A Little PR

It is with gratitude that I give a shout-out to the following editors, who selected a poem of mine to include in their recently released anthologies:

★ Diane Lockward, Editor and Publisher, Terrapin Books

Diane released A Constellation of Kisses earlier this month. Editor of the volume, she selected more than 100 poems, each one about kisses. Lee Upton, who wrote the wonderful Foreword, describes the anthology as "an inspired collection" in subject and range. It is certainly that, and a fun read as well. (Don't forget to pick up a copy to save for Valentine's Day.)

Front Cover

I am proud to share space in the anthology with such poets as Kelly Russell Agodon, Nin Andrews, Ellen Bass, Denise Duhamel, Tami Haaland, Dorrianne Laux, Marjorie Maddox, Susan Rich, and Baron Wormser. Here's the complete list of poets (click on the image for a better view):

Back Cover

Follow Terrapin Books on FaceBook, where Diane is featuring poems from the book.

★ Janette Schafer, Cedric Rudolph, and Matthew Ussia, Editors, Social Justice Anthologies, Publication Affiliate of Beautiful Cadaver, Project Pittsburgh

A chance happening on FaceBook introduced me to the wonderful Beautiful Cadaver project, which published in February 2019 The Dreamers Anthology: Writing Inspired by the Lives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank. Celebrating the 90th birthdays of these revered historical figures (both were born in 1929), the anthology presents work by more than 50 poets and prose writers from five countries. Given my deep interest in social justice issues, I am especially proud to be included in "Voices", one of five sections in the anthology. My poem is about Anne Frank.

Front Cover

Back Cover

Beautiful Cadaver on FaceBook

I'm delighted to note that another of my poems will be published in Beautiful Cadaver's second publishing project of 2019, Is It Hot In Here, Or Is It Just Me? Women Over 40 Write on Aging. That anthology, to be published later this year, will include poems, essays, and dramatic works from women or female-identifying writers. 

Also see my post of July 29, 2019, in which I share the link to one of my current-event poems that appears at Poets Reading the News.

Poem Published at Poets Reading the News

My gratitude to Poets Reading the News, which published this afternoon my poem "A Taste of Garlic" — my response to the sickening news of yet another shooting in America, this one at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. The shooting took the lives of at least three persons, aged 6 (Stephen Romero), 13 (Keyla Salazar), and specified only "in his 20s" (Trevor Irby), and wounded at least 12 others, some of whom remain in critical condition, according to the most recent news stories. Note: At the time I wrote the poem, it was reported that 11 persons had been wounded (subsequently, that number increased) and only Stephen Romero had been identified.

Read "A Taste of Garlic".

The poem also can be found on social media, including the publisher's FaceBook and Twitter sites.

Poets Reading the News on FaceBook

The Washington Post on the Gilroy Shooting 

Thought for the Day

The face you look out of

is never the face

your lover looks into.

~ Jim Harrison or Ted Kooser*

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Quoted from Selection of Poems from Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry in Jim Harrison: The Essential Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2019), page 150

* As explained in a note to this section of The Essential Poems, Braided Creek, comprising more than 300 poems, was co-written with Ted Kooser and does not identify who wrote which poems. None of the poems is more than five lines long.

Jim Harrison (1937-2016), Poet, Novelist, Essayist

Ted Kooser, Poet; Presidential Professor, The University of Nebraska; Editor, "American Life in Poetry; United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, 2004-2006

Thought for the Day

. . . Trust the heart's forgotten language /

to teach you. / . . . . //

. . . Trust moments of peace to surprise you. //

Trust love . . . /

. . . as you trust wounds /

to heal from the inside out, // . . . .

~ Nancy Paddock

________________________________

Quoted from Nancy Paddock, "Trust" in Perfect Dragonfly (Red Dragonfly Press, 2011), pages 250-251

Nancy Paddock, Poet and Memoirist

New Artist Watch Feature at Escape Into Life

Melissa D Johnston, reach, 2019

Digital Art

© Melissa D Johnston

PLEASE DO NOT COPY IMAGE

Venturing into the digital, this month's Artist Watch spotlights the work of Melissa D Johnston, who studied literature, philosophy, and theology in undergraduate and graduate school before turning back to her other passion, art.

An emerging artist who has been working with her iPhone and iPad to create her art, Melissa has exhibited both in the United States and Canada.

Today's new Artist Watch feature at Escape Into Life showcases eight of Melissa's dream-like images and includes her Artist Statement and a brief biography, as well as her Website and social media addresses.

Thought for the Day

[. . .] You can spend a lifetime avoiding the mysteries

of relationship, relying on categories to save you. [. . .]

and call that connection. [. . .] 

Or sit with someone who is weeping and feel the exposure

of silence. Endure the stilted conversation. Share the meal.

Take the risk. Ask the hard question. [. . .]

~ Helena Sorensen

__________________________________

Quoted from Helena Sorensen, "The God Who Asks", The Rabbit Room, June 25, 2019

Thought for the Day

[. . .] To ask a thoughtful and probing question

carries with it the burden of listening to the answer,

of focusing on another person's story and sitting

with the weight of her feelings. [. . .]

~ Helena Sorensen

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Quoted from Helena Sorensen, "The God Who Asks", The Rabbit Room, June 25, 2019