We Must Stop The Genocide Now!

Innocent Civilians -- including women and children are being killed daily.  Stand with Artists 4 Cease Fire 

#Gaza  #StopTheKilling.  #Genocide   #EthnicCleansing 

A Moon by any other name --

Photo by Dominik Fischer on Unsplash 

What poet has not been lured in by the moon? A mystical luminary overhead. 

The moon is known by so many names - New Moon, Full Moon, Crescent Moon, Gibbous Moon, Quarter Moon, Blue Moon, Supermoon, Micromoon, Beaver Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunters Moon, Buck Moon, Pink Moon, Blood Moon, Black Moon, Wolf Moon, and Strawberry Moon, to name a few. There are a number of them that named for various mythological Goddesses of the moon. 

Also there are any number of geographical variation of some of their moon names listed above and many names given in non-english languages.

There, you have a whole host of writing prompts - write a poem using each of these moons in it.

#moonnames  #Moon 

Has A Poem Had Such A Profound Impact on You as to Change Your Life?

 Not everyone is keen on poetry and I realized that almost as far back as I became aware of poetry.  I guess when I first learned of it realizing what it was, I would hear people from time to time dismissing it as boring, or irrelevant, or too hard to understand was maybe the most common. 

Obviously over the years none of this dissuaded me. I crossed over the bridge from being a reader to being a poet as well as a reader myself.  So this weekend I was sitting here with things flowing through my head as the tend to do on weekends, and I wondered how many could say that they have read a poem that truly changed their life.  If that is the case for you, I'd love to hear about it. What the the poem and how did it change your life? 

Since most of my readers are poets themselves, My second question is, have any of you written a poem that changed your life? This could be changing your attitude of life in such a way to modify your life in some way. I suppose it could be a poem you wrote that won a prize and how that might have impacted you. 

Anyway, don't be shy. Le's give it up for poetry-- What's the poem that made a difference to you. Even if it was one of your own poems. 

#poemschangelives #lifechangingpoems #poetry 

We Hold These Truths - That ALL men & women ARE CREATED EQUAL

 

The Fourth of July  is an important part of the heritage and the history of this country.  You may be asking what the difference is.  History is a chronology of something from the past towards the present.  Heritage is altogether different.  Heritage is defined this way:

 1.property that descends to an heir.  My parents were American and by birth I therefore inherit an ownership in American and all it's freedoms and responsibilities. That is my inheritance. 

2. a special or individual possession; an allotted portion. As an immigrant, upon naturalization I may be allotted a portion of those freedoms afforded us under our constitution and laws.   

Yes, I know the 4th is all about fireworks, and BBQ, and apple pie, and beer, and so on.  But I believe it is important to focus on the word FREEDOM, because that is what the colonies were in search of.  Freedom from the King of England.  Freedom of religion, to name perhaps the most significant causes.

After our fight with Great Britton to free us from the British commonwealth, we established a Constitution that  guarenteed we would have self rule. That we would not  be beholden to any King, be it the King of England or one established here in the colonies. 

Further, people were free to worship as they so wished. They were not beholden to the King and the Anglican Church, or any other, Catholic or Protestant rite, or Judaism, or Muslim, or Hindu, or Buddhist church. 

These are founding principles that have guided us for all these hundreds of years.  I think it is important on the things that. have made our Democratic Republic the envy of so many.

We are not by any means perfect. but the phraseology "a more perfect union" underscores what we have been striving for. It has been long and it has not been easy, but we have continued to be committed to this quest that our forefathers started us on.  Our strength is in our diversity. And though we can be many, we can also be one.  

Remember tonight, what an awesome responsibility we have to our nation, to the preservation of a democratic republic, and to be an example to the free world.    

Imagine

Photo by Kristaps Ungurs on Unsplash

Imagination pulls us up, out of our grounded self and allows us to reach the sky.

We breath deep and fill ourselves with the hope and magic of tomorrow. 

It will be different - it will be new & we will be a part of it  

M.A.W.

 

AWP24 - KANSAS CITY CONFERENCE REVIEW -- As I Experienced it

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Shared with Public

2024 AWP Conference review

Tie for best thrown together display on Bookfair tables,

Homemade sign for a Lit Journal table that read, “Most of our poets are not dead.”

Another was a table in which the cloth covering was anchored down by two 5 lbs bags of C&H Sugar, primpting me to ask, “Why graze from table to table on the free candy, when you can just infuse 5 lbs of sugar here?”

Other fun stuff- a metal box with window, random word magnets -complete your best poem in 6 to 8 words. They you have them framed in a little framed window box.

Keynote address by poet Jericho Brown was awesome. He was funny, charming, and raged against the danger and stupidity of book banning.

Biggest downfall of conference - no bags at registration, no program books. Signage about the convention center was poor/lacking which was exacerbated by not having the program books this year.

Persons I missed seeing Mary Biddinger, who was in attendance but elusive, Susan Rich, also present but I missed. Kelli Russell Agodon, who cancelled at last minute, Katie Manning, who I missed to see a competing poetry reading and now wish I had gone to the one she was having. Amy Leigh Davis, who I heard was coming but I did not see, and a host of others that I often get to see only at conference.

It was especilly nice run into Erin Schaaf Robertson, another alumnus if the Spring 2017 Writer to Writter Session and catch up on her work.

A mammoth thank you to Peace Keenen for all her work on the Writer 2 Writer Conference reading.

New poet’s work I was introduced to: Elise Paschen. Her words rang with a cadence that not only touches you, but clings with you long afterwords. I hope to see much more of her in the future.

Overall, the conference was positive, though it did feel a lot different than in the past. Maybe some of that was that I was in my home turf. Hard to put my finger on it for sure.

#AWP24. #AWPKC

Kansas City Eats - AWP Edition Post # 3

A Taste Of Kansas City 

So if this is your first time visiting our fair city, I have a few eating establishments to call your attention to.   We have a wide range of culinary options here, but I will start with something Kansas City is especially known for.- Bar-B-Que.

In the downtown area a short drive from the conference and at the Arts Crossroad District is Jack Stack Bar-B-Que. The downtown location is converted historic Freight House with atmosphere to wow. 25-foot ceilings, fireplace lounge and full-service bar. This is a place I highly recommend. My personal favorites  are the beef ribs and burnt ends. 

There are so many Barbecue locations across the city - I mean, that and Jazz are what we are known for.  I would be remiss if I did not tell you about Arthur Bryants Barbecue. Located at 1717 Brookland Ave in K.C. it is famous for BBQ fit for a President. It has over the years served Presidents Harry S Truman, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.   Note, people don't go there for the esthetics, it's all about the food. President's have had it flown back to D.C.   Burnt Ends are great, ribs are great, the only drawback is they don't have beef ribs but I will till eat Bryant's pork ribs any day.

Johnny's Power & Light District  I can attest to their food a wide variety. They are walking distance from my work, so I have dined there a few times. 

Yard House  at 1300 Main KCMO.   Cuisine is Amaracana  

Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant - located in the Country Club Plaza district 310 W. 47th Street  Another Personal Favorite for Italian Dining Ive dinned here many times.

The Melting Pot  450 Ward Parkway, KCMO This is another Cuntry Club Plaza location.  I have not eaten here for some time, but ever time I've been there it has been a delightful experiance. 

The Mix  4855 Main St. KCMO.   If you like salads, (I do) the mix is a fun place to go. Build your own salad from seemingly endless options.  This is Just South of the Country Club Plaza.

The Brick - 1727 McGee KCMO  Great appetizers and main dishes. An array of Burgers and they have an onion block to die for.  

The Phoenix - 302 W. 8th KCMO. Jazz and great Food Nightly

#FoodKansas City.  #FoodKC.  #AWP24  #AWPKCMO