| January 2006 | Café Society's Poetry News Update |
| January 2006 | Café Society's Poetry News Update |
|
| Tom Berman has been a member of Kibbutz Amiad in the Upper Galilee, Israel for over 50 years. He is a scientist (aquatic microbiology); most of his research has been focused on Lake Kinneret , a.k.a. as the Sea of Galilee. He grew up and attended school in Glasgow, Scotland having arrived there aged 5 from Czechoslovakia with the Kindertransport in 1939. Further education was in the U.S. at Rutgers University and at M.I.T. He is married with one wife, three daughters, six granddaughters, a grandson and two mongrel dogs. Most of his publications to date have been scientific but now and again he has had a poem appear in press (Ariel, Voices Israel, Full Circle, Voices from Israel, Travelling, Across the Long Bridge, The World Poets Quarterly) or on the Web (Poetry Webring Review, Ariga, Poeticdiversity, Poetry Super Highway, SubtleTea, The Coffee Press Journal, Lily, Tamafyhr Mountain Poetry, Illiterate Hooligan, The Poetry Victims and elsewhere). Amazon.com are still trying to dispose of his first book of poems (Shards, a Handful of Verse). Presently, he is Editor in Chief of the annual Voices Israel Anthology.
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Like many youngsters, I scribbled purportedly "deep and
profound" lines as an adolescent, like most, I then abandoned efforts to express
myself in verse for many a long year. Then along came the computer;
suddenly the technical part of writing, and rewriting and shifting and cutting
and pasting became so easy. One day, I looked out some of the scraps of
scribble that I had long since stuffed into an old envelope and began to type
them out on the computer. Behold a poet is come amongst us!
Shortly thereafter I heard of "Voices", a group of poets
writing in English in Israel. "Voices" aficionados meet monthly in
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. I began to attend the meetings of the
latter group and was "hooked". That was about 8 years ago and I suppose that
I've been writing sporadically ever since.
Poetry L & T: How and why did you first start writing poetry, Tom?
Tom:
Writing poetry has not come simply for me even though I started
out with the advantage of a sound Scottish education. That meant being
extensively exposed to the English classics including the contents of
Palgrave's Golden Treasury. Thus, I was taught to write and to
appreciate the English language at a young and vulnerable age.
Poetry L & T:
Who are your favourite poets?
Tom:
I must confess to having absorbed deeply from many of "the usual
suspects". So I list Shakespeare, Milton, Robert Burns, Keats, Byron ,
Wordsworth, Auden, Graves, Frost, Eliot, Lewis Carol, Emily Dickinson,
e e cummings, Yeats, Dylan Thomas, Hugh MacDiarmid, Tom Leonard. Also many
of the poets who appear in a wonderful, now forgotten trilogy edited by
Geoffrey Summerfield called "Voices" published by Penguin in 1968;
likewise a bunch of poets in the Faber Book of Twentieth Century Scottish
Poetry. I also enjoy reading some (by no means all) of the poetry that appears on
the Net or that is written by my friends in Voices. Obviously that's too
many names to list.
Poetry L & T:
How did you become Editor in Chief of Voices Israel?
Tom:
More or less by default. The Voices Israel annual anthology (no
relation to the Penguin Voices mentioned above) has been running for
many years (the 2005 issue was Volume 31). Amiel Schotz (a fellow
ex-Glaswegian and a fine poet in his own right) who had been editing the anthology
from 1998 decided that he had had enough by 2002. I had been on the
Editorial Board for a couple of years and nobody else in the immediate vicinity
seemed able or willing to take on the job. So far I have presided over 2
volumes of Voices Israel (2003/4 and 2005) both of which were well received. But I
think that after the next issue (due in April 2006) I shall pass on the baton.
Poetry L & T:
I particularly enjoyed reading your poem "To An Un-named Colleague". I can very much identify with the
feelings expressed here; working with an irritating person is almost as bad as having to live with them,
since we spend so much time at work. Without giving too much away of the identity of this person, what
kinds of things did they do to earn revenge in a poem?
Tom:
The inspiration and object of my tirade is a specific someone, who
over the course of years developed, to my eyes, the irritating traits listed
in the poem while managing to impress positively many who knew him less
well. But of course the poem applies to a general category of character, well
known to us all.
Poetry L & T:
Your poem "Time Scales" fascinates me. At the end it speaks of man's finite destiny. Do you have a positive
outlook of time, in terms of positive change, or do you see the future as something unstable and
uncertain?
Tom:
Actually I do have an overall positive outlook on time. Sure, the
future is unstable, uncertain and lots of it will undoubtedly be
distinctly unpleasant. That's been amply proved by past and ongoing horrors.
Nevertheless, I suppose that I am a benighted optimist and think that
there is just a chance that humanity might make it through the next few
centuries. I only regret that I won't be around to find out what happens then.
Poetry L & T:
In your poem "Family Album" I love the way you mention
the old photos curling at the edges then, at the end,
you hit us with these lines:
...it must be a great feeling when a phrase like that
suddenly comes to you.
"It is my life
now
that is curling
at the edges"
Tom:
You said it! Unfortunately one seldom gets such Eureka moments.
And even then, when you have a phrase or two, how do you put them into a
sustainable poem? Is there any consolation in the fact that most of us
usually remember only a phrase or line or two of even the greatest
poems?
Poetry L & T: I love your poem "Galilee Spring". It evokes vivid
images in the mind's eye. Were you in Galilee when you wrote it, or elsewhere, remembering it?
Tom:
Yes, the poem was written "on site'. I've lived, on and off, in
the Upper Galilee for over fifty years and have not ceased to delight in
this marvelous landscape.
Poetry L & T:
Which, out of all your poems, is the one you are most
satisfied with?
Tom:
I'm not sure that I'm all that satisfied with any of them. I keep
coming back, revising old stuff, cutting out lines, changing words or
whatever. I'm glad that my poem The Leather Suitcase has been so well
received because it publicizes the relatively little known episode of
the Kindertransport by which some 10,000 children were able to come to
Britain in 1939 and were thus saved from Nazi Europe. And yes, Galilee Spring
is also one of my favorites.
Poetry L & T: What, in your opinion, makes a poem good or memorable?
Tom:
Maybe it's trite, but I would say, "Resonance is all". I'm
impressed if the poem has inner rhythm, cohesion, cadence, lines or phrases or an
ending that leaps out at me so that I say, after reading it, "Wow" (or some
similar oath). I am even more impressed if the poem does all that, is written
in verse and conforms to a recognized poetic form.
Poetry L & T: Is there anything you dislike, or that annoys you, in
contemporary poetry on the internet?
Tom:
I must admit to reading relatively little on the internet. But
"poetry" which I cannot understand at second reading is OUT. Mind
you, there are many poems that I can't understand, but which have inner
music and resonance and that move me deeply (look at Dylan Thomas or Elliot, for
that matter). However, almost all the un-understandable poetry on the Net
today doesn't have these redeeming features. Other OUT's for me are: poetry
preaching, poetry pretentious, poetry pontificating, poetry religious,
poetry violent, vicious, vacuous or vain.
Poetry L & T:
Do you have any advice for poets who wish to improve their work enough to be published?
Tom:
Just go ahead and write. Then put it away in a drawer to incubate
for a week, or a month, or a year and look at it again. Rewrite. At any stage
of this process, try sending your poems (don't worry, almost anything is
called a "poem" today) to some of the better e-zines and contests. Beware of
scams! Join a Poetry club or some such if there's one in your neighborhood
where you can get some feedback on your work. Look at or subscribe to sites
like Winning Writers (www.winningwriters.com) or The Poetry Super Highway
(http://poetrysuperhighway.com) where you can obtain much useful
information about poetry resources, contests, etc. Try not to take yourself or your
poetry too seriously, it's bad for the digestion.
Poetry L & T:
Finally, Tom, what are your main ambitions for the future?
Tom:
If you'll pardon my profundities...to continue discovering that
life is full of interest and wonders, some of which, perhaps, I can record in
poetry. I wish I could write to reveal more of the poetry in Science
but maybe that's being a bit too ambitious. And I hope to carry on with
lots of non-poetical involvements that keep me busy, some of which occasionally
provide moments of inspiration.
Poetry L & T: Thank you for the interview, Tom.
Tom:
My pleasure, Sara.
 | NEW - in our merchandise store: the Poetry Life & Times Poetry Journal... click image to find out more.
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| Dear Poets, Welcome to the January 2006 issue of Poetry Life & Times (For those of you reading this on a mirror site and not poetrylifeandtimes.com, click here).
This month's interview features Tom Berman, Editor-in-Chief of Voices Israel
Featured Poets include:Kristine Ong Muslim, Corin Ruth Jasmine Dienes, Jim Dunlap and Sage Sweetwater.
Resident Poets feature Robin Ouzman Hislop, Richard Vallance, Jan Sand and Sara L. Russell. See below Featured Poets for the link to this page.
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In the Vallance Review for January 2006, Richard's Review No. 53 features an insightful analysis of Robert Frost's "I have been one acquainted with the night".
Fans of The Perils of Norris cartoon: You can buy Norris merchandise for home and office, including apparel and stationery... Click here to visit the store at CafePress.com. More goodies will be added as soon!
My own poetry can be found on AuthorsDen, these days. The links in the left-hand column of my pages include books and articles as well as poetry. Some of the articles give advice on making chapbooks, or finding publishers - and there is even an item on ghosts.
My latest e-book: Worlds Inside The Head, is now available, featuring animated poetry pages, short stories, video & audio recitals, plus pages in PDF format. Click here to scroll down to the animated ad at the bottom of the page, and click the link to find out more.
NEW - Poetry Life & Times Mobile Phone Pages + Free Ringtones & Wallpapers! We now have new mini-sized Poetry Life & Times supplement pages for mobile phones, which include information on the main site, occasional interviews, short poems + free ringtones and wallpapers. If you have a WAP-enabled mobile phone with a colour screen, point your mobile's browser at these pages (on your mobile you can usually omit http//:):
www.poetrylifeandtimes.com/pltmobile/index.htm
Ringtones are both classical and new original music (my own). Wallpapers are mostly from The Perils of Norris cartoon.
Any comments on this issue or back issues can be emailed to me on the link at the bottom of the page. Announcements are always welcome (brief if possible), you can also promote poetry books here.
Poetry submissions should be in plain text in the body of an email, with a small jpeg author picture attached, also a bio, with the URLs of any ezines mentioned, so that they can be shown as links. This increases the chance of inclusion, especially for late submissions. Pictures are best at a maximum of 520 pixels across, otherwise they take ages to arrive by email, especially in bitmap or TIFF format. I recommend that poets click the submissions link on our main page, for full guidelines, and please, always use a spellchecker.
Poets can submit previously-published work here. If another editor likes it, there's a chance we'll like it too. A Happy New Year to all our readers.
Best Regards,
|
Richard Vallance reviews sonnets, both classic and modern.
Featured Poets this month include Kristine Ong Muslim, Corin Ruth Jasmine Dienes, Jim Dunlap and Sage Sweetwater. Many thanks to all contributors. See below Featured Poets for our Resident Poets' page link.
Click title below for this month's Vallance Review feature
KRISTINE ONG MUSLIM Kristine Ong Muslim has published more than
one-hundred fifty stories and poems in speculative and
mainstream magazines, which include Star*Line, Kenoma,
The Fifth Di, Dark Animus, Electric Velocipede, Night
to Dawn, Black Petals, Horror Carousel, Story House,
From the Asylum, Lullaby Hearse, Wicked Hollow, and
Not One of Us. Her stories will appear in future
issues of Book of Dark Wisdom, Lighthouse VI, Jupiter,
and many others. She won the 2004 James Baker Award
for genre poetry and The Unholy Biscuit poetry
contest. *Oddities*, a collection of genre poems for
children she co-wrote with Aurelio Rico Lopez III, has
been accepted for publication by Sam’s Dot Publishing.
CORIN RUTH JASMINE DIENES
Corin Ruth Jasmine Dienes is a poet very much in her own style. Her work is often whimsical, always thoughtful, sometimes just fun, and most importantly, it is understandable! She has had many responses to her anthology "When is it Real?" (in stock currently at Ottakar's East Grinstead and Crawley; Horley Bookshop; and Borders in Churchill Square, Brighton), also "The Bookshop" in East Grinstead High Street. Her other book is entitled "Where Has My Party Gone?" Both are published in a series called "Spotlight Poets" by Forward Press. She is a member of East Grinstead Poets.
Jasmine, mother, grandmother and four times a godmother, lost her youngest son five years ago in a traffic accident. This triggered off an intensity of poetry, initially revolving round the bereavement, and later flowering out onto other paths.
The childhood school where Jasmine has the happiest memories was Wennington in Wetherby Yorkshire where she was a boarder from 1950 to 1955. The school was run by the well known Quaker, Kenneth Barnes (who wrote the book "He and She"). Any old Wenningtonians please connect up!
After a further two years at The Newark Girls in Leicester, Jasmine went on to Nelson Hall Teachers Training College in Staffordshire, becoming a dedicated Infant teacher.
She has lived in Australia, Abu Dhabi and UK, and has family in Canada, Hungary, Australia, America., South Africa and maybe some other places!
Jim Dunlap has been published in some 90+ small press
magazines to date, including CANDELABRUM, POTPOURRI,
PARIS/ ATLANTIC, MOBIUS, NEOVICTORIAN / COCHLEA, TALES
OF THE TALISMAN, and online on POETRY REPAIR SHOP,
BLACKMAIL PRESS, NUMBAT POETRY JOURNAL, THE POETS
PORCH, POETRY LIFE AND TIMES and ALCHEMY COVE. Jim is
also Associate Editor of Alchemy Cove and was
Newsletter Editor for the DES MOINES AREA WRITERS'
NETWORK for 7 years. He has been in the Writer's
Digest top 100 in 3 categories, rhymed verse (a
sonnet), unrhymed verse, and the literary short story.
Jim is in Who's Who In America, Who's Who In The
World, and in the Directory of American Poets and
Fiction Writers. He is also moderator of the haiku
group on Care2.com.
SAGE SWEETWATER
I am a lesbian novelist signed by a literary screen agent who is representing my lesbian pulp fiction novels in Hollywood for screen adaptation. I released my debut novel, THE BUCKSKIN SKIRT OAR TRAVELER in May 2005. I signed a 5-book deal with my publisher AuthorHouse on June 30, 2005. My second novel in line, FROM THE CONVENT TO THE RAWHIDE: THE SAGA OF SADIE CADE AND VI MONTANA is geared for release in February 2006. I am reviving lesbian pulp fiction. I have also been to the recording studio to record THE BIKER CHRONICLES, poetic tales of the Harley-Davidson biker lifestyle, backed with Celtic Renaissance music; banjoes, dulcimers, mandolins, harmonicas, eight soft-R-rated selections approximately one hour in length.
The Licorice Daughter:
Winner of the Texas Review Award
Click the book image on the left to visit Linlifshin.com to
Five-star Amazon Customer Review by Mary B. Subramanian "Belinda Subraman" (El Paso, TX USA):
EVE
© Kristine Ong Muslim
Your eyes
Slowly taking form
White in the moonlight
Black against the fire
Dark as feathered bristles
Of restored life
You begin to understand
The madness and isolation
You have spun in the bitterness
Of dawn.
From dust to ashes
They shall collect your sins
Breathing and seething in orgasmic bliss.
They will remember your many names
Until at last, enamored with your sins,
They will have no choice
But to love you.
Previously published in Crossroads Magic, July 2004
OUT THERE
© Kristine Ong Muslim
The back roads have souls.
Beneath the asphalt, dust, grit
Fallen leaves
Vestiges of the passers and the lost are smeared
On its sun-baked dirt.
Brushing the moonlight
With their concrete tails and
Stone-crusted jaws
The back roads know the secrets of the earth.
Nobody knows where these roads end.
Nobody knows where these roads lead to.
Because everyone comes and goes through them
But no one ever leaves.
The world now reeked of tar, turpentine, and fog.
But the footsteps of the long forgotten have been
quietly
Stamped on these smoldering roads
Which would have led them to faraway places
With the signs and runes at each corner of the earth.
Previously published in Jones Av, August 2004
COLD AIR
© Kristine Ong Muslim
Maureen is the child in red
Who lives in that house
Of doors and shadows.
She has blue cornflowers on her hair
And her little finger is bent into the shape
Of the crescent moon that tells us
We are lost.
The morning festers and drips
Coldly
Loathsomely
At her mud-stricken feet.
Maureen knows it is a bad day.
It is still
Raining.
Mommy and Daddy both lie dead on the couch --
Their mouths hanging open, limbs slack and useless,
Eyes staring blankly.
They should have listened to her.
It was Ted, the monster
Under her bed.
He was gone now. She saw him smile at her
From the street opposite her house.
Ted still had his raincoat on, and his blood-slick
hand,
Clutching the rusty knife he held for three-thousand
centuries,
Waved at her for the last time.
Maureen prayed for the next child Ted would visit.
Previously published in Ragged Edge Publishing, March 2005
GARDEN UNIVERSE
© Corin Ruth Jasmine Dienes
It's a private place my garden
rose walled high, honeysuckle twined,
clematis, jasmine, green leafed vines
covering tall fenced garden sides,
red brick edged beds blooming wild plants,
nasturtiums eagerly spreading,
corn flowers and forget-me-nots,
big daisies, shutting out the town,
patio herbs, geraniums,
potted pansies, in profusion.
It's a peaceful place my garden,
a tangled hidden seclusion,
trees giving clean air and bird room,
increasing garden space skyward.
Drowsy fragile butterflies flit
taking their beauty for granted,
needing no extra painted smile,
cats curl up in corners sunning,
enjoying the tranquility,
birds safe, well guarded by our dog!
Come sit with me, take some mint tea,
grown here, in the red wheelbarrow,
let flowered perfumes drift, mingling
in true harmonised abandon,
enjoy the delicate colours
favoured by the plants: pinks, reds, blues,
shades of yellow or violet,
orange mixed with peach - subtle shades -
no clever consultant required.
A private universe to share.
Part of "Outside of Houses" from Jasmine's book "When Is It Real?"
Published by Spotlight Poets (part of Forward Press)
CLUTTERED SPACE
© Corin Ruth Jasmine Dienes
Travelling through dense particled throwaway zones
Cluttered with aluminium cans and plastic wrap,
Relegated last century stuff rubbished out,
Old computers jostling with CFC fridges,
Petrol engines disqualified from existence,
Vehicle bodies creaking gradually to rust,
Old dreams of perfection now considered useless,
Swirling round in space, subtracting from travel ease,
Making planet entry a disheartening sight
Memories of last century's Earth, with sunlight
Unfiltered by circling junk, come sadly to mind
Taken so much for granted, unwritten in laws,
Now damaged beyond a foreseeable repair.
This laden planet full to bursting with litter,
People packed sardine-like into congested towns
Fighting to make some creativity occur
Man's spirit remaining uncrushed at final count
Part of "Reflections" from Jasmine's book "When Is It Real?"
Published by Spotlight Poets (part of Forward Press)
THIS IS TODAY, NOT YESTERDAY OR TOMORROW
© Corin Ruth Jasmine Dienes
I am lying here with you, unthinking of future or past,
My arms wrapped round you like this is what existence is about
The closeness I feel harmonising with all my today-dreams
Your velvet skin peached by the sun, contrasting strongly with mine,
Like white lace and wood lain mingled in a shop window display
Or cream satin cloth set with blue-mountain-Jamaican coffee,
The male-female differences shown even in skin texture
I am lying here with you, unthinking of future or past,
Our uncovered legs entwined in a tangled relaxation
My knee curving into yours, certain it has made a home goal,
Soft cheek against furred chest, smooth to rough, reassuring somehow,
The blending going beyond pictures of physical beauty.
How can it be true that yesterday I knew you not at all
And tomorrow you will be gone, until another lifetime
Part of "Relationships" from Jasmine's book "When Is It Real?"
Published by Spotlight Poets (part of Forward Press)
JIM DUNLAP
(Rhyme Master)January "Swearing" For A New Start Every Day
© Jim Dunlap
Misunderstandings, misinterpretations,
it's so difficult to communicate:
people hear what they want to hear --
it can ruin a fast friendship, or a date.
Is there something contrary in our makeup
that makes us willfully misconstrue
almost anything we think might be criticism,
even if we know it's probably due ... ?
It's a wonder our civilization's lasted
for the length of some thousands of years;
our psyches grow malicious and capricious,
and they constantly multiply our fears.
Let's take an old 'time-honored' custom
and not shirk it by omission or excuse --
to try harder for real understanding,
putting this New Year's resolution to use.
The calendar marks off the days of our lives,
and passing, they'll come never again.
Life is a journey; we struggle to learn.
to squander time should be labeled a sin.
Encounter On The Llano Estacado
© Jim Dunlap
Death Woman rode nude
astride a black horse,
and sang arias to endings.
A giant snake wove itself
about her arms and torso --
her retinue zig zagged behind her,
brought up in the rear by a black woman
holding a glittering sword
and leading a white mule.
Comanches scattered in terror
from her ivory limbs
and her black, veiled countenance.
Her soaring a capella notes
echoed back across rolling hills
to rejoin and augment her wailing dirge.
Superstition galloped at breakneck speed
as her iron will cleared a path
toward an incipient tomorrow.
Dedicated to Larry McMurtry
AN APT APHORISM
© Jim Dunlap
Quit feeling sorry for yourself
And do something constructive --
That kind of thinking, plainly,
Is, at best, counterproductive.
It's a grand world that we live in...
If you'd like to make your mark,
Remember that a forest fire
Can blaze from one small spark.
There's a lot more credit given
To the builder of a town
Than to some uncouth vandal
Who'd aspire to tear it down.
Here's a perfect aphorism that
No one can bend or twist --
To find yourself a helping hand,
Try the end of your own wrist.
Prev. published in the TUCUMCARI LIT. REVIEW, April, 1996
19th Century Muse
© Sage Sweetwater 2005
Airy sustenance of fresh
Plunging into the depths,
the dark part of the
aquifer's womb,
where life is
birthed,
she returns to her
beginning,
where gentle
ultra-sound
waves rock
the watery
cradle,
leaving her pink
triangle mound
of coral and
pearls.
Like all moving
water, she is both
constant and
changing,
bringing forth life
and changing it
when necessary.
Toll in death,
smashed cities,
rampant diseases,
crippled economies.
The time for gestation
and meditation, time
for rebirth as she
pushes through to
give new birth to
the poet.
Take one last look.
She will arise again
from the sea foam.
She is the carved
female figurehead
commissioned by
shipowners and
lighthouse keepers,
with the likeness of
her muse, in her
honor, as she does
not get seasick on
poetic waves,
and she climbs the
ratlines with ease.
The next time we
see her, she will be
the 19th Century Muse,
where she will be a
riverboat pilot
where women begin
to make careers at
sea.
where in this era,
America's rivers
will be alive with
steamboats carrying
freight and passengers
to Cincinatti and
New Orleans.
Women are earning
ship pilots' and
captains' licenses,
taking the wheel
and Aunt Callie plays
the calliope on the
"floating theater"
why this author can
now 'showboat.'
Pigeon's War Told Through the Didgeridoo
© Sage Sweetwater 2005
Kindred spirits
gather 'round
Do-day-gah
Do-day-lee
Ga-ma-da
Di-da-ro
Ta-ka-Tay
ancient sound.
Buzzing syllables from
beeswax mouthpiece
instrument made
from termite-hollowed
Boxgum eucalyptus
tree.
Treated with tea tree
and lavender oil.
Decorated with
aboriginal Dreamtime
symbols, kangaroos, and
billabongs,
meandering pathways to
bring together mind and
culture.
Drone, yip, bark.
Dingo
wau-wau-wau-wau
uuuuuuh-uuuuuuh.
Kangaroo
ooo-EEE-ooo-EEE.
Pigeon ate intelligent
mutton, drank Shiraz
wine from a kangaroo
waterbag.
"How smart are ya,
mate?"
"I reckon I be 'bout
as smart as yellow
dots on gray skin."
Yellow dots on gray
skin makes the lizard
invisible against the
rocks.
"Was Pigeon a
complicated
character?"
Yes, because
he wasn't a
by-the-books
man---and
everything he did,
he did with a passion
for the environment
and protecting the
land.
A native mix of
brindle, black,
and white were
hiding Pigeon
at a settler's
station,
not out of
obligation,
but to confront
the political state,
defending the land,
property, and the
hunting rights of the
indigenous people.
Pigeon wanted to
be free, let the wind
comb his hair, play a
hand or two of
canasta.
Pigeon and Arrow
were playing an
Australian version
of Knifey called
Mumblety-Peg.
They saw light
coming from the
bush.
Constable Richardson,
the elected crooked
skink that he was,
shot Pigeon in
the back.
A skink is a lizard
from the rainforest that
uses its bumpy, leathery
tail to grab on to things,
like the way a corrupt
politician grabs greed,
going out on a limb for
a bribe to line his
lizard-hide wallet.
"Bloody oath!"
FBI...Ruby Ridge...
Waco...Oklahoma City...
It is time for Pigeon's War.
In the darkness of Tunnel
Creek, the Aboriginal
outlaw Pigeon and his
small band hid from those
who hunted him for his
hit-and-run attacks on
the settlers who stole
Dreamtime land from
his people.
What are the universal
themes and linkage
between modern-day
politics and Pigeon's War?
Perhaps we will find the
answers when we raise
our spiritual IQ's ...
when we be 'bout as
smart as yellow dots
on gray skin.
Ouroboros
© Sage Sweetwater 2005
Ancient symbol of
infinity, spiritual
divinity.
A snake biting its
own tail,
chewing The
Wheel of Time
where life feeds
off itself,
ringing in the
New Year in
chime,
a toast to the last
few drops of blood,
to drink from the
Serpent Grail,
returning cyclical
nature of the
seasons,
beginning and end,
a continuous
unending,
defending Jung's
Ouroboros in
The Alchemy Wheel.
Primordial unity
and self-sufficiency.
Conflict of life
as well as that
life comes out
of life and death,
entire actions of
a life cycle,
it begets,
it weds,
it impregnates,
and it slays
itself.
Ouroboros.
The Eternal Return.
Ouroboros.
OUT NOW FROM LYN LIFSHIN...
My Year with Ruffian
find out more, or visit amazon.com to buy the book.
"The spirit of Ruffian actually lived through this woman! This is an awesome account of a great and beautiful spirit, inside a race horse, speaking through the soul of a woman. Everyone who reads this will be touched, and blessed. It is a metaphor for what is the best in us."
New, full colour illustrated A5 poetry chapbook by Sara L.Russell
Ballads of Myth & Magic
currently Poole (Dorset), Tunbridge Wells (Kent), Crawley (West Sussex) and
East Grinstead (West Sussex).
Also available online from Giftoftongues.com, for readers both in and outside the UK.
Plus - a limited number of signed, complimentary review copies are available for
poet friends in the USA or Canada.
Special Features: Vellum cover, 28 pages of poems, with colour illustrations & line drawings.
Poems on the theme of legends and lost worlds of fantasy and magic.
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AVAILABLE NOW - Sara Russell's new e-book on CD ROM: WORLDS INSIDE THE HEAD ISBN 1-878431-47-1 / Kedco Studios Inc., Las Vegas with poetry, short stories, videos, animations, music, wavs and 3D art throughout... Only $9.95 - CLICK HERE to find out more... or Mail us here at Poetry Life & Times.
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 | OUT NOW - CANADIAN SPIRIT VOICES by Richard Vallance...
Photo © by Richard Vallance, 1993 (Northern Ontario)
Canadian Spirit Voices is now available from Kedco Studios Press (Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.)... in a full multi-media CD book, consisting of poetry, prose, the essay, original MIDI music and plenty of splendid artistic illustrations. The CD-ROM book is the equivalent of a hard-copy book in excess of 500 pages!
For more detailed information on this book, please click here:poesieslaissezfaire.homestead.com.
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 | An amazing new e-book published by Kedco Studios Inc. Curious? Click the picture link! |
Click the above banner to discover our free weekly market e-zine and searchable database of writer's guidelines with 1,000 publications - 200 that publish poetry.
Poetry Life & Times won The Prix Poesie's laissez-faire Grand Prize in 2002
- thanks Richard!
[Click the banner to learn more about this award.]
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Q U I C K I E S - an e-book of erotic/humorous stories for women |
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Come Meet our Poet Friends!
Check out the poetry sites of some of our friends and
Voulez-vous recontrez de nos amis poètes et rédacteurs Meet my literary friends! Rencontrez mes amis littéraires!
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Visit Crystal Rose's Place
Val Magnuson Galactic Poet Award
An exciting new anthology, by Kedco Studios Artist Profile Press,
The Crystal Rose © Ice Shard
OUT NOW! CRYSTAL DAWN
ISBN 1-878431-71-9.
Award-winning poetry, a full novel, 10 Shakespeare plays plus free photographs for any use. Contributors: Robin Ouzman Hislop - Richard Van der Draaij - Cara Alson - Gillian Stokes -Jasmine
Dienes - Tyler Wiseman - Doctor C. S. Shaw - Vladimir Orlov - Monica Smith - Nick Zegarac
- Aurora Antonovic - C. S. Snow - K. V. Davis, full novel.
THE PERILS OF NORRIS, #66 - The Absinth Fairy comes back... Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for...!
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The image of the Hill's Absinth bottle in recent episodes of The Perils of Norris cartoon was used by kind permission of Dan Hill at hillsabsinth.com. For more information about this exciting bohemian drink, plus Vicky Vixen cartoon and info about Hill's Absinth cocktails, click the bottle link on the left to visit their fun, interactive website... |
NEW: The Poetry Life & Times Store
Buy Perils of Norris Merchandise online, including mouse mats, clocks, tote bags and postcards. |  |
The Perils of Norris started in August 2000. To catch up on past episodes, click the links below.
The Perils of Norris Page 6 (Current adventure)
The Perils of Norris Page 5 (page 2 of earlier adventures)
The Perils of Norris Page 1 (early stories, start page)
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Email us early
with poetry, articles or poetry news, by 16th December for the January 2005 issue.
