Welcome to One Stop Poetry - A Christmas Tour Around the World

Welcome to One Stop Poetry. As we begin the week of Christmas, we want to recognize the importance of families and friends. Because of that One Shot Wednesday will open earlier on Tuesday in order for last submissions (that can be considered for the anthology). Thursday will be a time to write poetry in honor of those we love (i.e. parent or grandparents) who we miss during this time of the year. You may have a poem written to honor that person or a Christmas memory that you would like to share.

Christmas Eve will be a story (based on a true story); one that can be enjoyed by the entire family. Christmas Day and Boxing Day (UK) will be observed as holidays for you to enjoy (off-line). Though we will probably post a poetry prompt for you die-hard bloggers.

We wanted to start the week by learning about different cultures and how the Christmas holiday is celebrated. Celebrations may include many things: food, songs, things the family or community does. There are things your family does that is it's own unique celebration. We would love for you to share how you celebrate. You could write a poem about your celebration or a funny story. Please feel free to link in and/or share in the comment box.

The One Stop Poetry Team (Adam, Brian, Chris, Claudia, Gay, Leslie, Pete) would like to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday.

We asked Claudia to share her traditions from Germany to kick us off.

Oh sing me silent Holy Night

When I was asked to write about how we Germans celebrate Christmas and what kind of traditions we have, my ambivalent relationship with traditions was the first thing that jumped to my mind and with it this story...

As I thought, a Christmas tree had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus, I refused to have one for years...and how our children suffered as everyone else had one of course! As I didn't change my mind, one Christmas Eve, my eldest daughter (she must have been six or seven then) told me, this year we will have a tree as she had crafted one herself - and there it stood in our living room - made of a broomstick and colored paper...so we were celebrating Christmas around this broomstick tree and from then on  - we started to have real christmas trees...

So the Christmas tree is one tradition we have - in 95% of the German households it's a genuine tree, cut in a forest. Usually we put it up in the living room the day before Christmas Eve and leave it there until the 6th of January.

The Advent wreath is my personal favorite Christmas tradition, dating back to 1839.
Pastor Wichern was at this time the leader of an asylum for homeless boys in Hamburg (The Rough House) and in the dining room, he hang up a huge cartwheel for "his" boys with 19 small and 4 big candles and every evening, the boys would light another candle to show them, there's hope in their
hopelessness.

Something you might know is the "Star of Herrnhut" which was the Christmas challenge for the boys of the Missionaries home Niesky in Herrnhut/Germany by their math teacher in 1821 - and since then re-built a million times and well known in most countries of the world.

And it was Martin Luther who re-arranged the date when the children would get their Christmas presents from the 6th of December to the 24th of December.

The reason for changing the date was that he said: Nicolaus was a good man, but can't help us any more - but on Christmas, God gave us his only son and every year this gives us a reason to celebrate. His wife and all the people in this small church in Wittenberg didn't like this at first - until
he introduced the song he has written for this Christmas celebration in 1535 - > "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" - > "From heaven above I come"

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs and we used to sing it a lot with the children. And one year, we went skiing and Tim, my son (he was quite small then) was sitting in the chair lift and singing full sound "From heaven above I come...." and all the people around were smiling...

So we will decorate our Christmas tree on the 22nd or 23rd of December - will go to church on the 24th at around 5pm - then have Christmas Dinner with the family (Fondue most years) , sing the first stanza (we only know the first stanza by heart..) from all the christmas songs that jump to our mind with me playing the guitar and then unpack presents under the Christmas tree.

Last but not least, let me share a Christmas poem and then extend my German Christmas experience to a tour round the world...

~ Claudia


Oh Sing me silent Holy Night

oh sing me silent holy night
when angels held their breath in awe
and wonders tender, true and raw

were born just when the time was right
I can’t hold on to what is wrong
my soul entwined in brightest light

with him who's stronger than the law
oh sing me silent holy night

(Claudia Schönfeld)

this is an Octain -
a new poem structure, created  by One Stop's featured friend Luke Prater.
We will have an opportunity to learn more about this style in the New Year.

Please Join Us in a Christmas Tour Around the World..

The Wise Men photograph courtesy of Creative Commons and Visual Panichttp://www.flickr.com/photos/visualpanic/314708685/

One Stop Poetry Spotlight, Shashidhar Sharma (aka Shashi)

Welcome to Dustus Friday
on One Stop Poetry!

If you participate in One Shot Poetry Wednesday, then chances may be good that you are familiar with Shashidhar Sharma.  But did you know that Shashi is a 46 year-old CEO of a small interior contracting firm based in Chennai, India? He works mainly on large office projects and has been in the field of Architectural and Interior Designs for the past 22 years. In addition to his poetry and professional career, he is also a Karma Yogi.

What is a Karma Yogi?

Shashi: "In simple words... it is to do what comes to your table with your 100% sincerity and hard work, and then don't worry for the results. The key point here is what comes to you as ourselves, being the part of universal consciousness, will attract only right things for us to do. I again firmly believe, is that what is good, or required by universal consciousness for us to do, will come to us on its own as our nature will attract it towards us. The second active part is don’t worry for the results, which basically means that worry is negative, and it will end up attracting negative things for you— so you should not worry about things that you have finished doing because you could not have done any thing more, if in the first place you have had already given your 100% to the work, situation, or things at your table handled with all your dedication and hard work. You could not have done any better; what is the point of worrying?

Why did you start writing poetry?

Shashi: "I started writing poetry and blogs through very interesting but slow development. Being born in a Brahmin (the priest class) family at a place (located near Buddha’s Nirvana Place as well as one of the most holy city in India, Varanasi) spirituality was in my blood, if I can say so. My family was full of spiritual guru’s, hence Vedic rituals, mantra chanting, and sound of temple bells were my morning alarms. All this environment and close proximity to swami’s, astrologers, and Vedic scholars gave me a false sense of confidence about knowing spirituality and being spiritual. Slowly as I grew up and started reading books, religious scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, Veda, Bible, Koran etc..., I realized my total ignorance.

Unknowingly, in the beginning, I started my spiritual journey with basic questions like what is life, and why we suffer etc....Over a period of time, during this journey of life, I started learning many things, knowing many things, internally, which included the realization that we are here for some purpose that needs to be explored and realized. Search for that reason, lead me to many excursions through books, many journeys to Himalayas, spiritual centers like Rishikesh, Varanasi, places in south India, and ultimately turned inwards to inner self.

This inner journey needed an expression externally. Hence, I started writing my thoughts—first on the personal blogs and then later on publically, in order to give body to my thoughts, experiences, and learning; which I can go back to, to relive, re-learn, re-collect. In the beginning, I started taking pictures, but then they were inadequate as they gave those powerful places, nature, emotions a body but not the soul. So I started writing poetry, free form of Haiku’s, my thoughts, etc..."

And now a few selected poems from Shashi....

OLD MAN AT THE GHAT

I saw the old man at the Holy Ghat
Long time back, but
He still continues to follow
Me and my thoughts
Incite me to dig deeper
On life
On death
On the path that he has lost.

He does not know
I am handicapped too
By pain, loss and loneliness
Life to be, has become
A colorless phase
Slowly passing by, grain by grain
Like the sand, in the hour glass.

I have no clear vision
But only a blind spot of living
Even dreams are marred
By imposter Hopes
Playing kaleidoscope of light
At the end of life’s tunnel

Why there is a light,
only at the end
Which never ends, Alive
In the end
And we blindly live, on and on

Yet I keep walking, on and on
Dripping past Karma
In drops of sweat, tear and duty
Believing, drop by drop
I am loosing it all

The life’s been so long and slow
The old man caught up
Holding my hand,
Talking
Knowing
Feeling
That I am lost too
In the maze of life

Dust claims dust
We will die too
Karmic baggage still
All intact and packed
Another journey
Another tunnel’s end

****************
Pain is
When you feel like
Stopping the sunrise

****************

WHISPERS OF DISTANT STARS
 
The valley silently
Unfolded herself
As you walked across
To sit besides me
And smile

The birds sang to
Tall and silent Deodar Trees
In their melodious songs
And you reached out
To hold my hand

Looking through the setting sun
Smiling through the distant stars
Whispering to me
In the bird songs
That you missed me

And I turned around
To find you
Far away from me
But
I could still kiss you

****************

“...Today, if you ask me, where I am. I am not sure yet, but I am experimenting with and living the life of Karma Yogi.  As, I have still not found the right path or the right reason for me. I am practicing Mantra Yoga for peace and positivity in life too (I actually started teaching the path of Mantra Yoga for meditation to few of very deserving and dedicated people online too). ” —Shashidhar Sharma

Check out more of Shashi's poetry @ http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com
Comments & feedback are always appreciated!

Cheers,
Adam

One Shot Wednesday - A Place To Share Your Poems

Welcome To One Shot Wednesday 

where you get to highlight your poetic talents

Hi and welcome to another One Shot Wednesday, the fastest growing poetry community on-line. I am Pete Marshall, the only Brit amongst three Americans, and I will be your compère today. One Shot Wednesday has witnessed some amazing work by some truly talented poets and I look forward to reading more great poems today. Before we start lets recap on how One Shot Wednesday works

1. Write a poetic piece & post it on your blog

2. Then let us know about your post. Link back to One Shot

3. Sign up in the Mr Linky list, linking directly to your post, AFTER you've posted it.

4. Go visit others who have signed up! Offer support & encouragement. Share your love of words and insight respectfully. Please try to visit as many participating poets as you can. We all could use and appreciate kind feedback.

Lastly, all forms of poetry are accepted for One Shot Wednesday. Everyone is welcome.

Cheers Pete

A mural once told me...a poem by Kavita

every once in a while you stumble upon a poet and their words just speak to you....this is how i feel often in reading Kavita's words at How I write, is mine...How you read is yours. you will recognize her from one shot wednesdays, but if you are not stopping by her place on a regular basis, you really should. enjoy the poem she wrote at a time when she was transitioning from one city to another...

A mural once spoke to me...

by Kavita

Guided by the moonlight

And the lamps below

I bounced right off treetops

In through your window

You can but stare at me

I stand, a proud shadow on your wall

I smiled, waited for you

While you tossed and turned

You then looked towards me

Slumber you had burned

You can but stare at me

I stand, a handsome shadow on your wall

You tried hard to catch me

Flashing low and high

Slyly did I dodge you

My home’s in your eye

You can but stare at me

I stand, a cunning shadow on your wall

You blinked at me in awe

And gazed at my face

My branched and leafy form

Like patterns on lace

You can but stare at me

I stand, a mangled shadow on your wall

You spoke and you laughed

Happy as can be

Then I saw a teardrop

Hide beneath your glee

You can but stare at me

I stand, a kindly shadow on your wall

You may leave tomorrow

Or decide to stay

But I sure will love you

Through all night and day

You can but stare at me

I still stand, a mere shadow on a wall

For more poetry by Kavita please visit her at How I write, is mine....How you read is yours. Look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday! ~Brian

One Stop Poetry Competition - Theme Autumn

The One Stop Poetry Competition

We at One Stop Poetry are pleased to announce the launch of our first ever poetry competition!

With Autumn approaching, we felt it would make a suitable subject. The rules are quite simple: you may enter as many poems as you like, free of charge, poems must be original and not published anywhere previously whether this is on-line or in magazines.

Please forward each entry by separate email to: oneshotpoetry@gmail.com. 

Poems must be 20 lines in length, no more no less and based on the theme, Autumn. 

Multiple submissions must be sent separately

Closing date is 31st August 2010.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 14th September when the winning piece will be published on a full feature page!  One Stop is fast becoming a growing site for poets; you will receive a huge amount of recognition for having your winning poem published here!

The judges for the One Stop Poetry Competition will be Adam Dustus, Brian Miller, Leslie Moon & Pete Marshall. Judges are not allowed to be entrants.

We look forward to receiving your entries and thank you for taking part

Regards,

One Shot

***************

image courtesy creative commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/felipe_gabaldon/

One Shot Wednesday: A Place to Share Your Poems

Welcome to One Shot Wednesday - A Place For Poets To Share 

Brian here and this week I will be your host for One Shot! Can you believe we have only been at this for a month now. Each week i am amazed at the incredible word artists we are drawing to this community. Ok, let me cover some quick instructions;

1. Write an original poem and post it to your blog

2. Link back to One Shot Wednesday from your post

3. Sign up in the Mr Linky list, linking directly to your post, AFTER you've posted it.

4. Go visit others that have posted. This is a great way to learn new forms, meet new poets and gain inspiration for your next piece. though this is not mandatory we encourage you to visit at least one other poet and give some helpful feedback.

At One Stop Poetry we welcome all forms of poetry and hope that One Shot Wednesday gives you a chance to share, express and feel a part of our fast growing community. On behalf of Leslie, Adam, Pete and myself thanks for taking part and have fun out there....

One Shot Wednesday: A Place To Share Your Poems

Welcome to One Shot Wednesday - where you get to highlight your poetic talents

Here we go with another great One Shot Wednesday...
I’m Adam Dustus and it’s a privilege to host OSW this week!

Before signing up— a quick recap of how One Shot works:

1. Write a poetic piece & post it on your blog

2. Then let us know about your post. Link back to One Shot

3. Sign up in the Mr Linky list, linking directly to your post, AFTER you've posted it.

4. Go visit others who have signed up! Offer support & encouragement. Share your love of words and insight respectfully. Please try to visit as many participating poets as you can. We all could use and appreciate kind feedback.

All forms of poetry are accepted for One Shot Wednesday. Everyone is welcome. Feel free to invite your fellow poet friends to join the festivities. Let’s make this a great, supportive community! So on behalf of Leslie, Brian, and Pete this week—enjoy and help foster the supportive growth of our creative community.

Cheers.
Adam

One Shot Wednesday: A Place To Share Your Poems

Welcome to One Shot Wednesday - A Place For Poets To Share 

Pete Marshall here & this week I will be your compère! First let me cover some quick instructions;

1, Write an original poem and post it to your blog

2, Link back to One Shot Wednesday from your post

3, Sign up in the Mr Linky list, linking directly to your post, AFTER you've posted it. Mr Linky will be open from 5pm EST (Tuesday) until 3am EST (Thursday)

4, Go visit others that have posted. This is a great way to learn new forms, meet new poets and gain inspiration for your next piece. though this is not mandatory we encourage you to visit at least one other poet and give some helpful feedback.

At One Stop Poetry we welcome all forms of poetry and hope that One Shot Wednesday gives you a chance to share, express and feel a part of our fast growing community. On behalf of Leslie, Adam, Brian and myself thanks for taking part....

P.D.A By Ray Morgan

This week I am honoured to guest a very special, talented British poet, Ray Morgan.

For someone of such tender years she has already performed her Poetry on Colin Murray's Spoken Word Surgery on BBC Radio 1, worked with Apples and Snakes which is the UK's leading performance poetry organisation, and been published in Inkspill Magazine. Ray is also the creative producer for Sundown Arts, a voluntary run arts organisation that tours and promotes the spoken word.

I first came across her work when I read the following piece, P.D.A; a very creative poem expressing elements of life on the London Underground.

P.D.A.

A Poem By Ray Morgan

There is a cello on the Jubilee line.

He is standing tall,

chest puffed out,

all smooth and smarmy,

all Nigel Havers, all

Yes,

I'm a cello.

A small child looks up with saucer eyes

at the petite woman holding

him.

She caresses his smooth,

black

Batman-chested

case of a body,

all muscles and brawn.

People look away,

stare into their paperbacks,

look intently at their fingernails

on the grimy handrails

or notice themselves in the

opposite windows.

The cello woman sways,

her floral dress flutters flirtily,

she sways

and gives her body into him.

Above the clatter and din

of the 8.48 from Canning Town

you'd swear you could hear the

low

grumbling

twang

of his strings.

Ray Morgan C 2010

For more poetry by this remarkable writer please visit her blog at raypoetry.

Thanks Ray for your contribution and support of One Stop Poetry. I look forward to seeing you all again at One Shot Wednesday

cheers

Pete

Drive By Dreams & Seaside Themes

Drive By Dreams & Seaside Themes:

A Poem About The Great British Seaside

I pulled into a ravaged street

strewn with sacks of littered dreams

and policemen lay so fast asleep

as traffic flowed past hooded thieves.

The rays burned hard on suntanned arm

that hung outside my limousine

and girls would saunter down the path

in skirts that length was gauged obscene.

My shades were dark, I looked the part

I cranked the sound of heavy beats

and summer sun would make me sweat 

as I cruised into another street.

And people stopped, I did not care

I pushed the limo in spite of their

glares that strained a disbelief

I shaped my hand and motioned grief.

They scurried past , I laughed aloud

and turned the limo on the crowd.

But now I cruised the boulevard

its palm decked lines of disregard.

The beats that pumped as people stared

that shook the car and buzzed the air,

and women ran in jogging pants

with cheeks that squeezed beneath the hem.

I carried on down to where the slots

and lights would flash and bring them in.

I passed the rows of drunken sops

whose kids were left to run amok

and chase the sounds of grab machines

stuffing coins in plush filled dreams,

high on floss and candy rock

and sugar stains on summer frocks.

And tattooed man would cross the road

eyes on me he tried to goad

I squeezed the gas and edged on near

as bass was pumped his eyes showed fear.

And Whitney stood and smiled at me

her man was weak and I was king

but girls can come and usually go

the limo seats are where they show.

Fake Las Vegas bars and dreams

and seaside towns are hardened things

I push the limo further on

into the world where I belong

by Pete Marshall

*************************

image courtesy creative commons flikr 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordspudz/