Poet Kate Daniels reads Wednesday at the Library of Virginia

Poetic Principles features poet

Kate Daniels

Poetry reading and book signings
6 p.m.
Library of Virginia
800 E. Broad St.
692-3592.


"The Pedicure"

"The Hatching"

National Poetry Month is around the corner...

write a poem a day

take a poet to lunch

buy a book of poetry

donate a poetry book to a library or school classroom

buy a book of poems from Fountain Bookstore (in Richmond) or other local independent

carry a poem for Poem in Your Pocket Day!! April 14th

attend a poetry reading

all of the above and more....

I am doing a google group for daily poems- if ya wanna, email me! It'll be fun!

Now THIS is a lovely poem...

A LOVELY POEM

i can't help saying i think the last four lines are unnecessary, though, and bring the whole piece down a notch.

can't resist sending you to this blog...

Besides, it's a rant by the inimitable Ursula K. LeGuin- and if you don't know who she is, you might want to google her-

Article - Click HERE

When I was in my 20's, I could say "Fuck!" much faster than  "butt" or "fart"- words I was taught to never use in polite (particularly mixed) company! Thank you Country Joe!

I also learned as a child never to say golly or gosh- these being derivatives of the word god (implying goddamn) because I wouldn't want to violate a commandment.

Since that time, I can definitively state I have violated every commandment, most more than once.

Shit. I guess I'm fucked.

Blogging, tweeting, and other stuff

I am directing music for a production of "Annie" at Goochland Middle & High School - show dates are Mar18th, 19th and 20th! It will be fabulous!

I am working through music for the choir at Grace Episcopal Church for Lent and Easter, Ash Wednesday we have a noon and 7pm service.

We also have a "Local Talent Variety Show" at the church Friday the 11th at 7pm to support our mission work in the county- I'll be singing something, don't know what yet.

The Virginia Benefit Chorale has a concert next Sunday (in Blackstone) at 5pm.

With the regular work I do and poetry and all that- my time is passing fater than I care to think about- I look forward to April Fool's Day to celebrate my accomplishments!!

Oh yeah- I need to get taxes to the tax guy-

so don't expect much on the tweet, facebook, blog, email front for the next two weeks, okay??

love y'all!

help a family in New Zealand (or elsewhere)

Help a family in New Zealand (or elsewhere)- donate to Shelterbox-

here's a good source (and a group effort from writer Maureen Johnson-

http://www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com/2011/02/23/the-last-little-shelterbox/

A little bit behind....

but not a little behind-

Writing, reading, and taxes.

Three pieces in publication (or soon) more submissions on the way-

today will be spent with th floor scrubber in the kitchen, somethimes art isn't enough.

Poetry at art6 Friday at 7:30

Oh yeah- I'm crazy
and of course, it's documented-

crazy poets

If you want to find out for yourself- come to art 6 Gallery (6 east Broad Street) on Friday night at7:30 and hear myself and some other wacko poets prove it to you!!!  (it'll cost ya $5)

Trust me, you can call it research.

Hilarious!! "The poet laureate of the US is, of course...

W. S. Merwin." Of course- what?

Oh, Washington Post- you crack me up everytime!!!

Click HERE for the full story (well, tiny story)

We poets don't get no respect!!

Did I say POE-try??

The annual contest by the Poetry Society of Virginia deadline is approaching.

check out the details HERE

get those poems in by January 19th- Edgar Allan's birthday...

and sad news- Richmond poet (and contest winner many times) Norma Richardson died after a LONG battle with cancer. her obituary will probably be in the Richmond Times Dispatch tomorrow.


Rest in peace with all the company of heaven, dear Norma!

Over with the festivities- back to poetry!!!

I am going to write a poem a day in January, also submit, submit, submit. It's not a resolution, it's what I'm going to do,

First: Poetry Society of Virginia Contest HERE. I've managed to win and place over the years, cash prizes, so I'm going to start gathering this week.

"Secrets" reading in February 11th. I'm not sure what else I'll be doing but it's time to get some poets together, find a venue and do our thang.

Yup.

Happy New Year coming!

What a Nice Thing to Say, and at Christmas!

Muriel Rukeyser  "If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day. For there would be an intolerable hunger."

Muriel Rukeyser 

Holiday gifts for poets!!

I'm freezing- I don't care about anything but getting warm.
Busy waiting for packages to arrive so I can wrap them, that kind of thing.

Ordered a number of poetry books (from the poets directly), still trying to get to Fountain Bookstore (favorite bookstore in Richmond) to pick up a few titles.

For your poet friends:

Journals (though some of us like notebooks- what have you seen them use?)
Subscriptions (you can do this online)
         Poetry
         Poets & Writers
         or a million others!
Books
         for a list of poet's favorite book's, go here and scroll through the suggestions made by poets
Gift cards to bookstores (like Fountain Bookstore in Richmond or a local independent)

Most of these you can order right from your favorite chair and computer!!

Remember- THINK LOCAL, BUT LOCAL whenever you can!

Donate for the Holidays- Donate for Life

Are you buying something useless for someone who doesn't need (or want) it? Donate something instead.

Dean Young is one of our finest poets. He needs a heart transplant.

Donate HERE Read the letter by Tony Hoagland.

I did. I know my brother-in-law won't mind.

Some poems by Dean Young:

To those of you alive in the future

Thrown as if Fierce and Wild

Ode to Hangover  has audio

If everyone on my friends and email list donated $10- well, let's just say I have a LOT of friends and many (most) are poets and writers.

Such a wonderful life!!

From the Ninth Elegy:

Maybe we're here only to say: house,
bridge, well, gate, jug, olive tree, window —
at most, pillar, tower ...
but to say them, remember,
oh, to say them in a way that the things themselves 
never dreamed of existing so intensely.

Rilke


I am surrounded by a community of lovers and doers. It is a beautiful time of year.
When a car cuts me off in traffic, when the frantic mother runs into my ankles with her
shopping cart, when I despair over money or messes or temporary inconveniences,
I will recall this and smile.

And write.

Tuesday in Goochland!! Music!

December 7th at 7:30pm

the Virginia Benefit Chorale will sing at Grace Episcopal Church in Goochland

to benefit the Goochland Food Pantry and the Christmas Mother.

It's a free concert but we ask you to bring canned food

and/or consider making a donation to the program.

ALL money raised will go directly to

this important cause that has been taken on at Grace Church.

Hysterical!! A poetaster's birthday!

from the Writer's Almanac by Garrison Keillor (I subscribe and get it by email every day)

It's the birthday of Julia A. Moore  born in Plainfield Township, Michigan, on this day in 1847. She grew up on a Michigan farm, dropped out of school at the age of 11, bore 10 children, and is famous for writing really bad poetry — so famous for it, in fact, that Mark Twain modeled a character after her in The Adventures of Huck Finn, and he wrote a parody of Moore's bad poetry for that character, Emmeline Grangerford, to recite.


She's sometimes referred to as a "poetaster," which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "a petty or paltry poet; a writer of poor or trashy verse; a rimester." This distinction usually entails things like the use of awkward meter, painfully sappy sentimentality, words that rhyme in an unpleasant way, or poor taste in subject matter. Other poetasters famous enough to be anthologized include J. Gordon Coogler, William McGonagall, and James McIntyre.

As for Moore, her favorite topics included abstinence, temperance, sudden death, terrible destruction, obituaries of small children, and big disasters, such as train wrecks or fires. One of her most famous poems is about the Chicago Fire. She wrote:

The great Chicago Fire, friends,
Will never be forgot;
In the history of Chicago
It will remain a darken spot.

It was a dreadful horrid sight
To see that City in flames;
But no human aid could save it,
For all skill was tried in vain.

Her first collection was published locally as The Sentimental Song Book (1876). But then a big Cleveland publisher picked it up, re-titled it The Sweet Singer of Michigan Salutes the Public, and sent out a bunch of copies to newspapers around the nation, along with a review of mock praise he'd written up. In spite of all this bad publicity, or perhaps because of it, Julia Moore's book of verse became a national best-seller, and she began to give public readings.

The readings did not go well. She was jeered off stage, and her husband, a Michigan farmer, made her promise to never publish any more poetry. She waited until her husband died, and then she published some more.

Each year in Michigan, the Flint Public Library holds a Julia A Moore poetry contest, and people have the chance to do their best imitations. In 1997, 150 years after her birth, the governor of Michigan set aside a week in her honor. A new edition of her poems was published a couple years later by Michigan State University Press, edited and introduced by Thomas J. Riedlinger; it's called Mortal Refrains: The Complete Collected Poetry, Prose, and Songs of Julia A. Moore, The Sweet Singer of Michigan (1998). She once said, "Literary is a work very hard to do."

In her poem "Sketch of Lord Byron's Life," she wrote:

"Lord Byron" was an Englishman
A poet I believe,
His first works in old England
Was poorly received.

Perhaps it was "Lord Byron's" fault
And perhaps it was not.
His life was full of misfortunes,
Ah, strange was his lot.

The character of "Lord Byron"
Was of a low degree,
Caused by his reckless conduct,
And bad company.

He sprung from an ancient house,
Noble, but poor, indeed.
His career on earth, was marred
By his own misdeeds.

yes, I have been remiss!

Posting poetry (or otherwise) has not happened much lately.

I did write a poem per day through the 16th or so but my get up and write rode away with a handsome cowboy. Or something like that.

Actually, I've been working, singing, doing the church choir director thing (Sundays plus 2 funerals).

Two events of note:

December 7th at 7:30pm the Virginia Benefit Chorale will sing at Grace Episcopal Church in Goochland to benefit the Goochland Food Pantry and the Christmas Mother. It's a free concert but we ask you to bring canned food and/or consider making a donation to the program. ALL money raised will go directly to this important cause that has been taken on at Grace Church.

As I type this, I am listening to the CD from our first concert last week at St Luke's Lutheran on Southside- it is AMAZING- and not just because I sing 2nd soprano). We open with an arrangement of "Steal Away" by local organist Mike Simpson, then go to Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Poulenc, and so many other songs. Did I mention we sing a cappella??

The other event is a poetry reading at art 6 Gallery on December 10th at 7:30. $5. Put it on your calendar, I'll 'splain more later!!

Poem a day November 9th

If you slow down



the stars stay longer,
the alarm doesn’t startle,
the milk won’t scald,
the toast can’t burn

because you’re right there
to see the sky lighten,
to slap the snooze alarm,
to turn the burner down,
to rescue breakfast,


then make some scrambled eggs,
watch the cardinals sing,
listen to Joni Mitchell,
sip your hot chocolate,
find the plum preserves,


before the world grabs you
and throws you to the wolves,
and jams up the interstate,
and fills your mail with bills,
and keeps you late at work,

stealing the day in high velocity.

November poem a day for the 8th

Ask Alice



She’s always saying yes when she wants
to say no, doesn’t seem right how folks
take advantage of her good nature, does it?

Then she’ll turn right around and Big Fat No
something that seems interesting, like a party
or dinner at a fancy place she’d never go alone.

Been known to say no to food when she’s hungry,
squeeze her legs tight in the car too prim to answer
in the affirmative to “Anybody need to stop?”

Hard-wired to do for others, deny herself,
she comes from a long line of giving women,
the kind that believes it’s what has to be done,


after all, it’s biblical, right? Dutiful wives,
loving mothers, must learn to abide, sit tight,
give in, walk the extra mile for everybody else.

The ease of Yes, the discomfort of No
needs to be switched around, rethought
before she wears herself out with loving.

Prob’ly have to piss off a few folks, before
the new rules set themselves in stone,
likely have to cry behind the steering wheel

when they play the guilt card, she mustn’t cave.
Truth be trotted out- she never did ‘em a favor
always pulling the wagon without any help.

She’s gonna give it a good No next time,
save the Really Big YES for what she wants.
Maybe dogs and Alice can turn a trick around.