SPEAK OUT ON IRAQ!

Support Cindy Sheehan!

MoveOn is taking out an ad in President Bush's local newspaper in support of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who is camped outside Bush's ranch in Texas asking for a meeting with the president.

They'll publish the number of signers and the best comments in a full two-page spread in the newspaper nearest to Crawford (The Waco Tribune Herald) while Cindy holds her vigil.

Sign and spread the word before the 3:00 PM Friday print deadline?

http://political.moveon.org/meetwithcindy/

Cindy Sheehan

Airing Out The Language

Turbulence
Leaves me uncomfortable
Holding tidy verse in my hands.

You will gawk at me-
Out of place. I want

To twist the words
On the page
Wrap some around me
Pull the syllables apart
And hide between them.
Shock you a little bit
So you don't see me.

Across the Poetry Blogisphere

The Beached Fiance by Christine Hamm is so typically fantastic! If you like her work you'll love it. If you don't... it's a pity.

IVY is back! With Notes from the Castle.

Eileen is having a Summer Pleasure contest. Why I'm telling everyone about it, I don't know. That only increases my competition.

James gives us Nagasaki - thanks for giving us pause.

Gila Monster's big announcement.

A thought

"Poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is." ~James Branch Cabell

And what would that be, that man is, which causes such rebellious discourse? I agree with Cabell in principal that poetry wants to rebell. It wants desperately NOT to conform because that is too mundane. Is it that man has the capacity to always be unsettled no matter what his plight? The hungry want food, the King wants more territory.

Is poetry simply a more refined version of an animal instinct?

Angry Sky

Angry Sky
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

I looked out last night and saw the sky as an angry poet swelling up with disdain.

untitled draft

Moist insignificance
Swells collecting droplets
Elongated by weight
To the breaking point
Raining upon the spirit
Quietly I withdraw
From the wetness
Wondering if this will shrink
My stature as a person

PEER PARTNERS

The Writers Place in Kansas City will host a series of writersÂ’ reception where writers can meet each other and identify writing support partners. I think this is amarvelouss idea. Evidently the concept was advanced by David & Judy Ray when they visited The Writers Place last month. The Rays are former Kansas Citians with longstanding ties to the Writers Place.

There is so much emphasiss upon mentoring these days and developing support communities in various fields. Writing among them. But there is little out there that provides a formal intro to such support. I am glad to see the Writers Place involved in this capacity. I plan to to attend.

For those in the Kansas City area that might want to get involved, the first meeting is SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2005 at 2pm. The continuation of these receptions will depend on interest. Please call 816-753-1090 if you plan to attend and let them know.