Friday, January 30, 2009

Hello, poets.

Below you will find a list of poems I have found at our member's sites. I enjoyed each of them. Please take a moment to check them out and leave comments.

Thank you.

Your Blog Manager,

Sara

Poets Who Blog January Poetry Collection

1.River by Zouxzoux.
2.Monochromatic by Paisley.
3. Untitled by John Barthel.
4.Homeby Noah the Great.
5.How by Leigh Lear
6. Between You and Air by Sarayu
7. In Norse Mythology by Carol
8.Unrequited by Monkeyboy
9.October 7th poem posted at Brief Poems by Brian
10. Eyes For the Stars by Corinne Elizabeth.

Monday, January 26, 2009

New Blog on our Blogroll

I'm pleased to announce we have added the site Appreciating Poetry to our blogroll. This site is quite unique. First the poet finds a poem online that he likes, then he pens a poem that has been inspired by it.

If you stop in to check out his work, tell him PWB sent you.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Press release:

ReadMe Publishing is offering a FREE writing contest for all poets where winning poems will receive cash prizes and the top entries will be published in a print collection.

Details:

Everyday Musings
Everyday something around you happens that is poetic if you notice. We want your best poems (up to 6 entries) covering life in a daily setting. All forms and styles of poetry will be considered.

Schedule: Submissions will be accepted between December 1, 2008 and February 28, 2009. Winners will be selected by March 31, 2009


Prizes:
Winning poem will be paid $50.00, Second place $25.00, Third Place $10.00. The top 35 - 50 poems will be published in a poetry chapbook to be published in June of 2009.

Entry Fee: FREE!

For More information:please visit ReadMe

Friday, January 23, 2009

The Poetry and Prose Webzine recently posted a new podcast.
To listen to the poem Invoking St. Ciaran by Maureen Boyle visit Ink, Sweat and Tears by clicking here.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Have you visited the visual poetry network Poetry Visualized? If you want to check it out click here.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Welcome to a New Era

Hello, poets. Today we kick off our Poetry: Project Hope which is Poets Who Blog's very own inaugural celebration for the newly sworn in President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama.

Not only is this an important day in my country's history but it has ramifications globally, as the election of any leader would, and it is also a remarkable sign of the times concerning race relations.

This is a time of tears, joy, relief, excitement and change for many of us. No matter your political beliefs let us all take a moment to recogonize the importance of the events taking place in Washington, DC today.

What better way do we, as poets, know to express our thoughts and reflections on this day than with our words? I share with you the work of some of our poets:

Heirloom Diamonds by Tiel Aisha Ansari
Knocking From Inside

I'm too young to remember most of that:
the marches, Connor's dogs and Little Rock
the noose, the burning cross, the midnight knock
the woman on the bus who simply sat
and wouldn't move, the brave young volunteers
whose bodies lay in Mississippi mud.
My vote was paid for with their guiltless blood
transformed to treasure by the passing years.

They didn't care how long they had to wait:
the old folks queued to vote. I watched them cry
for joy this time, instead of grief or fears
or bitter anger. We drove back the hate
another step this time: and you and I
inherit diamonds in these old men's tears.

The Blood of Many by Sara Pufahl
The Shores of My Dreams

We
We shall
We shall over
We shall overcome.

We have overcome.

Baltimore Whistlestop, January 17th, 2009 by David Drager
Recycled Poet


Crowds stream from Light Rail & buses

Golf cart lane down Baltimore Street.

Coldest day of year

Strange light of mid-winter late afternoon.



Barricades everywhere

Buses blocking roads

Police of every agency & uniform

Clumps of unarmed soldiers

The big line

The metal detectors

Secret service on roofs

Scoping the crowd


Then the plaza

Where did the homeless go?

Standing in the middle of Fayette Street

Amidst the crowd

All races, all classes

Integration

Only seen at Artscape

Or maybe a ball game



Then the moment

No one had foreseen

With a thousand cameras & phones

Held over heads

A black man taking the legacy

1776, Fort McHenry

On streets

Where black folks were chattel.


A recreation of Lincoln’s

Inaugural train

Except without the disguises

And the sneaking



First blood of the Civil War

Spilled blocks away

As rioters

Attacked northern volunteers

Rioters still honored

In our state’s anthem

“Avenge the patriotic gore

That flecked the streets of Baltimore”



The next day rail bridges burned

On our mayors command

Telegraph lines to DC

Torn down

Then occupation

Federal Hill cannon turned

So many things have turned

And turned again



Are we truly

A people

Of common hopes

Of common dreams?



Eleven minutes from the crowds roar

To “God bless America”

Then the magic ended

And music resumed



Marching back

Watching family portraits taken

I spoke with a fifty-something black couple

Who on a normal day I would never meet

They missed the speech

“How long?”

“Only 10 minutes”

“We were expecting more”

I play them the speech

Recorded on my phone



You can tell the poet

Everyone snapping pictures

And this fool

Recording words and dreams

Everyone will say “you should have seen it”

I will say “you should have heard it”
© 2009, David Drager

Today in America by Sara Pufahl
The Shores of My Dreams


Today is our day

when the dream
becomes not just a dream

when the blood becomes spilled
for something the world can see

when the blisters on their feet
and the marks on their backs become victory scars

when the word "never"
becomes "now"

when tears flow not for injustice
but for hope

For hope
For hope
For hope

No longer do we wait
today is our day


SONGS OF HOPE SUNG IN FERTILE FIELDS by Bryan Borland
SHAKE: the poetry of Bryan Borland

This one
is for the Martins
and the Daisys and the Fredericks,
the Harriets and the Rosas and the Sojourners
and the prayer
that they can feel this now.
This is for
all the nameless
and forgotten
heroes and heroines,
kings and queens
left out of our small-town
history books.
But this one is also for
the Abrahams and Jacks and the Bobbys,
the leaders and the followers,
for the conductors of railroads above and below
that traveled steadily along midnight countrysides
and through swamps with mud ankle deep.
This one dances gracefully but with power
beyond black and white,
beyond Mason and Dixon
and calls together all names and syllables from
Southern drawls to
midwestern mouths and immigrant tongues to
ghosts of great great grandparents
to rise from their songs of hope sung in fertile fields
and to make this mass more perfect.
It’s for Alaska and Maine and Florida and Oklahoma,
for the resurrection of the States and the image and the spirit.
It’s for the Statue in her regal, raceless beauty
standing guard over our freedoms and virtues.
It’s for our brothers and sisters and sons and daughters
and the tomorrows as much as the yesterdays.
This one is for
the broken chain of slavery
and the stains of segregation
and the brilliance of that first ballot cast.
It’s for the Union and the Confederacy,
for all forty acres and every mule,
for sore feet and bleeding fingers and reconstruction.
It’s for the illusion of the separate and the equal
and the timeless reality of August 28, 1963.
It’s for the can’ts and don’ts and you’re not alloweds
as they transform and transcend into the
Yes we cans!
It’s for our mother’s right to speak, right to stand, right to vote,
for our gay friend’s right to love, right to
come out
from the shadows and the silence.
It’s for internment camps and backs of buses and inferior schools and
oh yeah
it’s for courage of ‘em all.
This one
is for
the African American
as much as the Asian American
as much as the Irish American
as much as
the blue-eyed blond-haired American.
It’s for the American
as much as you or I.
It’s for the tapestry of the United States
from Atlantic to Pacific
and everywhere and everyone in between.
It’s for our men and women
fighting in foreign countries
and resting in foreign graves.
This one is for
dreams yet to be dreamed
and walking with your head held high
through crowds who don’t want you
to the nation that craves you,
to destinations
yours as well as mine.
This one
is for the freedom
to persist
and assemble
and move ahead hand in hand
and the right
to rise up
and move beyond
and accomplish
and achieve.

This one is for November 4, 2008,
and the first poem of hope
I’ve written
in years.

© Bryan Borland

Monday, January 19, 2009

Contest News

Passion for Poetry is holding a January contest. The idea is to tell a story with your poem. It must be in English or Hindi.

Click here for more details.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Poems for the Season

Bob Hollman and Margery Snyder, at About.com, put together links to some winter poems for you to enjoy. There are classical poems such as There’s a Certain Slant of Light by Emily Dickerson, Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind by William Shakespeare along with newer work from contemporary poets.

Check out their anthology by clicking here.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

A Contest for Female Poets

There is a chapbook competition being held by Finishing Line Press. Anyone who submits must be a woman who has never a full length collection of poetry published before. There is a $1,000 prize for the winner. For info,click here.

Friday, January 16, 2009

InterBoard Poetry

The winners for December's the InterBoard Poetry Competition have been announced.

First place: Milk Noodle by Great Bolger
Second place: Aftermath by S. Shademan
Third place: Memento Mori by Brenda Levy Tate
Honorable Mention: Evening Prayer by Emily Brink

Congrats to the winners!

The Interboard Poetry Community consists of twenty different groups:the Academy of American Poets’ Forum (Poets.org), Blueline Poetry, TheCriticalPoet.com, TheCriticalPoet.org, Desert Moon Review, Lit With Kick, Moontown CafĂ©, Mosaic Musings, New Cafe, PenShells, The Rabbit Hole, Salty Dreams, SplashHall Poetry & Art, South Carolina Writers Workshop, The Town, The Versifier, The Waters Poetry Workshop, Wild Poetry Forum and The Writer’s Block.

For more information on how to submit your poem to their next competition,click here.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Poetry on Facebook

Do you visit Facebook? If you do then you might want to check out the group: New Issues Poetry & Prose: Friends and Fans


New Issues Poetry & Prose was founded by Herbert S. Scott in 1996 at Western Michigan University. They put out at least six new titles each year with a focus on contemporary poetry.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Five Poetry and Prose Contests at WinningWriters.com

Press release:

Northampton, MA (PRWEB) January 6, 2009 -- Winning Writers is now accepting entries for five poetry and prose contests on its website. These contests will award over $24,000 in cash prizes. Founded in 2001, Winning Writers is today's leading source for timely literary contest information. It helps writers find the contests that are most suitable for their work, and steers them away from contests that are low-quality or deceptive.

Here are summaries of the contest guidelines:

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest

17th year. Fifteen cash prizes totaling $5,350. Top prize $2,000. Seeks short stories, essays and other works of prose, up to 5,000 words. Winning entries published online. Both published and unpublished work accepted. Fee per entry is $15. Postmark deadline: March 31. Judges: J.H. Reid, D.C. Konrad. Complete guidelines: www.winningwriters.com/tomstory

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)

8th annual free contest seeks humor poems. Fifteen cash prizes totaling $3,336.40 will be awarded. Top prize $1,359. Submit one poem by April 1 deadline. No entry fee. Winning entries published online. Judge: Jendi Reiter. Complete guidelines: www.winningwriters.com/wergle

War Poetry Contest

8th year. Fifteen cash prizes totaling $5,000 will be awarded. Top prize $2,000. Submit 1-3 unpublished poems on the theme of war. Winning entries published online. Entry fee: $15. Postmark deadline: May 31. Judge: Jendi Reiter. Complete guidelines: www.winningwriters.com/war

See a special audiovisual presentation of the winning poem from last year's War Poetry Contest, "Unerring Mercy and Pure Grace" by Aliene Pylant of Dallas, TX. You may view it as a Google video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6375237830914706820&hl=en) (17 minutes).

Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse

6th year. Fifteen cash prizes totaling $5,350 will be awarded. Top prize $2,000. Submit poems in traditional verse forms, such as sonnets and free verse. Winning entries published online. Both published and unpublished work accepted. Entry fee is $7 for every 25 lines. Postmark deadline: June 30. Judges: J.H. Reid, D.C. Konrad. Complete guidelines: www.winningwriters.com/margaret

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest

7th year. Fifteen cash prizes totaling $5,350 will be awarded. Top prize $2,000. Submit poems in any style or genre. Both published and unpublished work accepted. Winning entries published online. Entry fee is $7 for every 25 lines. Postmark deadline: September 30. Judges: J.H. Reid, D.C. Konrad. Complete guidelines: www.winningwriters.com/tompoetry

About Winning Writers, Inc.

Winning Writers is today's leading source for timely and comprehensive literary contest information. Our online database, Poetry Contest Insider, includes complete guidelines and rankings for over 750 poetry contests, plus over 300 of the top fiction and essay contests. Our free email newsletter, with over 25,000 subscribers, offers news about quality free contests and literary resources.

Winning Writers was named one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" by Writer's Digest in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. It was founded in 2001 by the husband-and-wife team of Jendi Reiter and Adam Cohen. Learn more at www.winningwriters.com.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

One of PWB's poets has written has written an essay on poetry that is now featured on the Kritya Poetry Journal. To read Poetry As Observation: From Notes to Lyrical Creations by Nabina Das, click here.

US/Japan Creative Artists Residencies Available

The Japan-US Friendship Commission is looking for poets willing to travel to Japan and pursue creative projects.

Up to 5 residencies, with monthly stipend of 600,000 yen (approximately $5,960), plus travel grant of up to $6,000, will be awarded to US poets, fiction writers and creative nonfiction writers. The residencies last no longer than five months.

Submit 10 pages of poetry or 15 pages of prose with two letters of recommendation, resume, and proof of previous publications (in journals or book form), with required application. No fee to apply.

Proficiency in Japanese language not required.

Deadline: February 1.

Click here to find more information.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Learn more about poet Nabina Das

Great news, PWB members, one of our very own poets, Nabina Das, is featured on Ink Blot this week. They did a write up about her and her work. To read it, click here.

You can also find some of her poetry by visiting this page.

Poetry Call Out

The Chesapeake Reader, an online literary journal, is accepting submissions of poetry and prose through January 31, 2009.


Click here for more details.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Poetry goals for 2009?

Have you set some poetry goals for this year? Share them in the comments. Anyone doing a Poem-a-day for the year? Let us know so we can check out your work.

Poetry: Project Hope

On January 20th, PWB will help to usher in a new president in the United States by posting poems about hope, change, overcoming racism, or anything hopeful that you feel like writing about.

Please send your poem to me at poetswhoblog@yahoo.com with Project Hope in the subject line. Make sure you include the name you want me to use to credit your poem to you.



Thanks!

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

New Editor at Poetry Cemetery Magazine

Congrats to T.R. Tifoso who is the new editor at Poetry Cemetery Magazine. Below you will find information on how to send your work into them.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES


POETRY


Poetry Cemetery always welcomes unsolicited poetry submissions from both published and amateur poets alike. Feel free to send us your best work at any time...just be sure you follow the rules/guidelines below:

1. Send a maximum of 3 poems for consideration per issue.

2. PROOFREAD your work before you send it.

3. Send your poems in the body of the email...NOT as attachments. Also, please be sure you include titles (even if the title is "untitled"), and be sure we can distinguish the end of one poem from the beginning of the next.

4. Please let us know if the poems you've sent us have been published elsewhere; it's OK by us, just let us know where so we can properly credit the other publication.
5. Please do not send anything that is excessively vulgar, pornographic, or otherwise offensive to the masses. We believe that every art form has its place in the world...but this is not the place for overtly offensive material.
6. Please include a short bio-- 100 words or so.
7. Don't forget your name and at least the city and state where you live.

By sending us your poetry, you are granting us publication rights for our website, and confirming that you have the rights to allow us to publish your work.

All work remains the property of the author--we merely ask that you give us credit if the piece is republished in the future.

ART

We are also seeking artwork to decorate our pages. If you would like to help us decorate our pages, please send us your artwork in JPEG format only, as an attachment to your email.

SEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO POETRYCEMETERY@GMAIL.COM

We will strive to respond within 4 weeks.

Click here to visit Poetry Cemetery Magazine.

Monday, January 05, 2009

Happy Second Anniversary, Poets!

Welcome to PWB second anniversary party! Some of you have been members from the start and some are brand new but we are all a family of writers and those who appreciate artistic expression. Thank you for making this site a wonderful refuge for artists.

Every time I ask the members here to step up someone rises to the challenge. Thanks for all you do to make our site work! PWB is not a place to come and just view from a distance. So jump in and get your hands dirty by interacting with the other members here.

Last year was a time of growth here at PWB, as we tried to find the right balance of news, prompts, carnivals and events to make the site the most informative and productive poetry blog online while also making sure to keep it fun. We're still working on meeting that balance but I have high hopes that 2009 will take PWB to an even higher level than 2008. Are you in?


Hope you stay with PWB for this next year as we work to bring even more poetry to the blogosphere.

Your Manager,
Sara

PS. Please consider taking part in our carnival on Jan. 20th. Your poem must be inspired by the inaugratation in any way you see fit. Send me a link to your poem at poetswhoblog at yahoo dot com with Project Hope in the subject line. The poems do not need to be political in nature.

For today, feel free to leave a link to any poem you want to share with our members here in the comments.

Also check out these poems by our members:



Virtual by WhyPaisley
Travel the River by Pam Olson
Yule by Mark Folse

Sunday, January 04, 2009

A Message from Our Friends at Poetrydances

Hi from Poetrydances.com ,

Just to let you know there is now a 'poem of the week ' section on the Site. Each week this will show one of the great submitted poems that have been sent in to us. The page is likely to be updated each Sunday.



Click here to read the Poem of the Week

In addition, the name of the writer and poem will also be featured in a link showing on our home page.


Wishing you a Happy New Year- and all the best for 2009.

Please keep those read requests and submissions coming!

Kind regards

Anthony French


www.poetrydances.com
contact@poetrydances.com

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Poet Chosen for Inauguration

For only the fourth time in history a poet will be reading a poem during the inaugration. President elect Barack Obama has commissioned Elizabeth Alexander to write a poem and recite it during the event.

Alexander is a professor at Yale, where she also graduated after growing up in Washington DC.

The three poets who have previously spoken at an inaugration are Miller Williams
(1997), Maya Angelou (1993), and Robert Frost (1961).

Friday, January 02, 2009

"Word of Mouth coalition is trying to put together a short chap book on childhood. By looking at a moment in your childhood through a different perspective. The poems that best represent this will be assembled and sent out to those who make it to the site.

email mjwedlock84 at gmail dot com.

Please check out the site before submitting to get an idea of what we are looking for. I would like to try to get different ages up to 24. The one posted at Childhood diagram right side up is for the age of 10. You can view that post by clicking here.

Submissions end Jan 31st.

Thank your for checking it out! - WOM"

_____

You can visit Word of Mouth Coalition by clicking here.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

PWB Business Post

I am interested in taking PWB to a whole new fantastic level in 2009. Will you help me?

We have our second anniversary coming up on Jan. 5th. Have you sent in a link to a poem for our poetry carnival? Will you be here to read poems and comment on that day?

We also have our Poetry: Project Hope on Jan.
20th. If you want to take part send me a poem about hope, change, overcoming racism, or anything that is inspired by the new President of the United States being sworn in. Send submissions to poetswhoblog at yahoo dot com with Project Hope in the subject line.

Today I want to ask all members if PWB should become a prompt site, similar to Read Write Poem and The Writer's Island? I have been relunctant to go there in the past but maybe its what we need to really form a community here.

Or are you already busy enough with other prompt sites?

If you are on our blogroll then you get a vote. Leave a comment and weigh in.
Should weekly prompts come to PWB or should I just add more of our "games with poetry", like Add a Line Poems, Jigsaw Poems, Poetry Tag Poems, etc?

Will you take part in either?

What is it that PWB needs to be more useful for you?

A Poetic Graphic Novel

Click here to read about Poetry Comics: An Animated Anthology by Dave Morice.

This book can be purchased on Amazon.com by visiting this page.