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Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Mag 204: Winter Comes to the Old Mill


The Mill - 1964 - Andrew Wyeth


The old Mill is lost
in my snow blindness

eyes watering 
from the cold

looking through the wetness
the blur is magnified 

by the power of headache
that splits my forehead

my skin curls from the cold
and once inside my arms reveal

a pattern of raindrop goose bumps 
up and down the extremity of epidermis 
exposed



Michael A. Wells



Saturday, January 25, 2014

Saturday - Potpourri




Last night I was at the Downtown Neon Gallery  for Music, Poetry and Art. It was good to hear  David Arnold Hughes read, I had not heard David in a while. There was music & other readers as well. The event is co-sponsored by The Writers Place and produced by Martha Gershun.





Yesterday, I added a new poetry book to my poetry library; Red Paper Flowers by Suzanne Frischkorn  I'll update you on the book in a day or two.


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"The best poets inhibit the world with quicker senses then most of us. In town or country, they see, smell and hear more." - Margaret Drabble The Forward Book of Poetry, 1994

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Confession Tuesday - 4 Day Weekend Edition


Tuesday & time to confess. Won't you come with me to the confessional?

Dear Reader:

It's been one concert, three accepted poems, 4 rejections, one disappointing football game and two new books since my last confession.

All and all I can't complain much about the past week.  I've
had disappointments but those have been balance by the good and the result  is a week that offered a lot to be thankful for.  I confess that I turned the weekend into a four day weekend by taking a vacation day Friday and adding MLK day and Presto - like magic four days off!
It was had to go back to the office today, but it wasn't  too tough of a day.

Over the week I accumulated homes for three poems and 4 rejection letters. I'll take that ratio any week. Perhaps this is why I came out of these four days feeling a poetic high. Lots of writing done. and it may sound funky but  I decided my home office (where I write) could no longer be called my office. Having an office at my regular job I hated the duality of the word office as it  interchanged in meaning from home to workplace. So I though about it and decided my writing  room at home would henceforth be known as my writing studio and not an office. As trite as this might sound to anyone else, I confess it was a big deal to me.

Watching the 49ers - Seahawks game on Sunday was a disappointment. I wanted the 49ers to win but I confess it was a good game to watch. Both teams played hard and there were perhaps two plays in which the outcome hinged.  Of course one was the tipped pass in the end zone that was intercepted.  Either of these teams could have won this game. I confess that I was proud of the way San Fran played in a very tough venue and the way the defense held Seattle in the red zone.

I received two books in the mail this weekend. I confess I could be a book slut. There are few things that turn me on like getting a new book in the mail. Right now I have so many that I want and I have to be really careful in budgeting my resources given the size of my want list.

While this is not a secret if you have read my blog posts for the week but I am a big Kenny G fan. Friday night Cathy and I attended the Kenny G concert at the Kansas City Center for Preforming Arts. I cannot begin to tell you how awesome that place is. Last time I saw Kenny G was at the municipal auditorium back in the late 1990's. Acoustically I have never seen a place like this. Kenny was magnificent. I confess I felt blessed to hear him again in concert and was especially excited to share the experience with Cathy. Last time I went by myself.  I do take a lot of grief from my kids about Kenny G. I keep telling them I'll make them listen to him at my wake. They remind me when I'm dead I won't  know if they are there or not.

So my week was really a positive one overall. I know they can't all be like this, but I confess that I appreciate both the downs and the upside of  life. Without the downs there is not as much to appreciate on the upside.

Amen!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Kansas City Area Poetry Events Coming Up











I-70 Review Contributors Meeting
Tuesday January 21st, 2014
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Central Resource Library
9875 W. 87th ST.
Overland Park, KS  66212


Music - Poetry & Art 
Downtown Neon Gallery
Friday, January 24, 2014
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

1921 E. Truman Rd.
K.C., MO 64127



Writers Place Salon - Open Mic
Monday, January 27th, 2014
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
hosted by Sharon Eiker

3607 Pennsylvania
K.C., MO 64111

HADARA BAR-NADAV, WAYNE MILLER, AND COREY MARKS - Reading at The Writers Place
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

3607 Pennsylvania
K.C., MO 64111


Sunday, January 19, 2014

MAG 203: Arise


Musician in the Rain by Robert Doisneau



Melancholy skies smear this day
to dampen plans

The human spirit resilient 
as it is, goes on.

Traveling about, final brush strokes
to canvass, standing under an umbrella.

There is music to be made, 
the day gets no sympathy from the symphony.

There are glum mouths to be raised 
like recovering sunken ships.

The spirits will rise
it is the arts that awaken us;

it is humanity
at it's beast.


Michael Allyn Wells





Two Orphan Poems Find Homes

I never cease to be excited when I get news that poems I've written have been offered new homes. You send these out into the world... a big world that has lots of other orphan poems to pick and choose from so when the word comes I just get silly happy.


  • I Listen to My Cereal
  • I Stole Your Voice 
These two are going to the same home for publication in mid-March.  Yeah!

Mail Bag - Books! Yeah!


What is better then books in the mail? Well if you are waiting  for my answer don't hold your breath unless you look well in  blue.

The Saturday Mailbag contained:

I'll let you know what I think of them in a later post.