A Dark Mothers day

Amidst the mists
of time and thyme
the scented dreams
of ages past

You arose a wraith
a fleeing
apparition from the light
a goddess
long dead, cloaked and
secretive

You left the living
unbidden, unloved
mysterious
mother of
the night

Where have all the poems gone?

For many months
They crowded me
Intruding on
My privacy

But now they
Seem to float away
Hiding until
Some other day

When unexpected
They will come
Surprising
Me with
Their fecundity

My lovely poems
Sigh

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

The Leaky Window

The wind is forcefeeding
The rain
Splattering it against
The pane
With a violent
Thrust, twist and turn

The rain seeks
Escape by dribbling
Around the edge
Of the window
And dripping onto the sill

Within it can
Relax wryly
Having escaped
The maelstrom
Without.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

influences

All around
In and out
Influences
Pervade

I, you. We,
They. all
Pump out ideas
Prejudices
Influences

Persuaders
Hidden
Open
Poisonous or
Benign

Why don't they
All shut up,
Go home
And leave me
In peace.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

ePoetry a new genre?

Now that poets can freely publish their work on the web are we looking at a new genre or approach to poetry?

Would Dickinson have been discovered if she had been able to publish herself on the Net? Or would she have been just as obscure, lost in the enormity of the web?

The great thing about the web is that there are no financial barriers to entry. I guess the purists would say that there is now no quality gateway but I suspect that view is elitist. It's not like there are legions of poets on the Net.

The immediacy of publication allows the raw edge of emotion to be explored. We can write and publish anywhere. I am on my teabreak writing this missive from my iPhone which I will publish shortly.

We can also explore multimedia and hypertextual poetry on the Net. This is an extension from the written page and allows for the development of what I would call visual poetry.

All in all I love cyberpoetry and the communities of poets that I collaborate with in the poetic e-Ther.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

The Healing Power of Poetry

Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason.

~Novalis

Reason and logic are very good to describe the physical world, but poetry helps us to map the reality of our human emotions, understanding and experience.

The Passion of Reading

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.

Elizabeth Hardwick