Web stat sheet rates literary heavyweights - Los Angeles Times

Judging a book by cost per word or cost per ounce. Amazon.com has the stats.

On the Written Word

"The palest ink is better than the best memory." ~ Chinese Proverb

Ah yes, the written word certainly has this advantage going for it.

I know we all write for different reasons. And sometimes we change why we write or may incorporate multiple motivations.

Do you write for yourself? For the future? For Profit? For relaxation? For Self discovery? For fame? For self expression? What motivates you the most in your writing? I'd love to hear from others on this.


Poetry Writing

Dignity

In light of what the people from the gulf coastal area have been through I thought the following quotation was worth repeating...


"The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others." ~ Dag Hammarskjold

Always My Luck

It happened.
Just like that.
One moment and a
Jolt.

I tried to restart the damned thing.
The noise was not optimistic in the least.
There was a clicking sound
Like you kept punching
A single key
On the keyboard
Real
Fast.

Clickckickclickclickclickclickclickclick…

It was hot,
I had the window down.
Some man came by
Asked if I had a problem.

Told him the car died,
Wouldn’t restart.
He asked what it did.
I showed him.

Clickckickclickclickclickclickclickclick…

He said, “Yep, you got a problem
With the starter” and walked off.
Damn it’s hot today.

September Events - KC Area

September 9th at 8pm - Friday - Riverfront Reading Series: The Writer’s Place, 3607 Pennsylvania, KCMO

Guest Poet Readers - John Mark Eberhart & Phillip Stephens

Eberhart is the book critic for the KC Star and the author of a poetry book released in June titled Night Watch

Stephens first book of poetry, The Determined Days was released in 2000. He has been published in several journals and anthologies and is A resident of Kansas City, Missouri, he teaches in the low- residency M.F.A. program at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.

September 26th - Monday at 8 pm - Writers Place Open Mic
3607 Pennsylvania, KCMO

Thought for the Day

"A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel." ~ Robert Frost

The "Why Not?" Woman

A couple of years back I met the poet Naomi Shihiab Nye at a reading she did here in Kansas City. She is a remarkable woman, even beyond her writing which has such a strong original voice.

Nye is a non-conformist, but you don't realize that so much at first glance. She embraces her Arab heritage in a firm but soft spoken way that makes her ideal for knocking down barriers that exist in America today.

In both her writing and public appearances she seems to me to be the "why not" woman.
Why not just learn something about each other? Why not just listen to what each other as opposed to trying to change everyone to be like yourself?

The daughter of a Palestinian father and an America mother, Nye's background allows her to open doors to communication that others may find difficult. But is seems to be as much about where her heart is, as the place of her heritage. And for poets, place is so important to their work.

The Sept/Oct edition of Poets & Writers magazine contains of her poems from a new book, You & Yours. The Poem, For Mohammed Zeid of Gaza, Age 15 questions the soft metaphorical use of words in relationship to violence. There is no stray bullet, sirs / No bullet like a worried cat / crouching under a bush / - A poem that is timely and poignant. This bullet had no secret happy hopes, / it was not singing to itself with eyes closed / under the bridge.

This is someone I'd love to a day just talking to about writing, about stories, and how she stays so positive about the future.


poets