My Thoughts on Poetry and Learning

I think of  poetry and learning as close companions. Here’s my reasoning:

Firstly, there is lots to learn about poetry. It’s a multi-faceted discipline with a rich history.  Along with published poems I’ll be posting resources that have helped me learn and refine this art and science.  Yes, I think of poetry as a science because it encompasses all of grammar and linguistics- anything that has to do with words.

Secondly, you can learn a lot while writing poetry. Sometimes I surprise myself with insights, and glimpses of parts of my psyche that I never knew were there. Other times I learn through the research I do  to give a poem depth and credibility. I also learn through the refining process for each poem- what its essence is, how to make it sing.

Thirdly, you can learn a lot by reading poetry.  Poets aim to express the inexpressible, the sense of feeling behind something.  By connecting emotions and images with ideas, the parts of our brain that deal with cognition, emotion, intellect and creativity are all exercised at once.  Learning can take place on a deep level. 

Recent Poetry Publishings

"Attention to Details" in Assisi: An Online Journal of Arts and Letters

"Perhaps it was the years of living in my head; reading at four; a myopic childhood in a fuzzy world, growing a taste for softened, muted, no edges sharp as my mother’s tongue. pain comes when I look too closely..."

"Chronic Pain" in Reapparition Journal

..."Here is no resting place, But an unexpected invitation to walk outside, head towards generosity relax into absolution, inessentials knife-cut, see the nod from the goddess saying “you are strong enough.”

"Magic Milkweed Moment with a Small Grandson

I wrote this poem when my first grandson, Asher was little. I was trying to capture some of the magic, and bittersweetness of Grandparenting.

"Chorus" in Night Music Journal

Bass of cricket, soprano of cicada, a dream symphony of chirps and buzzes. I’m back in a first summer night, first firefly, first flame, first marshmallow trickling,,,

"A Case for More Dimensions" in Spank the Carp

My poem, A Case for More Dimensions, has manifested in Spank the Carp. I am also featured in their MInd of a Poet section, where I try to explain the inexplicable.

"The End of My Breath" in Dust Poetry Magazine

This poem is an exploration of both our mortality and our interconnectedness. Dust Poetry Magazine has included it in their "Connection" issue.

"Don't Make Me" in The Bureau of Complaint

The Bureau of Compliant has filed my poem, Don't Make Me". It is a commentary on the way screens could be changing our relationships. I hope I am wrong.

"Remembering" in the Elevation Review

This is a short poem about memory.

"Playing With My Two-Year-Old Grandson" in The Blotter

My grandson, Michael, inspired this poem. I have a lot of fun with him. Scroll down to page 13.

"Violation" in The Walled Woman Magazine

My poem, Violation is included in their premiere issue- Voices Against Sexual Violence. Walled Woman Magazine is a brave initiative from Pakistan that focuses on women's' experience: We like to look at beauty, get lost in its nuances, until at capacity, some must break the spell, break something....

"This Solitude" in Subterranean Blue Poetry

I wrote this poem during the first pandemic lockdown: I never knew how much of touch defined me till disinfectant became the new border. No more warm, fuzzy welcome to the land of me, no hope you enjoyed your stay, come again soon......

"1965" in Smokey Blue Literary and Arts Magazine

My poem, 1965, is about some of the experiences in my youth that made me a feminist. It's nice to know that we've come a little way from then. But we definitely still have a long way to go. Thanks to SBLAAM for publishing it.

"Matins" in Minnow Literary Magazine

Minnow is a literary magazine that "fishes for minnow-sized literary works". They have caught my little poem, "Matins". This link takes you directly to it.

"West of Wabi Sabi" in the Brown Bag Review

The topic was Kintsugi, or the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold to make it even more valuable than it was in the first place. Wabi Sabi is a related concept that involves finding beauty in the old, the worn, the imperfect.

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"An Abstraction on the Tangible, With Trees" in Better Than Starbucks

I tend to wander through forests of abstractions to reach the tangible. The old hump-backed chair in the living room. The knots on the pine floor speaking the steady code of trees.

Hope: An Anthology of Hopeful Stories and Poetry

TD;LR press has included two of my poems, Hope is a Thing With Wings and Illusion Shattered in their Hope Anthology. It is available to purchase on Amazon. Proceeds go to Action Against Hunger.

"What Can Happen If You've Unintentionally Given Birth to a Poet" - Denouement Anthology

Stratford's Beliveau Books has published this poem in their Denouement anthology of "poetry that deals with finality, coda, and epilogue, within the context of our place upon this planet". It is available as a free, downloadable pdf.

"Ode to the East Wind" in Sparks of Calliope

You come from where our stark beginnings find their birth and blow through truth and storm to where the roots of cold dig deep and make us blind with tears that freeze on faces wild with care and make escape from you such great relief

"The Politics of Pleats" in The Stickman Reveiw

I sit among the drying clothes, hidden, yet strangely exposed, under-garments, style-choices, colors wave like flags, my heraldry for warmth, decoration proclamation.

"Avatar" in The Ethicist

The Ethicist is a new online journal dedicated to dialogue on differences in perceptions about religion and spirituality. In their own words: "Some of the most violent aspects of human history came about because of disagreements surrounding faith-based beliefs. By bringing open-hearted, vulnerable writing to our readers, we hope to be one more tiny ripple in the wave of momentum towards a more peaceful world."

"Anything But" in The Amethyst Review

The Amethyst Review, a journal of new poetry engaging with the sacred, published my poem, Anything But, on Christmas Eve.

"Seeding A Pandemic" in Global Polemic

Global Polemic has published my poem, Seeding a Pandemic. A shout out to Surekha for her beautiful art work.

"A Boy with Cerebral Palsy" in Please See Me

Please See Me has published my poem, A Boy with Cerebral Palsy. They are a medical/literary publication dedicated to enhancing the bond between caregiver and patient, seeing both as human beings first.

"Mother Salt" in The Anti-Langourous Project

The Anti-Langourous Project has published my poem, Mother Salt. ...I searched the soft places for my mother. She was not there. I found her in the raw and bleeding places...

"Toad Medicine" in Poetry Village

My poem, Toad Medicine has hopped into Poetry Village.... Toad changes Earth changes as she moves across Her belly like a lover, like mother and child like kindness.

"Hawk" in Cypress

It's great to see my poem, Hawk, soaring in Cypress. Hawk soars near the ground, so close I see the variegations in her still wing feathers, held tense to kite the wind, silently slicing sky into safety and peril...

"Fly" in Vita Brevies

My poem, Fly, is alive in Vita Brevis Literature. Fly at the window mystery: goal visible, but unreachable. The unrelenting buzz turns to percussion melody...

"Metaphor" in The Lake

With apologies to English teachers everywhere, my poem, Metaphor, has been republished in The Lake. It is a British ezine with a sense of humour. A large metaphor can be the elephant in the room ...

"The Socks" in Backchannels

Backchannels has published my poem, The Socks. I wonder what happened to those socks I wore that sparkled in the days when dancing made most sense within my healing love for you, a slow burn kindled, the sureness of my heart . . .

"Pandemic Grandparenting" in We Are One: Poems From the Pandemic Anthology

A poem I wrote about the angst of grandparenting in a lockdown is included in a new Canadian anthology, We Are One: Poems From the Pandemic, compiled by George Melnyk, pictured here. Click on the picture for a link to an article about the anthology in the Calgary Herald.

"Joy" in The Front Porch Review

Published in the Front Porch Review. Along with a poem by my friend, Zebulon Huset. The Elders say, Hummingbirds bring joy. Where do they carry it?

"Interruptions" and "After the Party" In Bindweed

Published in Bindweed Magazine. I love the name. Here's their description: Convolvulus Arvensis, also known as bindweed, is stigmatised as being a nuisance by growing across garden fences and choking off the immaculately pruned flowers. But no one thinks about the beauty of the bindweed, opening their trumpets to the world"

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"Rug Rat" in Lockdown Baby Babble

My Grandson, Lanja, inspired this poem when he stayed with us this summer. ............... Gummy hands, spread saliva like manna onto floors, walls, furniture. Little shirt darkens in the front, takes on a sheen, becomes a badge, portable air conditioning.

"Road Trip" and "Bear Until the Broken Grow" in Neologism

It starts with a yellow line, steering wheel, tractor, transport truck, horse and carriage, roadside stand beside a grey stripe cut through green summer fabric, occasional gold of grain, dusk of sugar bush, splash of barn, house, cow ...

"Navigating the Ocean" and "Spoiler Alert" in Cacti Fur

...as if I could become amphibious, grow some gills, maybe a tail to navigate the oceans of the loss of setting you free and not drown... ...We shorten grass, shrink hedges, embarrass pieces of wood with hammers, (to drown out the woodpeckers)...

"Creation" In Grand Little Things

Hard frozen in some time-plagued realm till purity can overwhelm the seed of beauty turns in sleep and sprouts a root, from somewhere deep then sends a shoot to wind through rocks as something new towards daylight stalks...

"Wild Geese on a Pond", "The Whisper" and "Caught: In the Sublunary Reveiw

Three nature poems. They found a beautiful picture to go with Wild Geese on a Pond.

Anthology: i am what becomes of broken branch

I'm honoured to have three poems included in this anthology. It is a collaboration between the League of Canadian Poets and the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Writer's Circle Inc. This page has a link to a free online version. All the proceeds from purchasing the paper version go to promote indigenous voices. You can see me reading my poems from the anthology at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=314950186281905

"Sun and Earth" In the Trouvaille Review

The year before my grandfather died they bought a new farm. As the car pulled up our eyes were dazzled by a crowd of dandelions laced through lawn and orchard, as if the world had turned to riches . . .

"Crumpled Love" in Bluepepper

Look for July 13, 2020. There are so many ways to crumple and the lines that remain when smoothed out turn to cracks, rivers when wet grows vegetation, supports life. It's in the time it takes to do all this that there’s a wasteland. Children don’t think this

"Hummingbird" in Plum Tree Tavern

With much thanks to Russel Streur, Plum Tree Tavern editor, for working with me to get this short poem exactly right.

"Another Face of the Goddess" and Dawn Breaking on the Hanlon Expressway" in Synaeresis, Issue 11

Another Face of the Goddess and Dawn Breaking on the Hanlon Expressway. This publication is from Stratford, Ontario. Click on the PDF to download.

"Old Wives' Tales" in OyeDrum

OyeDrum is an online magazine dedicated to women and their existence through words, art and sound. I am happy that this poem found a home there. This was also the thirteenth poem I've had published this year. It seems fitting.

Anthology: Tending the Fire

This chapbook is published by the League of Canadian Poets. It's about fire of many different kinds and its transformative power. It contains my poem, Spring Burning.

Book: Much Madness, Divinest Sense

Women's stories of mental health and health care. Edited by Dr Nili Kaplan-Myrth and Lori Hanson. The stories are raw, disturbing, thought-provoking and truthful. My poem, The Escape, is included in this collection.

Resources

Website: Notebooking Daily

Zebulon Huset, poet, writer and teacher has created an amazing collection of resources for poets and those interested in poetry. He includes selected poems (drawn from all over the internet), instructional material, such as how to write a Villanelle, writing exercises, and information on how to publish.

A Free Online Poetry Course from Coursera

I took Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop this spring and really enjoyed it. The instructor, Douglas Kearney, is entertaining and informative. You learn about basic poetic structure and workshop a few poems with your fellow students.

The League of Canadian Poets

This is a great resource for both poets and poetry lovers. They inform their members of publications, contests, readings, workshops and other opportunities. They are there to advocate for poetry and poets. Poetry lovers can sign up for their Poetry Pause, and get a poem, by a Canadian poet, by email every day. And there is much more.