Category: poetry

  • Naming

    I’m having a difficult time with names. With characters, I just name them, usually. Some come into my head fully formed, name and all. My First Reader named Learoyd Otheris Mulvaney, the centuries-old pixie whose stark cynicism has been shaken by the acquisition of a wife… and two children. But me? I’m trying to come…

  • Myrmidon Tears to Commemorate Veteran’s Day

    Written by a veteran in tribute to his fellow warriors, I’m proud to repost this poem on a day of remembrance. Never forget what they gave for us, the living and the dead. Myrmidon Tears “Parade rest!” At once, 600 pairs of boots stamp into the grass, Palms crossing in the small of our backs.…

  • Perseverance

    Yesterday was not an easy day, and today is going to be a test of endurance and memory, as I have Micro lab at 8 am, a micro exam at 10 am, a Spanish exam at 11:30 am , and an Organic Chemistry exam at 4:00 pm. I’m not really here, and didn’t have time…

  • Here’s to Oddity

    The Men that Don’t Fit in “There’s a race of men that don’t fit in, A race that can’t stay still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will. They range the field and they rove the flood, And they climb the mountain’s crest; Theirs is the…

  • Some Day

    Spell of the Yukon “There’s a land where the mountains are nameless, And the rivers all run God knows where; There are lives that are erring and aimless, And Deaths that just hang by a hair; There are hardships that nobody reckons; There are valleys unpeopled and still; There’s a land – oh, it beckons…

  • Myrmidon Tears

    Jonathon LaForce, poet, former Marine, father, and good man, sent me this and asked me to publish it on the blog. Thank you, sir, for your service, and for sharing this…  Myrmidon Tears “Parade rest!” At once, 600 pairs of boots stamp into the grass, Palms crossing in the small of our backs. 7 months…

  • Formatting Poetry for Publication

    One of the lovely things about being involved in an online writing community is knowing that should I be asked a question I cannot answer, I can reach out to someone who can answer. Cynthia Bagley was gracious enough to write the following in response to my request, as I know very little about formatting…

  • Guest Poetry

    Guest Poetry

    Jonathan LaForce gave me permission to post the poem I mentioned last week in it’s entirety for your reading pleasure. I think I can safely say this is one of, if not the, best modern poems I have had the pleasure to encounter. I’m tickled to reveal it in public for the first time, and…

  • Committing Poetry Again

    Committing Poetry Again

    I don’t do it often, but I’m recovering from something that knocked me flat yesterday, probably fatigue related, as it has been an incredibly long week-or-so. I tend to get sick when I run the tank too low. Fortunately, the fever broke in the night, so I’m on the mend. But the brain functions are…

  • Encouragement

    Encouragement

    Thank you for all the kind words yesterday. I vented because I just couldn’t think of what to talk about on the blog, in part because I was so tired… well, between you all being encouraging, a pair of parties booked for the weekend, a canceled class that freed up my evening, and some art…

  • Finding Poetry

    Finding Poetry

    I’ll be honest with you. Most SF poetry sucks. At least, what I have read of it. I think part of the reason is that you can’t build a new world in a poem, without making it unwieldy. I could be wrong, it might just be me. But I did learn soemthing recently, and it’s…

  • Wanderlust Lost

    Wanderlust Lost

    I’m researching for a paper, gathering poetry related to the aging Ulysses in Tennyson’s poem of that name, and I thought I’d share my snips with you all… Rudyard Kipling, The Mary Gloster “Not the least of our merchant-princes.” Dickie, that’s me, your dad! I didn’t begin with askings. I took my job and I…