Vietnam conflict
our male classmates fought and died
we girls weren't drafted
Suggestions
when i write poetry
i take the rules of english
as suggestions
made by a maiden aunt with alzheimer's
giving me wedding night advice
on my 33rd wedding anniversary
kiss his fingertips first
she admonishes
from memory
mistaking her sister's newborn
for the man of her dreams
she never married
quotation marks
missing
who cares who said what when
or why or how
poems
are fodder for the scatterbrain
feeding on itself
in a frenzy
of catch-up nutrition
vitamins for the soul
word figments mistaken for leafy greens
imagggine nations
roaring
into second place
with shame lowered eyes
spelling "beautiful" without the "a"
a fifth grade spelling bee
middle school social golf course hazard
the ball sliced into the woods
missing the pond
but also missing the green
rows upon rows of gold stars
awarded for perfect spelling
notwithstanding
capitalization
is for the birds
crows perched on the roof
waiting for trash day
and a neighborhood acquaintance carelessly exposing
the rotten morsels
that all crows love
the mighty comma
wallows in self pity
ignored forgotten maligned
OUT OF PLACE
no room for commas
when carriage returns do just nicely
thank you berry much
my poet
fast food word deliverer
leave us not forget the colloquialisms
the expletives
the borrowed-from-the-french
the technical terms with no cousins in the thesaurus
these fiends all exorcised from true poetry
poems, after all, are written to say
"I LOVE YOU!"
in a language you the reader want to understand
for a share of this lovingkindness
you are willing to sift through
word detritus
wade through undetectable grammatical fauxs pas
and put up with mismanagement of vowels
we can all do just fine without
"Rules of English"
when we want to feel alive loved
we'll die soon enough
our tombstone and obituary
will be carefully edited
for Proper English
by somebody who cares for English
but has never met Our Heart
i take the rules of english
as suggestions
made by a maiden aunt with alzheimer's
giving me wedding night advice
on my 33rd wedding anniversary
kiss his fingertips first
she admonishes
from memory
mistaking her sister's newborn
for the man of her dreams
she never married
quotation marks
missing
who cares who said what when
or why or how
poems
are fodder for the scatterbrain
feeding on itself
in a frenzy
of catch-up nutrition
vitamins for the soul
word figments mistaken for leafy greens
imagggine nations
roaring
into second place
with shame lowered eyes
spelling "beautiful" without the "a"
a fifth grade spelling bee
middle school social golf course hazard
the ball sliced into the woods
missing the pond
but also missing the green
rows upon rows of gold stars
awarded for perfect spelling
notwithstanding
capitalization
is for the birds
crows perched on the roof
waiting for trash day
and a neighborhood acquaintance carelessly exposing
the rotten morsels
that all crows love
the mighty comma
wallows in self pity
ignored forgotten maligned
OUT OF PLACE
no room for commas
when carriage returns do just nicely
thank you berry much
my poet
fast food word deliverer
leave us not forget the colloquialisms
the expletives
the borrowed-from-the-french
the technical terms with no cousins in the thesaurus
these fiends all exorcised from true poetry
poems, after all, are written to say
"I LOVE YOU!"
in a language you the reader want to understand
for a share of this lovingkindness
you are willing to sift through
word detritus
wade through undetectable grammatical fauxs pas
and put up with mismanagement of vowels
we can all do just fine without
"Rules of English"
when we want to feel alive loved
we'll die soon enough
our tombstone and obituary
will be carefully edited
for Proper English
by somebody who cares for English
but has never met Our Heart
Stay tuned...
I finally collected my poetry into a book to be entitled, "Mourning Dove Dawn." I will be making the book available for purchase as a hard-cover book, a soft-cover book, and also as an e-book... once I figure out how to do all that! This is my first attempt at self-publishing.
The e-book will most likely sell for the minimum, which I think at the moment is ninety-nine cents in American money. The soft-cover book will be made available as inexpensively as possible, but the hard-cover book will be pricey, as I want to make it a beautiful treasure and keepsake, as much for my own benefit as for those who might like to own one or give it as a gift.
I love the smell of new books. I love the feel of a book in my hand, and the way it looks as I leaf through its pages. Though I have never been a fan of dust jackets, I love attached bookmark ribbons and gilt edges and pretty, rose-printed end papers on linen-bound books. In selecting a printing format, I will probably have to settle for what I can afford. I am shopping around.
All of my poetry will still be available for free on this blog or wherever else I manage to post, though many poems have since been edited or updated or re-written altogether, and I have not always kept my blogs up-to-date with the near-constant revisions.
If you want a better-formed book of my poems and you want to make arrangements with a printer, I would be happy to provide the content for these words to be printed up to create the gorgeous book of your dreams.
If you would like to make books of my words available for sale, please distribute any profits according to my wishes: use the proceeds to make books and musical instruments available to all, along with the teaching of the skills necessary to employ them, and do what is possible to assure people have the time to actively pursue the creation of their own music and their own combinations of words.
You can choose to print all or just a selection of the poems, whichever you would most enjoy. The poems may be printed out, one per page, with plenty of blank space for your notes or for journaling. They can be made into a calendar, printed on a tee shirt or mug or other object. I myself have printed out my haiku on single business cards, and collected the cards into a three-ring binder, for easy reference.
The making of books no longer needs to be done the old-fashioned way. I ask only that you not combine my words with those of others, which might create a different story than the one I have intended to tell, unless I have granted such permission in advance, or unless you are absolutely sure that including my words in a collection will not alter my message.
I am excited to be bringing to print my first book.
In my mind, every hard-bound book should have on its inside cover a white square sticker that announces "This book belongs to _________" and have a single name proudly handwritten on the line. This sticker is designed to encourage the free lending out and then the happy return of the book to its owner.
In my mind, every hard-bound book given as a gift needs a written explanation on the blank page inside the front cover, as to why it was specifically selected for the recipient, out of the myriad possibilities in gift-giving. You may use this:
My Dearest,
Many happy returns to you as we together celebrate the anniversary of your birth! The day you came into my life was a day that changed me forever for the better.
I hope this book brings you joy and courage and wisdom and happiness and peace of mind and all the wonderful things it has brought to me. All that, and more good I wish for you as you continue your journey through time and space.
I hope you come to cherish this book's continuous freshness as I have. I enjoyed it the first time I read it and have looked forward with increasing pleasure to spending yet another bit of quiet time with this old friend.
With All My Tender Love,
Yours Truly
P.S. Always remember, whatever the question, love is the answer. I'll love you forever!"
It saddens me to see good books tied up and sitting at the curb, heartlessly discarded and waiting to be taken away for permanent disposal. When you are ready to part with it, please make your best effort to find and give this book to someone new who will hopefully appreciate it.
More to come...
The e-book will most likely sell for the minimum, which I think at the moment is ninety-nine cents in American money. The soft-cover book will be made available as inexpensively as possible, but the hard-cover book will be pricey, as I want to make it a beautiful treasure and keepsake, as much for my own benefit as for those who might like to own one or give it as a gift.
I love the smell of new books. I love the feel of a book in my hand, and the way it looks as I leaf through its pages. Though I have never been a fan of dust jackets, I love attached bookmark ribbons and gilt edges and pretty, rose-printed end papers on linen-bound books. In selecting a printing format, I will probably have to settle for what I can afford. I am shopping around.
All of my poetry will still be available for free on this blog or wherever else I manage to post, though many poems have since been edited or updated or re-written altogether, and I have not always kept my blogs up-to-date with the near-constant revisions.
If you want a better-formed book of my poems and you want to make arrangements with a printer, I would be happy to provide the content for these words to be printed up to create the gorgeous book of your dreams.
If you would like to make books of my words available for sale, please distribute any profits according to my wishes: use the proceeds to make books and musical instruments available to all, along with the teaching of the skills necessary to employ them, and do what is possible to assure people have the time to actively pursue the creation of their own music and their own combinations of words.
You can choose to print all or just a selection of the poems, whichever you would most enjoy. The poems may be printed out, one per page, with plenty of blank space for your notes or for journaling. They can be made into a calendar, printed on a tee shirt or mug or other object. I myself have printed out my haiku on single business cards, and collected the cards into a three-ring binder, for easy reference.
The making of books no longer needs to be done the old-fashioned way. I ask only that you not combine my words with those of others, which might create a different story than the one I have intended to tell, unless I have granted such permission in advance, or unless you are absolutely sure that including my words in a collection will not alter my message.
I am excited to be bringing to print my first book.
In my mind, every hard-bound book should have on its inside cover a white square sticker that announces "This book belongs to _________" and have a single name proudly handwritten on the line. This sticker is designed to encourage the free lending out and then the happy return of the book to its owner.
In my mind, every hard-bound book given as a gift needs a written explanation on the blank page inside the front cover, as to why it was specifically selected for the recipient, out of the myriad possibilities in gift-giving. You may use this:
My Dearest,
Many happy returns to you as we together celebrate the anniversary of your birth! The day you came into my life was a day that changed me forever for the better.
I hope this book brings you joy and courage and wisdom and happiness and peace of mind and all the wonderful things it has brought to me. All that, and more good I wish for you as you continue your journey through time and space.
I hope you come to cherish this book's continuous freshness as I have. I enjoyed it the first time I read it and have looked forward with increasing pleasure to spending yet another bit of quiet time with this old friend.
With All My Tender Love,
Yours Truly
P.S. Always remember, whatever the question, love is the answer. I'll love you forever!"
It saddens me to see good books tied up and sitting at the curb, heartlessly discarded and waiting to be taken away for permanent disposal. When you are ready to part with it, please make your best effort to find and give this book to someone new who will hopefully appreciate it.
More to come...
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