns. Join us!
I hope this sets the tone for future work this year. Enjoy poet Zoha Arif and photographer Karen Boissonneault-Gauthier. Thanks for taking time to read his during this historical Wednesday at Oddball Magazine.
While We Wait
While nothing being posted today is about the inauguration and transition of power, this poem by new contributor S.T. Brant is a little about capitalism, which has been front and center as a topic for the last four years. Read it now and appreciate the photography from Ed Gault. Wednesday poetry thrives over at Oddball Magazine.
American Haiku: World Trump Party
When I started my Sarcastic Haiku series, I wrote my first American Haiku. You can read others I've written since, by clicking here and scrolling down.
American Haiku:World Trump Party
Five-seven-my name
Trump Trump Trump. Trump Trump. Trump.
Trump Trump Trump. Trump Trump. Trump.
Be Careful
Conservatives are calling for a blackout today. No social media, no going into work.
To which I would normally say...Thanks!
Except I doubt that's all that's happening today.
Stay safe, friends. Keep an eye out for weirdness.
See you on the other side of the inauguration.
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