Jargon

I thought it would be fun to look at some different jargons. I think they can add a lot to our poems. Reference books are a great source, think medical, math, scientific names of birds, flowers, and shells.
Do you remember these little books?  Pick two different jargons that appeal to you and pen a poem.
Fishing terms, geometry, gardening terms, computer, cycling, etc. ...whatever appeals.
Think of all the unique combos or you could chose two opposites and see how well you can bring them together. This could make some really interesting poems.  Here is one I wrote a while ago. My daughter was taking Geometry and she is interested in hair n' make up. I thought I would combine the two.  My husband is in the military and I love flowers, what a unique poem that could be?!
                                                                         
Outlined illusion
Cupid's bow pursed,
perimeters changed,
passion's natural rose smiles,
planes appear, saving face
hollow apples,crop dusted
windows encircled, uplifted soul
smoky drama arrives in
matte made dreams,
skin and bone extract the canvas
hair color highlights hinges of youth,
rusting under painted brow,
alluded light by degrees
emotion drawn on,
play the part,
light reflects the God given jewels,
softness sets against animated sun,
light danced when young,
time worn clouds appear.
elements erode,
concealed geometry
covers pieces of  YOU.     

Shortening the Sails

Hello again! Grace here, glad to be back for the second round of our poetry format challenge. This week, we'll discuss the Rondelet. This is another French form, consisting of just one stanza. This form is a compressed version of the format we will tackle next time. Think of it as a building block!

The forms we have been enjoying are all of the Rondeau family, defined by the rentrement. The rentrement, as we saw in the last post's roundel, is an opening phrase or line that becomes a refrain. A French poet of the 19th century, Theodore de Banville, said of the rentrement, "It is at once the subject and its means of expression."

In "The Literary World", published in 1889, Charles Henry Luders gave us this quick lesson in the "Rondelet":

A RONDELET
Is just seven verses rhymed on two.
A rondelet
Is an old jewel quaintly set
In poesy--a drop of dew
Caught in a roseleaf. Lo! For you,
A rondelet.

While each poem in the rondeau family is derived from a dance round set to music, the rondelet is also a short, disciplined format. There are a mere seven lines. A rondelet composed in French will be syllabic, counting 4-8-4-8-8-8-4. When written in English, the syllable count is often disregarded, and tends to be iambic. You are free to use the strict syllable count or choose another! While the strictness of the French-style meter helps to bring a spare beauty to your verse, a looser English-style meter can give you a little room to play around with this form. However, there must be meter and flow even if you choose a looser interpretation of the rules. "Rondelet", above, hews very close to the French syllable count, but not exactly, and its meter and flow are similar to what we are aiming for, here. Try reading your piece out loud to be sure it doesn't sound choppy.

This format is also rhymed, and the scheme ends up looking like this:

A (Refrain)
B
R
A
B
B
R

The first line, our rentrement, becomes the third and the seventh line as well.

A fun way to approach the rondelet is to begin it like a traditional haiku. Pick two clear images and try to reconcile them. Be sure to take your time in selecting the perfect descriptions, and don't settle for something easy or trite. It's not difficult to turn a small piece like this into doggerel. It's like walking a tightrope: you have to find a balance, adhering to the format yet allowing your own voice to shape it. Don't be afraid to modify the strictest rules as needed, while treating them with respect.

I couldn't find any online, readily available versions of the rondelet, none I truly liked, so I don't have an example to post for you in the article. I will of course link up along with runaway sentence. at the bottom when my version is posted, and look forward to reading your versions of this tricky, yet rewarding, little form.

Calling All Toads

Welcome to the Real Toads open link, where both members and visitors alike are invited to share a poem, either old or new.
Let us start our week off by reading some wonderful poetry, and forgetting, even for half an hour, that deadlines await our attention.

Interviewing Shen Hart

Well, boys and girls, since it’s my turn to play the interviewer role, I am delighted to introduce you today a person who is not only a dear friend, but also an awesome writer, with a rich imagination and a splendid personality. Please welcome Shen Hart!

Shen, it is a pleasure to have you here today, and in order to not let our readers wait anymore, let us begin the trip through your world.

I know that your first love in the writing process was prose, so my first question is related to that. Tell us please how did writing get to be your “addiction”, as you call it on your presentation page from your blog – how did you begin to write in the first place?

I had written odd little scenes here and there for a few years through my teens. Nothing more than a paragraph at a time – I didn't have the focus or attention span to get any further than that. Then, I met a new friend 2 years ago September. I knew he wrote a little here and there, so I concluded it'd be fun to do a collaborative story. It was a good laugh and we kept it up for a couple of weeks. He gave me a string of compliments about loving my style and I really enjoyed it (the writing and the compliments!), it was a very steep slippery slope from there!

I think it became an addiction after I’d finished my first book, Tiaden Dawn. I was so proud of myself, the first project I’d completed to the very end and it was a 120,000 word book! I didn't want to stop, the story wasn't over and the characters had so much more to say. They sunk their claws into my psyche and have been breeding ever since!

You recently published a book – and, might I add, a very well written one, Twisted Fates. I know you’ve been asked this question many times already, but for those of the readers who haven’t yet had the pleasure (I promise you, dear readers, it is indeed a pleasure) to lay their eyes on your fantasy world, and not only for them, please introduce this work to us.

Thanks Lily for such kind words!!

T.F. is set in modern day southern England, the same area and world as my first book Tiaden Dawn. Which all sounds very normal, until I introduce you to the layers the humans don't see. There are 4 planes of existence, including the Earth plane which is as it sounds. Within the planes there are a whole multitude of different species and subspecies, all with their own agenda, cultures etc. The main focus of T.F is around that of a pair of sociopathic angels who have decided that humans are nothing more than parasites and it's about time they removed them.

There's what's termed the veil, which separates Earth from the other planes. The reason for that being twofold – to keep the humans from trying to reach the other planes thus risking them attempting to industrialize them. Also, to keep the number of non-humans on the Earth plane controlled, keeping the humans in their happy little bubble until they're ready to face up to the truth of the matter. It has been decided that the humans are about ready to have the veil fall and allow them to take their place with the rest of the species. This is seen as a great opportunity for many different species. The angels see a chance to destroy the humans. Others see it as a chance to take Earth as their own territory, then you have those who wish to protect both. It's a huge story which just keeps growing with different arcs and angles, a lot of fun to play with.

One of the things I know you’re working on is an encyclopedia – a very special one actually. I am now going to ask you to talk a little about that part of your work!

This was something I started one Monday morning when my body was awake but my brain was far from it! It's a writers encyclopedia – a satirical look into the world of writers. So far I've started to look at essential parts of a writer's world such as muses, plot bunnies and the terrifying creature that is a museless writer! I've also done a section on the various different breeds of writer. It's something very different to my other things and I hope people will find it as fun as I do.

We spoke about the writer Shen Hart so far – I am sure that our readers would like to know a little also about the poet Shen Hart. On your blog you confess that you were “conned by a good friend” to write poetry. How did he/she manage to convince you to explore this side of yourself too? Is there a difference for the quill when held by the poet Shen Hart and not by the writer Shen Hart?

I blame Ostensible Truth (I rarely use his full name!) entirely for getting me into poetry. As he put it he 'took on a poor, stray prose writer and taught her the way of poetry'. It started when I began fooling around with poetry as a bit of a joke. I didn't understand even the bare basics of poetry. He however, is a poet I have a huge amount of respect for and he was kind enough to (very patiently) teach me the way of the poem! He took the time to explain it to me properly and show me the beauty and skill behind it.

If you'd have asked me a couple of months ago if my prose is written by a different part of me to my poetry, I’d have said yes. However, since my poetry has been improving, the line has blurred to the point where it's almost gone now. My poetry has helped my prose come on in leaps and bounds. I do still go into a slightly different outlook and headspace for my poetry though. My prose I sit on top of the world and look down, writing the tales of my characters. For my poetry, I sit between the layers of existence and attempt to mark the beauty before me.

Talk to us a little please about your hobbies and your usual activities – what do you do when you do not write?

I'm a very outdoorsy girl. I'm a dog walker by trade and spend most of my time outdoors, come rain or shine. I share 4 horses and own a 2 year old, so I spend a fair amount of time down the yard with them as well. My 2 year old, Ziggy is a fantastic project and he gives me a great view on the world.

I plot, plan and scheme! Fingers crossed It looks as though I'll be a partner in a very boutique dog hotel by the end of this year. Where I will manage day to day running as well as getting back into teaching puppy classes. So I'm planning for all that, which I really enjoy. I’d love to have been an events organizer but that's a separate topic! I also give riding lessons, read (mainly factual but I'm getting back into fiction), as well as walking and I love just sitting outside on a clear night and stargazing. My favorite method of relaxation has to be sitting on the beach at night and watching a storm roll in though. Unfortunately we don't get many storms here any more, so lying back and stargazing while the waves crash against the shingle is a perfect replacement.

Suppose you would be isolated on an island – name three books you would take with you.

Michael Chrichton's Timeline.

Neil Gaimon's American Gods

I'm torn on the last one! Either, Ray Mears guide to wild food and survival – so I can actually survive on the island!

OR! Steven Hawking's a brief history of time – to keep me occupied and my mind working and ticking over.

Thanks for the great questions!

Thank you Shen, for accepting to answer them – it was a pleasure for me, and I’m sure that it is also for our readers, whom I advise to pay a visit to your blog, http://tiaden.wordpress.com/, in order to get better acquainted with your works!

The Critique Corner: Classical Poetry

O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

The Sick Rose by William Blake was first published in 1794, and yet its theme resonates with the modern reader.  Thirty four words from his pen, inspired by the times in which he lived, have been inherited by our generation with their relevance intact.  How does the poet get this right?

There is a rose; there is a worm; there is a bed and there is a world of associations.

What strikes you as being the one over-riding factor in the success of this poem?

Is it a key-word, or the imagery? Perhaps it is the symbolism that strikes you. Maybe you think the poem is entirely over-rated.

Let's see if we can get to the bottom of what makes great poetry great... Leave your thoughts in the comment box.

Robb will continue to offer his Critique Corner in the Tuesday slot from Sept 6.

Kerry's Wednesday Challenge

I had something else in mind for today's challenge but, when I opened the Google home page, saw that today marks the 112th anniversary of Jorge Luis Borges' birthday. Being something of an Alice when presented with a rabbit hole, a series of links lead me to his short story: "The Garden of Forking Paths".  I'm a sucker for anything convoluted, and I have become immensely intrigued by what I have read about the story.  (I have not read the story itself yet, but will read it HERE)

"The concept Borges described in 'The Garden of Forking Paths'—in several layers of the story, but most directly in the combination book and maze of Ts'ui Pên—is that of a novel that can be read in multiple ways, a hypertext novel." 


"Borges conceives of 'a labyrinth that folds back upon itself in infinite regression', asking the reader to 'become aware of all the possible choices we might make'."

I wonder, now, how can a book be like a maze and can a poem be like a maze too?  


Borges is lauded as the father of magical realism, so my challenge is that we all allow ourselves to become lost in the maze of language, magic, and endless possibilities.

An Interview with Liliana Negoi

by Sherry Blue Sky

Hey kids, my turn to interview a poet, and in visiting the sites among our membership, I have been blown away by the talent and remarkably interesting background of Liliana Negoi, of  Endless Journey.

Sherry: Liliana, when did you first begin writing, and what led you to choosing the poetic form as your means of expression?

Liliana: I began to write when I was 18. To make a long story short, during the last year of high school, my philosophy teacher at that time suffered a serious stroke, and was close to death. Although there wasn’t a very strong relationship between him and any of his pupils, somehow this dramatic event happened to be the trigger that brought to life my first poem – I was sitting in my room one evening and I was thinking of how he was about to die and of how he was a very lonely person, and probably the idea of someone dying alone, like that, affected me more than I realized then. Anyway, that first poem came out in a snap, as if it had waited for the right moment to pop out. Obviously, in Romanian at that time. A while after that I started to translate my creations, and later English became my main writing language – and it still is.

Why I chose poetry…actually I didn’t choose poetry – poetry chose me. I studied music – piano – for years, and despite the talent I had in that field, and despite the talent I had in many other forms of art, somehow this was the one that truly bloomed in my heart. And I’m REALLY happy that it did. 

Sherry: Trust me, we are happy too, for we are all the richer for it. What is your definition of poetry? What does it mean to you?

Liliana:  I think that nature was God’s first official poet – poetry exists, with or without our awareness, in everything that surrounds us, poets being merely the ones interceding between the world of poetry and people, like some sort of mediums. Honestly, I have no precise definition of poetry. To me it is like an extra limb, or sense, or something similar, allowing me to explore the concept of multiverse. Poetry (art, in general) is something so close to divinity, that humanity hasn’t invented yet the right words to define it properly.

Sherry: Well said!  Do you believe anyone can write a poem, or that a talent for poetry is inherently a gift?

Liliana: As you already know Sherry, I believe that poems are independent entities living their life somewhere in between the poet’s quill and the reader’s eye. I also believe that at some point poems reveal themselves to us – and in that moment what we tend to call “talent for poetry” is, in my opinion, a measure of how well we are able to listen to them and to let them flow. Anyone can, at some point in life, write a poem – I think it is impossible for a person to live an entire lifetime without hearing at least once the voice of poetry. What makes the difference between poets and the rest of the world is the ability of the firsts to become permanently open to the poetry happening all around them. 

Sherry: Oh, I so love the idea of a poem living "somewhere in between the poet's quill and the reader's eye". That is perhaps the best description of poetry I have ever heard. How do you know a poem is good? How do you know when it is finished?

Liliana: Just like people, not all poems can have the same value. In case of equality, we wouldn’t be able to make a difference between them. Not even the greatest poet’s creations are all exceptional. I know a poem of mine is good enough  to be published when, while reading it out-loud, I hear it flowing. There are no clear standards for that, because poetry is boundless. We can talk about a form, or about free verse, about rhyming or about white rhyme, about meter or anything else, but we always have to remember that these are but small attributes of certain poems, not of poetry itself. For me, a poem is good and finished when, by adding another single word or particle, it becomes superfluous and when, by removing a single word or particle, it sounds gimp. Words are very dear to me, and I always try to treat them with the proper respect, even if lately I felt the need to make-up words in order to convey the exact message in what I wrote.

Sherry: What is your process for writing a poem, from start to finish?

Liliana: The most difficult part, so to speak, is the start, because I never know what will trigger the next poem – can be a sound, a scent, a word, an image of some sort, anything at all. When the right element comes into my attention, my brain makes certain connections subconsciously, and I feel the need to write. Most of the time this “need” is almost physiological, I am not completely aware of what I am going to pen down, but I just know that I “have to write something”. In the second when I put my hands on the keyboard or when I hold the pen and the notebook, the poem just comes out. I admit I am quite a good “listener”, meaning that I rarely oppose the poem coming out – I just let it flow and also I try to do that as often as possible. I write every day, even if I don’t post something online all the time. On rare occasions it happens to me to not write a poem “in one piece”, meaning by that that it takes me more than one day to finish it. When I realize that I cannot finalize a text, I never force it. I just allow it a little bit of time – usually not more than one day. After that I re-read it, and it kind of writes itself to the end.

Sherry: Who would you say has been the single biggest influence, in your life, on your creativity?

Liliana: Now this is a challenging question under such a form…and I know my answer may sound a bit like cheating, but I think that the single biggest influence in my life on my creativity was life itself. On smaller segments of my life, there were many smaller sources of influence, each of them, no matter how small, having a great importance, because I believe in the saying that “big things are made of small things”, and thus  even the tiniest of things can be of huge importance at some point in time. But putting everything together, that is the conclusion to which I come.   

Sherry: I am enjoying this conversation so much! Liliana, given your years of musical training, is there a connection for you between music and poetry?

Liliana: To me, music and poetry are one and the same thing, but expressed by different means. While, on one side, we use words to try and envisage the glimpses of the poetry of life, on the other side we use sounds to do just the same, but on a different level. Neither higher, nor lower, just different. 

Sherry: I so agree. Liliana, I am  wondering how you got so wise, still being so young. You are quite amazing, with a most impressive background.

Liliana:  I wouldn’t consider myself wise – wisdom is something much too big for a human mind to house. And, as I like to say, “The beginning of wisdom is the willingness of accepting the thought that you will never achieve it.”. I only try to be very open-minded to everything around me, and to learn as much as I can from anything and everything – even (or especially from) my children and their avidity to explore J. And I have to thank you for your kind compliments!

Sherry: Liliana, thank you so much for taking this time to talk with me.  Kids, Liliana  has had two books published, which you can find out more about on her site: Sands and Shadows and Footsteps on Sand, a Tanka Collection.

Calling All Toads

Open Link Monday

Welcome to the Real Toads open link.  I do hope that your Monday proves to be less stressful than mine.  The best antidote to workday blues is the opportunity to relax and read a poem of two. 
Both members and visitors alike are invited to share a poem, either old or new, and read a few of those so generously offered for our enjoyment.

Interview with an Interviewer - Robin takes on Sherry Blue Sky

Kerry asked me to interview a writer. While I could have chosen one of my many poet friends, I instead, chose a poet whom I knew very little about. Attracted by her poetry and her own series of interviews, I asked the very interesting and animated Sherry Blue Sky to share some thoughts with us. ~ Robin Amaral

Hi Sherry, could you introduce yourself and tell us what makes you - you?

Whoa, that is a question that could take a lot of cyberspace to answer! I am a lover of life, of the beauty of nature, an environmentalist and a dreamer.  I live on the beautiful West Coast of Canada, on Vancouver Island. What makes me “me”? Dementia? Crazy hair? The answer is having survived 65 years of living. My life has been the usual mix of difficulty, challenge, struggle, loss and a few enormous leaps into radiance and blessing. The blue sky and my love for the beauty of this world has gotten me through the rough patches. Cackling accompanies me through everything. I look back at how I started out, all that happened in between, and am amazed to simultaneously see both how far I’ve come and also that I basically have returned to my authentic self.  That circular process seems to take a lifetime for some of us late bloomers. One of the things I most admire in humans is our ability to transcend our circumstances with grace and humor and, thus, help others. I feel like I have burned off  enough karma in this life, that the next one should be easier. (It just sucks about global warming, hee hee!)

You have a favorite quote you say you live by: "We live in hope!"  Why do these words resonate so strongly within you?

It is a quote a friend of mine said often, back in my coffeehouse days in the 80’s, and I adopted it. Because of all the struggle, and my stubborn refusal to be anything but positive, I have lived my life with an unusual amount of hope, hope that things will get better – and they always do.

I like writing late at night. Is there a special time or place for you, where words flow more easily, where inspiration is a brighter light?

 Now that I am older, I find my brain doesn’t work the way it once did. I mourn that I no longer create inspired lyrical poems like I used to. My current work doesn’t have the same flow. However, I am simply grateful to be writing at all, and the reason I am is the community of online poets, which has given me the creative community I lack where I live. It blows my mind that people are reading and encouraging my writing, and that is a very great blessing in my life. I work best in the morning, when all is quiet. But occasionally fragments come to me at other times too.

What does music mean to you?

 I was born and raised in music. My dad was a musician, and so it is the music of the 40’s that really speaks to me, though I like many types of music, from classical, to world beat, to pop, to jazz. Music is inside me, though, oddly, I never learned an instrument. I would love to play classical violin and I suspect that’s not going to happen. But when I hear live music, inside, I am playing. For much of my life, I sang, but now I croak. Sigh. And I beat a mean conga drum!

What is the message you would like the world to hear from your heart?

 I love this question so much! I have a deep belief – or hope? – that good will ultimately triumph over evil, light over darkness. I believe humanity has the capability of creating the world that way it was meant to be: with resources and equity for all. I believe the transformation of consciousness, light against dark, is trying to happen right now, globally,  and, if we can just make that shift, and the greedy multinationals lose their death-grip on the planet, we’ll be on our way to peace and plenty. However, the other side of that, if it doesn’t happen, is if everything collapses, humankind will have to go back to square one. If that happens, I hope the next humans do a better job than we have of living on this earth.

You have interviewed many writers. What have you learned from them?

 That every single person has an extremely interesting story. Real life is more interesting than fiction, by far, and often is more “unbelievable” than anything we can make up. And it is the spirit in each person – the light that is theirs alone to shine – that draws me to them. That spark of life and hope and dreams that draws us ever forward, even through the swampy patches.

What books have you written or have been published in?

Hmmm......I wrote a book about my son’s and my journey through his illness. (He was stricken with schizophrenia when he was seventeen, and we took an amazing journey over the next two decades.) But it needs an edit and to be submitted, and I grow weary at the thought of doing what is needed to make that happen. It’s on the To Do list. In the 90’s, when I lived in Tofino, a lot of my poetry was published in a magazine we had there, called The Sound. I was invited to write for a West Coast anthology called Writing the West Coast: In Love With Place, and my Love Song to Clayoquot Sound appeared in it, which made me very happy. I did once submit to and had a piece accepted by Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul. I also have pieces in the Poets United anthology and Annell Livingston’s Red Shoes Project, as well as Risking For Change: Stories of Ordinary People. My problem is, I never submit my work anywhere, I prefer just writing. And now that I have people reading my work, I am more than happy with that, though I do want to do three chapbooks this winter: the Soul Card series, the Wild Woman series, and a book of my poems about my beloved wolf-pup, Pup, who died last January. Takes a lot of work though. It is daunting.

                                                                                                                                  Soul Card

What websites of yours would you like us to direct readers too?

I’m at STARDREAMING With Sherry Blue Sky

I would like to thank you for this interview, and I also thank all of my readers, each one of whom means more to me than they can ever imagine. They have changed my life so much for the better, and they keep me writing, no small gift.

                                                                                                                                                          Pup