I stumbled right into his WordSalad a few weeks ago and immediately loved the taste of the ingredients he mixes in an imaginative and skilled way - so I can highly recommend to jump over there and enjoy his formidable and tasty word-salad creations..
Luke also runs a Facebook poetry crit group and will provide more information about this below.
The poem he chose for us is a Villanelle - one of Luke's favorite forms of poetry - enjoy!
~ Claudia
To Ashes (villanelle)
The fire was lit, the pyre a plume,
a wedding day became a wake;
deep red the wine, and black the moon.
A darking day for bride and groom,
of burning flesh it stank, the cake.
The fire was lit, the pyre a plume.
Sick shades of grey creep-skulking loom
as ash descends upon the lake.
Deep red the wine, and black the moon.
Throats parched, they prayed for long monsoon;
just sullied lake, and wine, to slake.
The fire was lit, the pyre a plume.
See ashen-face and ash impugn,
mere ashes of his wife to take.
Deep red the wine, and black the moon.
The daybreak grey they can't presume
as steps into the distance make.
The fire was lit, the pyre a plume,
deep red the wine, and black the moon.
© Luke Prater
And here is some information about the Facial Expression Poetry Circle:
About seven months ago I had the idea to use the Facebook Group platform to start a group specifically so poets could post their work, read the work of others, and in particular give and receive constructive criticism, which I find to be lacking in other places. Often poets are afraid to offer honest feedback to their peers because they don't want to cause any offence, but also because (and this really does happen a lot, it seems), no matter what the quality of the work, positive, back-slapping feedback is given because it pleases the poet, and the commenter knows they will get a similar response in return on their work. This is fine, but how does that help me learn? How will I see that I have a tendency to, for instance, end my free-verse pieces on a single line in an effort to come full-circle and 'wrap things up' (I see this again and again and do it myself sometimes), when it is redundant because I have said all that, and more, in the body of the poem? Constructive crit/honest feedback (with tact, of course), is truly the greatest gift a peer can give. Our poet friends can actually do us a disservice by continually evading pointing out a penchant for cliched phrasing when on a certain topic. Please, tell me! How else will I learn?
Now we have a strong, busy group with several other admins, and we learn very fast in that give-and-take, collaborative environment. It is also a lot of fun. I know I have much to learn. There are many many of these groups on Facebook, all shapes and sizes, but I have purposefully kept Facial Expression Poetry Circle smaller and more intimate - though we take anyone who requests to join. Novice poets either take the crit, work hard and become decent poets very quickly, or stop posting - simply because they aren't yet ready to take honest feedback. One has to be in a place where not too much of the ego is invested in the poem and the poet is open to learning. I love blogging, but if someone forced me to choose between the blog and the Poetry Groups I would be with the Groups. My blog is a showcase of my polished pieces, but the Group is where I learn to write poetry. This is more important for me. New members, as I said, are welcome. Are you ready to take the crit? Great. Let's do it.
