Recycling

FROM THE NOT THIS TIME DEPT. ~ I received a rejection letter yesterday. I'll just recycle the submission this weekend.

Actually, I have been identifying some virgin venues to try. I need to venture into some uncharted waters. I'm thinking it could very well be immensely more satisfying to find my work in some different journals than what I have had thus far.

Yes, it is Thursday and I Am feeling Put Out

Top 10 new words we learnt from spam poetry this week... [here]. Maybe it is just the oppressive heat but I am kind of partial to mushraking.

I remain put out by all the pictures of Condoleezza Rice snapped in cheesy poses with the Miss America hand wave and captions that suggest "No Results in the foreseeable Future." It seems totally naive for anyone to suggest that a group of leaders meeting without any of the key players has any remote chance of resolving the conflict through diplomatic means. Meanwhile, civilians become the victims of continued hostilities. The Bush administration's foreign policies have contribute to this and other serious international problems that are building against a backdrop of their ineptness. Thinking about this makes me want to puke.

A LOOK AT WARTIME BEIRUT Bombs, Rubble and Poets [here] This all seems a bit surreal but then I have to ask myself just how war is supposed to seem where it coexists with a civilian population in a city?

tags: Beirut Condoleezza Rice Bush War poetry

Rogue Poetry Review

As I mentioned recently in a post, I would have an announcement soon concerning a new online poetry venue. Well, soon is here. In October I will publish the first electronic edition Rogue Poetry Review. You may feel free to publicize this Call for Submissions by linking or reprinting it if you so choose. I am excited and look forward to reading some outstanding material.

Call for Submissions

Between now and September 10, I will be accepting submissions for reading in advance of the October premiere edition of Rogue Poetry Review online.

I am looking for is poetry that embraces the notion of art painted with words. What I am not looking for is flowery rhyme. The poems should be unique in nature as opposed to laden with cliques or well worn themes that have been done a thousand times. If it has been done, it needs to be all the more unique.

Please submit unpublished

material only. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please advise if you are doing so. I will also accept critical reviews of material already in print. Reviews are of lesser priority. That is to say that I will consider them, even desire them, but they will comprise a lesser percentage of the issue. I recommend you query first on reviews.

Submit material as an attachment to a word file and e-mail to: roguepr@gmail.com

The online site is at roguepr.wordpress.com

I Write Poetry in the Loo...

Well, not me, but model-turned-actress Sushma Reddy likes to because it relieves stress. It is just one of her many stress relievers... "I write poetry just for my heart's content and satisfy my urge. I don't write to recite them in some function, I prefer writing something offbeat. Writing is something like a stress buster for me. I can write anywhere. I write on air tickets, napkins, and even on tissue papers in loo." Truthfully, I have written poetry in the bathroom, I just haven't resorted to using toilet paper as of yet. Her other stress relievers here.

Tags: poetry Sushma Reddy

Getting By With A Little Help From His Friends

Perhaps the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova is a perfect example of the power that resides within words. At a time when the work of poets was considered a threat to the Soviet state, Akmatova was a profound voice - especially for women and the oppressed.

The Ships Pass Quietly is a play set in the 1950's in Leningrad. Two women are in their sixties, Anna and Lydia work in their kitchen... Anna writing and Lydia mentally recording AnnaÂ’s poetry with care that the some nosyneighborr might overhear them and report them to the authorities. Read an account of this play here.

*****

The Hussein Trial Resumes, Again Without Hussein - Saddam Hussein has been on a hunger strike. Meanwhile, the onlydefendantt to show was Barzan al-Tikriti, Mr. HusseinÂ’s half-brother. Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman admonished Barzan al-Tikriti for reciting poetry and challenging the American-led invasion of Iraq.

*****

Donald Hall got a little help having the word "funky" defined for him. [story here]

Dodge Poetry Festival

I heard this morning while listening to NPR that the biannual Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival in coming up. I don't know why it took me by surprise since it happens every other year. I suppose I expected to hear it publicized earlier since it starts September 28th.

A few notables listed for this year's program...

• Tony Hoagland
• Gerald Stern
• Jorie Graham
• Andrew Motion
• Lucille Clifton
• Billy Collins

For Information [click here]

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I always feel so much better after submitting poetry. I've been well overdue to get some material out, but I did tonight and I do feel better.

I was also excited that my favorite baseball team, The SF Giants moved into first place last night. I listened to their game this evening as they tried to sweep the San Diego series but lost in extra innings. Was a good game none the less - but they are now a half game back in the standings. Baseball and poetry are so much alike.

Quickie

A quiet day, and thankfully somewhat cooler than it has been of recent. Everyone away today leaving me with just the animals.

I've divided my time between some cleaning and reading. Occasionally I update myself on the world events on msnbc. As I have watched the mess in the Middle East get messier over the past week. I look at America with amazement of how totally impotent we have become as a result of our foreign policy. Could anyone five years ago thought we would be were we are today?