One Stop Spotlight - Adam White

I think most of you have already met poet Adam White somewhere along the One Stop trail, where he shares his excellent poetry every week.

Adam has a strong voice and I very much enjoy his honesty and straight forwardness (not only in his writing) but his variety when it comes to approaching different poetic styles.

Adam is about to move from England to Canada and I want to say a special thanks that he found the time to write a bit about his background, how he came to write, and what inspires his poetry.

You can read more of Adam's work on his blog "Poetry by Adam White" and you can also find him on Twitter @adamwhitepoet.

~ Claudia

His Hands

His hands are steady, workers hands,
They work a dark workers task,
Twisting lives with thread and needle,

And souls infused in cloth and glass.
Forming perfect feminine shape
Sweetly curved and lovingly made,
With naive minds unused to life,
Innocent, untouched and afraid.

With their feet, their delicate flesh
As soft as softest, bone white silk,
They wake unknowing in the dark
Skin shining bright like moonlit milk.
Hearts of glass rest in breathless breasts
And no breath will pass their painted lips
And eyes like stars freshly cast
Guide ships in to their careful kiss.

He made one most desirable

Of all his pretty maiden dolls.
Kairi. Her name was Kairi and
She had the most shining of souls.
She was kind and sweet and caring
And giving with her lover's heart.
Her beauty left perfection spent,
Surroundings rendered empty, dark.

All able men craved her presence
Wanted, not the word for her.
Craving the most common of sights,
Her smile raised and so deftly turned
They would promise no disservice
To the beauty of his great craft,
But on this day, his love was money
And where there's money, there's a man.

He was a lord, a libertine,
A hedonist both crass and cruel,
A violent and heartless creature,
A drunkard and a proven fool
His fists played harsh on her beauty
From the first night she spent enslaved
Her suffering was so lasting
That one cold night, she ran away,

Her stitches split, stuffing scattered

Kairi dashed through dark and winding streets
Far from the pain her master gave
With clubbing hate and cloying heat.
She ran back to her great maker,
Through a bleak and telling storm,
To fall at his door and scream for love,
And sanity and for warmth.

His hands, his steady workers hands
That night they pulled at golden seams

They tore at cloth and snapped strong thread
Despite her cries and dying screams.
He ripped her perfect form apart
And smashed her eyes of starry glass
And started work on replacing her
With his hands, his steady hands.

(Copyright Adam White)

Background:

I was born and raised in Birmingham, England and (other than a year or so in Northampton, which is just as bad) I've spent all my life here. Anyone who has visited will know it's a horrid place and I am a product of that. That said, I've been blessed with knowing some wonderful people and come from a very loving family, so that has made the whole terrible situation much more bearable.

How I Came to Write:

I started writing when I was 16 (11 years ago, woof,) after some particularly traumatic events, at the suggestion of a man much more intelligent than myself. I'd lost somebody I was close to and it pushed me over the edge. That edge was self constructed of course, me being a 16 year old lad, raging with hormones, confusion, and a fair share of mental health issues which I'd hidden from everyone instead of doing the smart thing and seeking help. By the time I'd reached the tipping point, it was a little too late to reconcile my problems in an easier way so I spent a fair few years writing as a form of therapy.

It was all awful. I had no idea of form or structure or anything like that. I just scribbled hard words and, for the most part, that writing is very grim and not fit for human consumption. Take the normal teen angst poetry and combine that with a healthy dose of fantastical insanity and you're just about there. I still write this poetry and, hopefully, this part of my writing will never be read by anybody but me.

The more normal writing (if you can call it that) is the stuff I started writing for pleasure and makes up the bulk of the poetry I post on my blog. At first, the writing may have been a coping mechanism, but as I wrote more and more, I started to enjoy it. The story telling aspect of poetry is the part I love the most and, browsing through my site, you'll come across an awful lot of narrative driven verse about heroes and villains, lovers or suffering innocents.

This urge to share is a recent thing. I once ran a poetry group through the old msn communities but was never as serious about having my work seen as I am now. I set up my blog at the end of September 2010 and have been flabbergasted (great word) by the reaction. I am genuinely surprised by the amount of traffic my blog receives and all the positive feedback I've received, much of it from all the wonderful poets I've met through Twitter, Facebook, and especially One Stop Poetry. The hard work the guys here have put in to building a poetry community and promoting the up and comers is fantastic.

Inspiration:



I love all poetry but I do have a bit of a bone to pick. I read and study a lot but I have tried to look at the medium from an objective standpoint. I've noticed that I read much of it and feel sad that, as an art form, it has become increasingly abstract and elitist, especially here in England. This is by no means a modern problem (read Milton and his self referential nonsense) but it seems like to become part of the establishment nowadays you have to write about things that only intelligentsia and other poets are going to understand. This means that the majority of people find the work unintelligible. I genuinely hate this and, while in my more private work, I do write a lot (a LOT) of this kind of stuff myself, I will only post the accessible poetry on my own blog. I want anybody to be able to read and enjoy poetry. All they should have to be able to do is read. Maybe part of it comes from how poetry is taught in schools here (badly) but the trend for referential writing isn't doing the medium any favours.

I chose to share the poem "His Hands" with you because I think it's very indicative of my narrative work. Also because it hasn't been looked at a lot by people and it's one of my favourites of my recent output. As a reader of poetry, it satisfies me and that's honestly all I look for. I am a simple creature.

In the next few days, I'm going to embark on my next big adventure. I'm moving to Montreal in Canada (one of my favourite places in the world) to start my new life with my frankly wonderful partner. What will follow is a long period of writing freedom for me, so you can expect an increased volume of writing. I will be working on my epic poem, Udulo's Wars, a few screenplays and bringing my novel up to scratch. Bits and pieces from all of these will be popping up on my blog so look out for that. My work will keep popping up on One Shot Wednesdays and One Shoot Sundays too so keep your eye out for me and add me on Twitter @AdamWhitePoet.

Photo credits:
Creative Commons, Andreas Levers, Jonathan Khoo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/2564208064
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonk/3052458912

Monday One Stop Poetry form - Villanelle guest post by Luke Prater

One Stop Poetry Form

We want to encourage you to explore different poetry forms over the weeks and months to come. We will spend the first "session" describing the poetic form and the second week will be a time for the individual poet to do exercises with the form and an experienced poet. Please have fun and remember we are learning together! 

Welcome to our second Villanelle Monday!

For part two of our Villanelle class, I would like to introduce Luke Prater.
Many of you will know him already from One Shot Wednesdays. Luke was also featured several months ago on One Stop Poetry with one of his Villanelles. Luke has written many Villanelles and is very familiar with different forms of poetry.

Luke, I want to say a big "Thank you" for doing this. I very much appreciate your hard work for putting this together for us.

~ Claudia

Now I'd like to hand you over to Luke...enjoy..

I avoided poetry throughout my teens and wrote prose instead (occasionally; I was very lazy), but when I finally got to University/College to do my Bachelor's in English Lit with Creative Writing, poetry really grabbed me by the scruff of the neck. When we learnt about the villanelle form, it stood out immediately as being both evocative and compelling due to the repetition, and in possession of far more musicality than most other forms I had encountered. The repetition of the two alternating refrains being one reason, but two other aural poetic devices are also very much present: rhyme, and meter/rhythm. Being a musician as well as a poet, aural device has always won me over, as opposed to visual device (metaphor, simile, personification, etc, though of course these are important also). It's a case of the 'three Rs' - Rhythm, Rhyme, Repetition.

Varying one of the refrains (the second (A2), preferably), can be very effective, however. It depends on context/theme/tone, and can lend the Narrative aesthetically pleasing variety and more sense of movement. A favourite villanelle, Elizabeth Bishop's One Art, does just that, and it's worth mentioning that varying/semi-repeating a refrain isn't out of the question, yielding fine results in many cases. As you can see here, it allows the piece to progress and be wrapped up with a varied A2 refrain appropriate for the closure.

   

One Art

by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident

the art of losing's not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

I am a poet who tries as many forms/genres as possible to stretch myself; many I will never return to, but I will always come back to the villanelle. I'll leave you with one of mine that you may not have seen, and that also isn't inappropriate in theme/tone/language (!)… in fact it's a rewrite of my very first I wrote at University all those years  ago, re-versifying it in iambic meter (pentameter), which, if you can manage it, will guarantee a smooth flow, and leave the reader in no doubt whatsoever as to how your lines are to be spoken/read rhythmically. This is why iambic meter become so popular, and the norm with form poets in English; also because it is the closest meter to how we naturally speak, with its lilting alternation of unstressed and stressed syllables.

An example for iambic pentameter (5 beats) would be:

do NOT | go GEN | tle IN | to THAT | good NIGHT

        1              2           3           4                    5

The First Day of Spring

by Luke Prater

Embittered Winter cast Himself away

upon a gale, and swept elsewhere on it.

The Sun shone brightly, Summer’s bold foreplay.

I wished the madding Springtime to betray

His colder cousin, knowing time befit;

embittered Winter cast Himself away.

The trees, they danced in wonderful ballet;

the singing breeze was happy to admit

the Sun shone brightly, Summer’s bold foreplay.

The Birds, they felt the change by break of day,

and joined the breeze in strains, pale-morning lit.

Embittered Winter cast Himself away.

And you and I, socks off, we tread the way

across the grass, and under trees we sit.

The Sun shone brightly, Summer’s bold foreplay..

Old man, invigorated, bright, though grey,

he mumbled praises like some Jesuit.

Embittered Winter cast Himself away;

the Sun shone brightly, Summer’s bold foreplay.

We are learning together..

Last week we said, we would take one of the Villanelles, have a closer look and give detailed feedback.
Adam Dustus (of One Stop Poetry) volunteered with the very first Villanelle he has written and Luke took the time for a detailed critique.

 Adam's original poem:

Once we have learned our lonely dreams can be
Oh God not knowing where or how to start
When all I ever want is you and me

Blank canvas drips like a soaked willow tree
Save in found comfort assembling shared parts
Once we have learned our lonely dreams can be

Until feeling lost can’t tell you are free
No flow chart off course for a bleeding heart
When all I ever want is you and me

Rudderless ships carry skeleton keys
Her lip-curled smile trumps my so-called art
Once we have learned our lonely dreams can be

Our last taken breaths, which death guarantees
Molecules boil over, anger departs
When all I ever want is you and me

Vision focused now, our present to see
For love a sincere gift, fair will imparts
Once we have learned our lonely dreams can be
When all I ever want is you and me

Hi Adam -

The central aspect here which, in my humble opinion, needs addressing, is the meter. Your two refrains flow well and scan five (pentameter) fine.

'Blank canvas drips like a soaked willow tree' (line four) > it took me several attempts to be able to speak/read this as five stresses. It's not obvious at all where the stresses should fall. Some may try and force the third stress onto 'a', which certainly doesn't want to be stressed, 'soaked' is probably what you intended? Viz - 'blank CAN | vas DRIPS | like a SOAKED | WIL low | TREE'. This line would flow better if you stripped one of the two unstressed small words there ('like' or 'a') and made 'soaked' into the continuous tense 'soaking', something like this -

Blank canvas drips; a soaking willow tree [pref; or] Blank canvas drips like soaking willow tree
'Save in found comfort assembling shared parts' (line five) > I'm having real difficulty with this line, metrically/rhythmically. You are relying on either the 'in' to be the first stress (which, being a preposition, it really doesn't want to be - we can only stress in poetry what we naturally stress in our language, or it renders lumpy lines, iambs or not), or 'found', which is OK, but requires the reader to realise that you're starting the line with a trisyllabic foot, like this -

'save in FOUND | COM fort | as SEM | bling SHARED | PARTS' ... this is still unwieldy rhythmically and many readers will be lost on the meter and struggle to feel where the beats fall. The fact that you have two stressed syllables to end on doesn't help either. Suggest (and just a suggestion, as always :) -

Except in comfort assembling shared parts [or] Except in comfort gathering shared parts  [this pref. 'found' is redundant and 'assembling' too many syllables in that particular place in the original version of the line]

'Until feeling lost can’t tell you are free' (line seven) - also struggling with the meter here. To count as five, it requires the first word's stresses to be reversed in relation to how we normally speak them, ie - 'UN til' rather than 'un TIL'. The flow is generally difficult in this line, but if you made a simple change in the right places, it would look completely different, eg

Until you're feeling lost, can’t tell you're free [if you're loathe to use 'you're' twice, substitute the first with another appropriate monosyllabic word]

'Our last taken breaths, which death guarantees' (line thirteen) - the number of stresses here is ambiguous - it could be read as four or five, depending on the reader (such is the problem when writing in meter but not strictly iambs or trochees; often lines depend of being spoken/read a certain way to scan). I assume you mean it to read like this -

OUR last | TA ken | BREATHS which | DEATH gua ran | TEES? but it could easily be read like this -

our last TA | ken BREATHS | which DEATH | gua ran TEES = tetrameter (fours). Think it's ok though, the majority of readers will see it the first way. And either way, it does flow, but 'which' is redundant and it would be less ambiguous regarding how to read/speak it with that word removed, ie -

Our last taken breath, death guarantees [also removed the 's' from 'breaths', it eases the flow and highlights the breath/death internal rhyme]

'For love a sincere gift, fair will imparts' (line seventeen) > this scans fine, but I wonder what you think of the notion of making it smoother by altering the front end slightly to 'For love's sincere gift...' etc? Or does that change the meaning? It eradicates the indefinite article 'a' (always good to rid these small 'filler' words if possible). The line would look like this -
For love's sincere gift, fair will imparts

You have many fine lines here Adam, and overall the premise/message is solid and clear. I particularly like the 'soaked willow' image, and this line is striking and provokes thought: 'Rudderless ships carry skeleton keys'. If it were mine I'd use lowercase at beginnings of lines (bar following a period, obviously, actual or implied by stanza-break); the form is old, but you're writing in modern language (for the most part; phrases like 'fair will imparts' seem a little archaic and slightly incongruous with the tone of the rest), no caps would suit in my opinion but it is merely a taste thing. In the old days poetry was always always capitalised, but most of it now is not. Your refrain -

'Once we have learned our lonely dreams can be' - I'm not sure I understand it. Do you mean 'Once we have learned how lonely dreams can be'?

One or two areas I would consider cliche in phrasing, but that's probably just me :) ('Oh God' and 'bleeding heart' stand out as such, but to some they may be fine). I could go deeper, but I think this is enough on one piece; nice villanelle, sir, especially if it's your first and these are all merely my opinions, to be taken or left as you choose. Thanks for allowing me to take it apart, Adam. I hope it was useful to you.

Are you in for some more practicing on Villanelles?

Once again, you will have the possibility to write a Villanelle and link up with us. Have a look at last week's Villanelle class for details like structure and writing tips.
Luke and I will try to make our way around but may not manage to visit each of you and, as Villanelles are quite complex, we won't manage to give a detailed feedback on all of your linked up poems (form, rhyme, correct meter etc.)

But if you want a detailed and honest feedback, please leave us a comment here in the comment section and we will have a closer look at what you came up with.

One Stop Spotlight - Gerald Barret aka Jerry

Your sure would agree that there are many interesting, talented and highly likable people around in the blogworld. "Very likable" was the first thought that jumped to my mind when I met Jerry through One Shot Wednesday a few weeks ago.
I would describe his poetry as fresh and unconventional and you can clearly hear his heart beat when reading his words.

He approaches everyday happenings with a twinkling eye and in a healthy down to earth style.
Jerry is a people person - you can sense this in his writing and commenting - he easily connects to others and I'm sure many of you, who have met him somewhere on the One Stop trail will agree.

Jerry blogs at "Under the doorframe" and today he allows us a glimpse into his busy life, tells us about his big family, how he came to write poetry and what inspires him - enjoy

~ Claudia


Fall

The other night the wind and the rain
slapped a lot of beauty out of their canopies.
The rain fell on the leaves,
the leaves fell like rain.
The colors lay dead.
I tried to rally my kids to pick them up.
I gave them Elmer’s glue and a stapler.
I had a few ladders too.
The suns out now and how much
I wanted to see the colors against
a cool blue sky instead of faded green
and asphalt and gravel.
I almost prayed for the resurrection
of these expired tree totalers.
But then my kids dropped the glue
and staples and the disbelief
their faces were showing me.
They ran for rakes.
Their faces flush with autumn air
they piled up the colors on the runway.
They carelessly overlaid color on color,
like when they were much younger with crayons.
Their excitement rose as did the pile.
Then I saw the clear blue sky in their eyes
as they lay laughing in the colors.
I smiled as their redemptive act
fell on me like cool rain in the night.

(copyright gerald barret 2011)

A little background:

I grew up in Michigan as number 8 out of 10 children. My mom pretty much raised us on her own, which is a long story worth writing about sometime. I'll be married to my wife 25 years February 16th.  She also hails from a large family.  If memory serves me she is number 10 out of 12 children. We have 4 biological children and 8 adopted (2 sibling groups of 4). I am a UPS delivery driver of almost 25 years. No need to say my writing is in the cracks of audible words and busy real life experiences.

Sometimes I'll say to people that I have been in a mid-life crisis for 30 years...and writing became a cathartic resting place between depressive dips and turns. When I came to faith the particular vein of the Christian church I was a part of thought of art and creativity as non essential.  If it wasn't utilitarian I set it aside. So most of my writing was journaling in the beginning...a private affair.

Then about 15 years ago a music minister in the church I was attending intergrated a Luci Shaw poem into the worship service. It about sliced my heart in two. It was as if I was given permission, freedom to create and drop the utility knife that kept shaving off a good portion of who I was. (The poem, by the way, is Spring Song, Very Early Morning which is found in her book The Green Earth)

Then I started writing and sharing with family occasionally (The most gracious audience. :)) Then after attending 3 Festival of Faith and Writing conferences at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan I was informed I needed a platform for my writing.  I didn't know what a platform was and I thought maybe it was nessessary in case I needed to jump.  Anyway I started a blog last spring and started a new one (underthedoorframe.blogspot.com) when I read L.L.Barket's interview in Christianity Today.

I like writing in other genres like memoir and essay and am chipping away at a short story. But poetry is my first love. I think maybe because I can finish poems within those cracks in my life. I used to think of it as the lazy writer's "out" because of its commitment level.  What a self deception. It is a craft that is intense, all consuming at times especially when a word or a line or an image pops up and the knee jerk reaction is to drop everything and find a keyboard or a pen and napkin.  Sometimes I drive and deliver with a sentence in my head and I repeat it aloud throughout my work day so I can deliver it to the keyboard that evening or next early morning. Early morning is the largest crack in which I write before the first child stands next to me with a "good morning" or a request.    

You will find that much of my poetry is about people. Of late a few more have risen about my mother who is getting on in years. I love to write about overt and covert spiritual experience. Sometimes I think maybe I should start another blog with a mainly overt Christian experience. Yet for now this network provides a wide range of personal and spiritual experience which I feel better represents the world out there...don't you think?

I chose to share the poem "Fall" because it is layered with depth and humor and transcendence which I feel is representitive of the spectrum of my poetry. Some of the influences of poetry have been of course Luci Shaw, Wendell Berry, and a dash of Billy Collins and now many One Stop additions.

Around our house humor is very needful. You know, as they say if you don't laugh you cry. Having adopted children really made the pain of our world more poingnant and sensory. We heard stories but until the stories came to stay in our home they were just stories. My brother once told me that proximity is everything. There are plenty of sad stories from which to harvest poems.
I am a little leary of writing about my children, especially the adopted ones and their fractured souls. I think in time more of these will surface on my blog as wisdom serves. 

Entering this network through High Calling Blogs and One Stop has been a stretching experience and it is fantastic to listen with those who share this passion, and sometimes compulsion, to mess with words.  I used to think that there was no point to write...there were already enough pages to turn, turn, turn and yet... We all have something to offer through our individual filters with which we see the world and if our calling is to write then write we must, and somewhere down the line there are people whose filters allow our words to penetrate their souls, sometimes right down to their very spirit where words dissolve to graft into their being.
I bet you the core of any poet's desire is to have their words settle into places such as these. I know mine is, why just today my wife told me that my poem today is her favorite...she has said that before and I hope she will say those words again.

Monday One Stop Poetry Form - Villanelle

Welcome to One Stop Poetry Form

We want to encourage you to explore different poetry forms over the weeks and months to come. We will spend the first "session" describing the poetic form and the second week will be a time for the individual poet to do exercises with the form and an experienced poet. Please have fun and remember we are learning together!

For the  next two weeks of  Poetry Form I , Claudia Schönfeld ,would like to introduce you to one of my favorite Poetry forms - the Villanelle.

Are you ready for an excursion to the past with some history and background, for some technical details (no worries - it's not going to be too technical - I'm a very non-technical person myself...), and lastly are you ready to get inspired to try a Villanelle yourself?

Villanelles have a long history

The word “villanelle” comes from the Italian villano (“peasant”) and means "country song".
Originally it was a dance song sung by a Renaissance troubadour with no particular form.
So this means, the first Villanelles were written in italian language. 

The structure we know today took shape after Jean Passerat’s famous 16th century Villanelle, “J’ai perdu ma tourtourelle” (“I Have Lost My Turtle Dove”)

Villanelles appeared in English poetry around 1800.

Today's Villanelles still follow this unique, yet repetitive, rhyme pattern from the 16th century which lends a haunted quality to the Narrative Voice.

Here's a translation of Jean Passerat 's Villanelle from the 16th century (originally written in French.)

I Have Lost My Turtle Dove 
by Jean Passerat

I have lost my turtledove:
Isn’t that her gentle coo?
I will go and find my love.

Here you mourn your mated love;
Oh, God–I am mourning too:
I have lost my turtledove.

If you trust your faithful dove,
Trust my faith is just as true;
I will go and find my love.

Plaintively you speak your love;
All my speech is turned into
“I have lost my turtledove.”

Such a beauty was my dove,
Other beauties will not do;
I will go and find my love.

Death, again entreated of,
Take one who is offered you:
I have lost my turtledove;
I will go and find my love.

The Structure of Villanelle

Villanelles have a rhyme - a rhythm and a structure...

What I love about Villanelles is their musicality; they have a beat - they grip you - they rock you like waves in an ocean and they will worm their way inside your mind and heart because of their rhythm.
It seldom happens to me that I remember the lines of my free verse poems exactly, but I often remember the lines of my Villanelles because they feel more like a song than a poem.

A Villanelle consists of six stanzas with a total of 19 lines ( first five stanzas with three lines each and last stanza with four lines) this structure hasn't changed since 1600..

Villanelles are usually written in 

tetrameter (a line containing four beats/stresses)
Example:

                 A  life like colored drops of rain

Beats:             1            2            3          4 

or

pentameter (a line containing five beats/stresses)
Example:

               Do not go gentle into that good night,

Beats:             1         2       3     4               5


There are two refrains throughout the entire villanelle (A1 and A2) and each of them appears four times - so they should be chosen carefully because they form the backbone of the piece. Think of a refrain like the chorus that is repeated in a song.

Example: How the refrains and rhymes work:

Do not go gentle into that good night,  (A1 - appears 4 times - has to rhyme with A2 and a)
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;  (b - appears once & has only to rhyme with the other b's)
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.  (A2 - appears 4 times - has to rhyme with A1 and a)

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,  (a - appears only once & has to rhyme with A1+A2)
Because their words had forked no lightning they  (b)
Do not go gentle into that good night.  (A1 - this is the second repetition of A1 in the first line)
 

Refrain 1 (A1)
Line 2 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 4 (a)
Line 5 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 7 (a)
Line 8 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 10 (a)
Line 11 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 13 (a)
Line 14 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 16 (a)
Line 17 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)
Refrain 2 (A2)
 

Two Famous Villanelles

House on the Hill
by American Poet Edwin Arlington (1869 - 1935)

They are all gone away,
The House is shut and still,
There is nothing more to say.

Through broken walls and gray
The winds blow bleak and shrill.
They are all gone away.

Nor is there one to-day
To speak them good or ill:
There is nothing more to say.

Why is it then we stray
Around the sunken sill?
They are all gone away,

And our poor fancy-play
For them is wasted skill:
There is nothing more to say.

There is ruin and decay
In the House on the Hill:
They are all gone away,
There is nothing more to say.

Mad Girl's Love Song
by American Poet Sylvia Plath (1932 - 1963)

"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
 
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
 
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
 
God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
 
I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
 
I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)"

--------

I guess by now you almost can’t wait to start writing?
Got your pen ready and sharpened?
Give it a try, write your first or hundredth Villanelle and link up with us.

Review ~ Writing the Villanelle

• Think about the meter – tetrameter or pentameter (others are possible as well)

• Once you have decided on a meter, try to feel the beat - does it flow?

• Do the lines read with a good rhythm in four/five beats? It’s a good idea to speak the lines out while writing/editing, maybe even tap the beat with your feet to make sure they count the number of stresses/beats you've decided on.

• Choose your Refrains carefully – they form the backbone of your piece

• Make sure the lines end with a word which rhymes easily

• You can use online rhyme tools like rhymezone.com to find rhyming words

• Think about a topic you would like to write about – but don’t be too focused – let it flow and allow the rhythm, your emotions and the words to drag you

• Have the structure right in front of you – I usually copy the structure to a page and then write like this..

Example:

Refrain 1 (A1)     Do not go gentle into that good night,
Line 2 (b)            Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Refrain 2 (A2)     Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

..and so on...

Next week we may pick some Villanelles as examples and have a closer look, done by an expert who will also share some of his personal experience and knowledge.

One Stop Spotlight - George Pappas aka GPWriter

George Pappas is a poet, novelist and a life long resident of Southern California. He blogs at Backyard Poetry and can also be found on Twitter @gpwriter. I have met him through One Shot Wednesday. What I like is his honesty and the courage to touch "hot potatoes" with his poems.

George often chooses social, critical or political themes for his poetry and always provides an introduction about how he came to write these. I asked him about this and he answered that he doesn't try to explain the poem in a literal sense. He prefers to explain his motivations for the poem, giving the reader more insight into his creative process. He views the intro as a part of the poem in a sense.

George thinks that Blog Poems should be a multi media experience for the reader and his certainly are! I can highly recommend paying him a visit over at Backyard Poetry

So please sit back and enjoy what George has to share about himself and his motivation, which led to writing this excellent poem he has chosen for One Stop Poetry today

~ Claudia

Since I started writing poetry while a student at California State Long Beach in the 1980s, I strived to create poems that were provocative, and challenge the statusquo in society, politics and life. I feel it is the role of a poet to cover all aspects of living, including writing about controversial ,political ,and religious themes; issues that,unfortunately, many poets avoid. I strive to do this in different and unique ways.  It could be imagining a tourist ad for a tour of Guantanamo Bay detention camp as in my poem “Guantanamo Bay Tour,” or as in my poem “Ethnic Cleansing” musing about an ad campaign for such practices with the tagline: “Bought and sold wherever intolerance is found.”

One poetry class I took in college, which was taught by noted poet Elliot Fried, really had a lasting impact on me. Professor Fried encouraged us to look for poetry everywhere and in everything around us and to think differently about what could be a subject for a poem. He would give us an assignments where we would have to create poems off the page using video, pictures or images.

My following poem “Would the Crucifixion Have Been Televised?” is one such example of  looking for an off beat way to address the troubling state of the TV news business.

I was frustrated and tired with weeks of coverage about the death of JFK Jr.  Each year, it seems, the national press, especially the cable and TV networks, become increasingly myopic in their coverage. This is truly reflected during major news events.  They feature 24/7 coverage of one event or controversy relentlessly covering every angle. Sometimes that is justified as with 9/11, the Iraq war, or JFK’s assassination other times it is questionable as following the death of Pope John Paul and other overblown stories. It is overkill to say the least.

It got me to thinking about how other  historic events such as the Crucifixion might be covered by our modern news industry.

That led to this poem

GP

***

WOULD THE CRUCIFIXION HAVE BEEN TELEVISED?

I wonder if the crucifixion
took place today
would it be televised
non-stop?

Would the plethora of TV cable channels
cover every aspect
of the death
of Christ
on the cross?

Imagine
a press briefing
with Roman officials
explaining their actions.

Think of
profiles on the apostles,
in-depth interviews
with Jesus’ followers
and an exclusive interview
with Judas entitled:
“Why he betrayed Christ: Judas defends himself.”

Ponder the exclusive reports
with those who claim to have witnessed God’s miracles,
including a shocking profile on the blind man
who claims Christ restored his sight.

Or a story on a follower who says to have heard Jesus’ last words
or yet another who saw Jesus walk on water
or still another who witnessed Christ’s resurrection.

That would be followed by
an exclusive feature
on Mary discussing the Immaculate Conception.

This tabloid TV culture
without a doubt would turn the
the Crucifixion
into huge ratings.

All meaning ultimately
lost in the torrent of coverage
nailed relentlessly into
our empty souls and lurid imaginations.

George Pappas
Copyright 2010

One Shot Poetry Wednesday - Week 27

Welcome to One Shot Wednesday - Week 27

Welcome to week 27 of One Shot Wednesday. We hope you each had a wonderful holiday? I am you host for this week & my name is Leslie Moon, aka Moondustwriter one of the One Stop Poetry founders. We started One Stop Poetry six months ago to create a cyber site where poets, artists & creative types could join and share their insights and their work. We hope that you feel comfortable and welcome here?

One Stop Poetry has new things in the store for 2011. One of those started yesterday on our Monday Poetry Form day. Our intention is to give even seasoned poets a look at poetry forms they may or may not be familiar with. 

We are also creating an opportunity for poets to chat on #OSPChat on Twitter. We will be introducing twitter chat this Sunday the 9th at 3:30pm EST (8.30pm UK). If you are new to twitter, type in the hashtag (#ospchat) and it will connect you to others using the same hashtag (I use Tweet Deck but Hootsuite is also another good app for twitter). You must type the hashtag with each comment to be part of the conversation. Join us on Sundays to meet each other and talk about poetry.

If you are new to One Shot Wednesday, please feel welcome to participate by doing the following.

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,(use the URL from your blog) linking directly to your post, AFTER you've posted it. Mr Linky will be open from 5pm EST Tuesday (10pm UK)  until 3am EST Thursday (8am UK). If you need help with this, please ask.

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.

5. For some of you I need to stress - dont feel that you need to comment on each poem. Take in the inspiration of a few with a good cup of tea or coffee.

On behalf of  my fellow cohorts, Adam Dustus , Brian Miller, Chris Galford, Claudia Schonfeld, Gay Cannon and Pete Marshall - welcome and enjoy!!!!!

A Saturday Celebration: Happy New Year from One Stop Poetry

Happy New Year to one and all…

Saturdays bring me great joy when I share with you the Saturday Celebration, but today I wanted to celebrate something different, today, as we start the New Year, we also start the next 6 months so today I celebrate One Stop Poetry.


Having launched One Stop Poetry on 1st July our very first posting was a poem by Leslie Moon, When Two Worlds Collide, looking back now how apt this was….

The poem was a wonderful metaphor for the unison of the founders of One Stop and what we strived to bring forth…6 months later I feel very proud that we have achieved our original goal and are creating new ones whilst still maintaining our original ethos.

As One Stop has grown, we have recognised that to maintain the standards we have set we needed additional  staff. We now find ourselves with 7 members on the team (the original team being Adam, Brian, Leslie and myself.).

Looking to the future, we have so many things in store. As we continue to expand and bring poetry, art & photography to the forefront new ideas are always formulating, the next 6 months are promising to be an amazing time!

One Stop Poetry isn’t just about One Shot Wednesday, One Shoot Sunday, or the amazing spotlights, it's more than that. One Stop Poetry is about finding you, your voice, your style and helping promote you to the rest of the world as we constantly discover ways to find an opportunity for you to be published, whether that be through competitions or our first, of many, Anthology's.

During this coming year, we have additional plans to encourage writers. We will be starting the New Year with a critique site which is not open forum. This site will be a place for poets who are serious about their work to get the critique they need to go to the next level; for many that will be seeking critique in order to publish. Starting this 2011 year One Stop will once a week offer a “poetry class.” This class is intended to be fun and informative. Our hope is that even the seasoned poet will learn new forms of poetry. These classes will be offered on Mondays, starting the 3rd, by teachers schooled in that particular form of poetry.

Today I am also pleased to unveil our revamped  forum and really hope you stop by and embrace a place that has been created for you.We also will be announcing a weekly chat session for those of you on Twitter.

As the year progresses, there will more exiting news to unveil so be sure to stay close and see what's being offered!

Finally, on behalf of all of us at One Stop Poetry, Bri, Leslie, Adam, Claudia, Chris, Gay & myself….we would like to wish you a very happy, healthy & prosperous New Year and look forward to sharing the Wonders of One Stop with you even more….

Happy New Year from One Stop Poetry


If you would like to share any New Year poetry, prose, art or photography please feel free to use the link below

Happy New Year from One Stop Poetry

Happy New Year from One Stop Poetry

Auld Lang Syne

By Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and auld lang syne?

(CHORUS) For auld lang syne, my jo,

for auld lang syne,

we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !

and surely I’ll be mine !

And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,

and pu’d the gowans fine ;

But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,

sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i' the burn,

frae morning sun till dine ;

But seas between us braid hae roar’d

sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !

and gie's a hand o’ thine !

And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,

for auld lang syne.

CHORUS 

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

One Shot Poetry Wednesday (Week 26)

Welcome to One Shot Wednesday!

Hello, Everyone! I'm Adam Dustus, your host for this week's OSW. As 2010 draws to a close, it is my pleasure to begin the festivities for our final One Shot of this year. Before beginning, I'd like to officially welcome Gay Cannon (beachanny) to The One Stop Team. We are extremely fortunate for her skillful help (in addition to her overall wonderfulness); and in case you missed it, check out her excellent Monday post on a familiar face from One Shot Wednesday, Anthony Desmond Scott. 

*Also, don't forget about the One Shot Wednesday "Best of the First 6 Months Anthology." If you entered a poem in weeks 1 - 25, then you are eligible. Please refer to One Shot Wednesday Anthology for more information.

Okay, enough with the speeches, let's get right into it....
If you are new to our weekly poetry meme, here are the guidelines:

1) Write a poem (due to the growing number of links, please post 1 poem)

2) Link your post to One Shot via Mr Linky (put in your name & URL of poem)

3) Please visit the poetry sites of other One Shot poets & provide feedback

4) And don't forget to invite others to join in our community of online poets!

*All forms of poetry are accepted.

Thank you for your participation & support,
dustus

 

Merry Christmas to all our readers

To everyone of you that reads, contributes, shares and enjoys, have a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year... cheers Pete

We appreciate each of you. Writing poetry just wouldn't be the same without the support each of you gives... Best Wishes Leslie

To our artistic peers, readers, & friends, Happy Holidays & Thank You.
Warmest regards...  Adam

Thanks to each of you for your creative and inspiring presence - you make One Stop what it is...have a fantastic Christmas and a good start into 2011...Claudia

It's an honor being part of a community filled with so many talented and creative people...each and everyone of you have a gift, and it's a real pleasure you've shared a piece of it with us. To all, my thanks, and my best wishes for the holidays! ~Chris

Great to join with you and see where poetry takes us in 2011.Wishing the best of Holidays to you and yours ~Gay

photo by dustus

One Shot Wednesday - Week 25

Welcome to One Shot Wednesday - Week 25

Hi and welcome to this weeks One Shot Wednesday. I am Pete Marshall & today I will be your merry host.

Following the recent announcement of our "The Best of One Shot Wednesday - The First 6 Months" anthology, published under Limited Editions Press, today's One Shot is the cut off week, number 25,  for poetry to be considered. For further details please visit the following link;

 One Shot Wednesday Anthology.

Rest assured however this is not the last One Shot Wednesday, just the last for your poetry to be considered in our first Anthology. I hope you also note the word "first" as we will be releasing further publications throughout the coming year.

The first 6 months of One Stop Poetry really has been a wonderful success which has seen us grow at an amazing pace whilst still keeping true to our original beliefs. As we have grown so has the team, who work diligently, week in week out, to bring you such wonderful features.  We have so many great plans & announcements  in store for 2011 and look forward to enjoying every day of the next 6 months with all of you, who help make this such an exciting place to be.

In just 6 months One Stop Poetry has seen itself firmly established as a place that brings together the arts from all around the globe, and lends itself to quality and as a platform to helping you realise your dreams.

On behalf of all the team at One Stop Poetry I would therefore like to thank you for your support over the last 6 months & to wish you the happiest of Christmas's and a wonderful & prosperous New Year.

Cheers Pete

One Shot Wednesday - week 25

For those of you who are new here's how it works

1) post a poem to your blog

2) link your poem to One Shot using Mr Linky, where you will be prompted to enter your name and the URL for your poem. The URL is the web address for your poem

3)Visit other One Shot Poets, as many as you wish. Tell them how you feel when you are reading, encourage and interact with them. If you wish to critique remember to be positive and constructive, negative criticism does not help anyone.

4) Tell others about One Shot Wednesday by including a link to this page on your post