A Moment of Comics

This, to me, is sheer poetry. A Robert Crumb cover to the third issue of Arcade, a comics anthology edited by Bill Griffith and Art Spiegelman. Hope you're enjoying National Poetry Month so far.

Happy Belated Birthday, Doug Holder

 

 

A Moment of Comics

The very first page of All-Star Superman #1 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietely. For National Poetry Month, I wanted to feature a comics  page that contained poetry. This retelling of Superman's origin story in eight words and four pictures is perfect.

A Moment of Comics

From issue 5 of The Invisibles by Grant Morrison and Jill Thompson. It the first comic I ever read that integrated poetry into its story in such an in-depth way. 

The second page shows the beginning handwritten lines of a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Julian and Maddalo," a poem based on a conversation between fictionalized versions of Shelly and Lord Byron. The following page shows Byron and Shelly having the conversation that would make its way into the rest of the poem. Clever trick by Morrison.

Byron and Shelly's debate over the importance of their work (particularly Byron's pessimism) has stayed with me all these years since I read the comic as a junior in college.

More from Morrison and friends next week to finish off National Poetry Month.

A Moment of Comics

Continuing with the theme of connecting to National Poetry Month, a page from the first issue of Druid, the short lived series by Warren Ellis and Leonardo Manco. Another rare mention of poetry in a mainstream comic.

Kill poets on sight. Their souls are Pus-ridden with cowardice and duplicity.

A Moment of Comics

Morlock, a lab-created plant man in the service of a tyrannical future government, kills a subversive poet. From the first issue of Morlock 2001 by Michael Fleisher and Al Milgrom. From the short-lived Atlas Comics of the 70's.

 How's your National Poetry Month going?

 

Next Tuesday: David Miller, Denise Provost and Harris Gardner

From David P. Miller: 

I’m happy to let you know that I will join Denise Provost and Harris Gardner, in an online reading hosted by the Newton (Mass.) Free Library, for National Poetry Month. The date is Tuesday, April 12, from 7-8 pm EST. Please note that you need to register in advance, by 5 pm that day. Here’s the link: 

 

New Goal

I'm going to try and do one TikTok haiku per day for National Poetry Month.

 

Happy National Poetry Month

Let's all see if we can sell some books, fellow poets.

Happy Birthday, Lloyd Schwartz

 

SAFE DISTANCE EDITION - Stone Soup Croutons, 4-28-21: Let Loose (to Michael Collins)

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.

National Poetry Month is about to end. David Leo Sirois helped us close out the month beautifully. For all of David's lyrical words and impeccable presentation, I had to go and do a poem mixing the death of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins with an old joke by George Carlin. 

You may ask yourself this: Why, God, why?

David Leo Sirois Features at Stone Soup Poetry, April 28, 2021

From the weekly open mic. Thanks, David, for a great end to National Poetry Month for our group. Now on to year 50!

 

Amidst the Wave, I Am in Awe of Bryan Feranco's Stoic Profile Pic

 

Thanks to David Leo Sirois for an amazing feature to close out National Poetry Month for Stone Soup Poetry. See you this Saturday for Stone Soup's 50th anniversary bash with Deta Galloway!

 

In Appreciation

Thanks to all our writer/artists for their contributions for National Poetry Month. Thanks to Jennifer Matthews for being our final contributor. And thank you, reader, for reading Oddball Magazine during this busy month.

Judson Keeps Us Going

Writer/artist Judson K. Evans is our next writer/artist feature for National Poetry Month. Welcome to our early start at Oddball Magazine. 

SAFE DISTANCE EDITION - Stone Soup Croutons, 4-21-21: No One Gets to Choose a Hero

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.

Thank you, Gloria Monaghan, for a wonderful feature on Wednesday. Gloria has a knack for bringing new voices to the open mic. In this instance, it led to a more challenging crouton poem. 

All those wonderful voices, and I had to turn it into a anti-humanity poem of sorts. Ah, well, it's the pandemic, so I can do whatever I want, right?  It was also slightly influenced (at least in the editing process) by the recent Derek Chauvin verdict and the ways people were already appropriating his memory. Thanks for reading.

No One Gets to Choose a Hero

Disco physics are hard to test

under spinning ball lights.

Hard to recreate the hustle

when you write it up in code.

John Roche Features at Stone Soup, 4-7-21

From the weekly open mic. An awesome start to National Poetry Month 2021.

 

Happy National Poetry Month

Hope my fellow poets have some fun this month.

NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo 2021 is Upon Us!

Above image above courtesy of Maureen Thorson.

 

Hard to believe it's been one year since the last National Poetry Writing Month (or Global Poetry Writing Month) took place during COVID-19. We're still in the middle of a pandemic today, but the online poetry community is still going strong. Starting April first, I, along with countless others, will be trying to post one poem a day for thirty days of April.

This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of National Poetry Month. Will I do anything special this April? We'll have to see. I just hope to have thirty poems by April 30th. Anything else will be a happy surprise.

If you have a website or blog you'll be sharing your work on, submit it to the NaPoWriMo website, which will also be providing writing prompts for the duration of the event. You can visit this link to see every poem I post for the event. The challenge to write thirty poems without breaking the emergency haiku glass starts soon! Wish me luck.

The Cambridge Poetry Mashup is Happening This April

 

After being derailed by last year's pandemic, the Cambridge Poetry Mashup is happening this April for National Poetry Month.

I can't wait.

Toni Bee did a bang up job putting together this passion project made real. She has wanted an event like this for a long time, and to see it finally come to fruition is a testament to her vision, her drive, and the leadership everyone knew she had.

The event takes place on four different days in April and May while featuring such talents such as Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola, Regie Gibson, Jade Sylvan, Lizzle4, Mary Buchinger Bodwell, and probably many, many more.

I'm proud to be hosting this event alongside Cole Rodriguez and Marlon Carey.

Click here for the website to find out more about the locations, the workshop Toni is holding and whatever else comes from Toni's hard work.