Greetings to all poets, travelers and friends ....
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| JULY 18 :: MANDELA DAY |
This is the perfect day for me to touch upon our theme for 2017: Being Human. Today is Mandela Day which is commemorated annually on the date of the late Nelson Mandela's birth. The clip is a short interview with South African poet, Nkateko Masinga who is participating in the annual 67 Poems for Freedom for Mandela Day, hosted by UNISA Poetry Society, in which she recites one of her poems
It is also coincidentally the anniversary of the Imaginary Garden With Real Toads. Yes! Unbelievably, this site opened for business on July 18, 2011, which means we are officially 6 years old. Our origins were humble but we remained true to our concept of membership and became a support base for emerging poets as a place not only to showcase our writing but also to share ideas, encourage divergent thinking and make valuable connections within the online poetry community. These have stood the test of time. In celebration of our anniversary, we have relaunched our Toads in Tandem, in which members pair up and produce collaborative poetry. Please remember to stop by tomorrow to read the combine efforts of Fireblossom and Skylover.
And now, I open the floor to all who are here to participate in the open link. I suppose it would be too much for me to expect 67 poems, but feel free to dig into your archives, as far back as 2011, and share more than one post today.
Happy Anniversary to the imaginary garden
ReplyDeletemuch love...
Happy Anniversary Toads!❤️ Hope you're having an amazing day so far, sharing my poem 'The last rose' and looking forward to Toads in Tandem tomorrow!❤️
ReplyDeleteSix years! That is an awesome accomplishment. xoxo to all of you!
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck, I'll share an old one, too. More poetry!
ReplyDeleteSorry for spamming with so many comments. Just wanted to thank you for sharing the reading by Nkateko Masinga, Kerry. "Does that offend you?" Really good. "And your blackness is magic."
ReplyDeleteHappy Sixth, merry Toads! Thanks to those of you who have steadfastly run this poetry joint with style and heart. You truly are the best. And I get to post two today? Heaven help you all ...
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary to the Toad Community! Thanks for keeping the lily pad a place for poets to meet.
ReplyDeleteUnder the guise of Skylover, I am sharing a page of my collected Sonnets (38 in total) stacking the deck with extra poems. It is a comments-free blog, there for the reading for any who would like to peruse a few pieces.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! I remember when we began, and what a wonderful journey it has been, under your sensitive stewardship, Kerry. Thank you for keeping it going, a site we can count on and turn to for inspiration and replenishment. What a fantastic poet you featured in the video. She shows us the power of a poem to raise awareness and heighten vibrations in the listener. Wonderful. And I love that we began on Mandela's birthday!
ReplyDeletePerhaps this will fit in with today's unofficial theme.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary to all the Toads! dVerse is also celebrating their 6th anniversary as of yesterday. People on the Toads site are so very talented. I thank all of you for the chance to post my poetry here.
ReplyDeleteFantastically beautiful love poems, Kerry!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary Toads Old and New. Such a wonderful community to be a part of...and sooo much talent here.Not sure what I'll do for this one.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm not an active member but I love this community! <3
ReplyDeleteAs you now I'm quite a new visitor to Imaginary Gardens, however, Happy Anniversary and may it continue going from strength to strength.
ReplyDeleteA new poem... but certainly my poetic expression (hopefully) has improved because of this beautiful resting and learning place for me and fellow poets! Here's to many more years. Happy Anniversary.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 6th anniversary! I love that you encourage others such as I to enter one of their writings/poems and to read other poems...which I love to do~
ReplyDeleteJan
Am celebrating with a half prose half poem from last year as I played it again with Toads and May there be more such times. Happy Anniversary
ReplyDeleteHere doing my share.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kerry
Happy Anniversary
I've included a post I linked to dVerse today.
ReplyDeleteHappy sixth birthday! dVerse celebrated its sixth birthday yesterday. With all the similar participants and same age I wonder if there is a relationship between the two groups.
Happy Six to you all, Toads and Guests. Thank you, Terry. I was dabbling back in 2011, here's one. Perhaps another tomorrow. In 2011 I traded in my left knee joint for one of plastic and titanium. Also got hooked on opiods.
ReplyDeleteTo Terry, thank you, this a nice poetry party. I'll see what you guys do tomorrow (I'll post another 2011 ditty). BTW, Sonnet 38, been there. I was very cautious about everything but the second marriage is 43 years now.
ReplyDelete..
Thanks so much for the fantastic quote and video, Kerry. Just perfect for today, for the days we are living in...
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for all the poems today. I think with my little cheat of sonnets, we exceeded 67 poems in total.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a special word to new-comers - all are welcome to participate in any challenge in the Garden - the members are the gardeners but all may enjoy the flowers on display.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Frank, there is no connection between this site and dVerse but both came to be at the same time in response to a site called One Stop Poetry disbanding. There was a vacuum, and poets needed specific environments in which to continue sharing their work.