Shut off the phones, wrap yourself in a shawl or comfortable blanket, sit in your favorite chair, back upright, feet flat on the floor, arms by your side and listen. Just listen. Sit still like an angel listening, eyes closed, gentle breath in and out, out and in, through the nose, no fancy postures or mudras or finger techniques, just … Read More
Vote for the best cover
http://www.shelfstealers.com/fabulous.php Check it out and vote for the best new author’s cover and win.
Meet Jeremiah O’Hagan
Jeremiah O’Hagan is one of the most talented writers I have ever met. He reports for a small town newspaper and is a teacher of teenagers and a young man with an amazing theatrical presentation and way with words. Watch for him in the future. He will be famous one day. Go Jeremiah! Look for his first place prize winning … Read More
haiku
The haiku and “poetic scrimshaw” “seek to capture a moment of intense perception. “Haiku turns on strong natural images and intense emotions,often leading to spiritual insights.” Seasons are often implicated. Contemporary poets generally cast haiku as small poems of 5,7,5 syllables.” (Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem, Wendy Bishop) Growing out of Zen Buddhist philosophy the haiku is popular … Read More
Symbols in Aboriginal Art
When I was a child, I lived in Australia. On weekends we drove into the “bush” where we threw down a blanket and enjoyed a picnic with the ants. Sometimes, we came across rocks with strange paintings. Some were covered with scrub, others uncovered but their colors had faded from age and sun. Later, I learned that … Read More
The Rant, again.
What is a Rant? An emotionally charged diatribe expressing a strong distaste or anger or a declamatory, often pompous, assertion. The fluidity of the prose poem lends itself to the rant. The prose poem’s organization by sentence seems a natural fit for such rambling declarations as rants. (adapted from “An Introduction to the Prose Poem by Brian Clements and Jamey … Read More
Didjeridu Dreaming
“In the beginning, all was cold and dark. ..to bring warmth and light, to protect his family…he added more wood to the fire, and as he did he noticed that one of the logs was hollow, and a family of termites was busily feeding on the heartwood in the center of the log. Not wanting to hurt the termites, he … Read More
A Sense of Place
I have posted a comment by Bob Knox. He commented on a post about the pull of the Never-Never, a place of uncertain description that is most likely rooted deep within cultural memory. Thanks Bob for nailing that “feeling” of a sense of place. I’m pulled toward something I call “the other place.” I think it’s the place that you … Read More
Fixed Form: The Flashku and its rules
Thank you to Bruce Holland Rogers, my wonderful mentor, for requesting more rules. ( http://www.shortshortshort.com) Bruce is the master of fixed forms such as the Fibonacci form. (more later on that one) I need help deciding on the last rule. I am leaning towards using the same syllabic count as the number of words. Your input is valuable. Thoughts? So far … Read More
The FLASHKU
I have invented the Flashku. The definition is a “compressed, sparse piece of writing that captures a world, offers an image of nature within a flash story.” Microfiction pieces of 50 words or under challenge the word skills and imagination of the author. Sparse, honed writing is an element of haiku and the juxtaposition of the image of nature as … Read More