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  • Here is the most recent entry from the Poetry Magnum Opus PROMOTIONS forum:

    • Found at the Literary Hub
      Sounds, Signs, and Elegies: Seven New Poetry Collections to Read This Fall

      Rebecca Morgan Frank Recommends Raymond Antrobus, Oliver Baez Bendorf, Kinsale Drake, and More

      Let the rush of Fall books begin!

      September is packed with new poetry collections, alongside anthologies such as Here to Stay: Poetry and Prose from the Undocumented Diaspora, edited by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Janine Joseph, and Esther Lin, and the unclassifiable gorgeous and edifying textual exhibit (joined by an exhibit of the same name in Los Angeles) of On the National Language: The Poetry of America’s Endangered Tongues, by B.A. Van Sise, with DeLanna Studi, Linda Hogan, Philip Metres, Lehua Taitano, Matthew Lippman, KT Herr and dg nanouk okpik, which incorporates photographs in its documentation of endangered languages.

      The seven individual collections below reflect a few hashtag-worthy leanings in recent poetry. Amidst a diverse range of books investigating fatherhood from Gen-X and Millennial perspectives—think Rob Schlegel’s Childcare and Amorak Huey’s Dad Jokes from Late in the PatriarchyRaymond Antrobus’s latest documents the months leading up to, and following, the birth of a first child.

      Poetic expansions off the page in the service of multilingual and accessible poetics take effective shape in Antrobus’ continued bilingual integration of British Sign Language and The Cyborg Jillian Weise’s video sonnets, accessed fully through QR codes on the pages of Pills and Jacksonvilles. And for those of you seeking out original and alive books in the expanse of current  ecopoetry, a wide net can perhaps encompass new standouts from Louise Mathias, Oliver Baez Bendorf, and debut poets Nathan Xavier Osorio and Kinsale Drake.

  1. Members' Poetry

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      Post your poems (up to three per week), receive comments, and comment on the works of others

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  • Our picks

    • A flower that has
      Roots in both heaven
      And earth. She is lit
      Within by moonlight
      From night swimming with
      Mermaids. God would
      Offer heaven for her beauty
      To create new worlds out
      Of it's symmetry.
        • Like
      • 5 replies
    • Window
      Window
      • 0 replies
    • I woke up to see a morn of night,
      A nibbling ache I have no
       responsibility to.

       
      It was- But a shearing blad
      Of delusion that must be paid
      with blood.

      The hammer swang,The knife twisted
      And I finally could hear the pulse
      Of my ear.

      The white Rose smiled
      For her envy, at last,
      smudged red.
      • 4 replies
    • Charles Simic has influnced me. I won't paraphrase a TheGuardian article or Wikipedia entry1, but I'll highlight something expressed in the former to which I subscribe:

      "A New York Times review from 1978 would note his gift for conveying 'a complex of perceptions and feelings' in just a few lines.

      "'Of all the things ever said about poetry, the axiom that less is more has made the biggest and the most lasting impression on me,' Simic told Granta in 2013. 'I have written many short poems in my life, except written is not the right word to describe how they came into existence. Since it’s not possible to sit down and write an eight-line poem that’ll be vast for its size, these poems are assembled over a long period of time from words and images floating in my head.'"2

      Amen. For me, it's not about the narrative, it's about the mood. If I want a story, a narrative, I'll watch Kubrick's classic adaptation of King's "The Shining." Now, there's a spectacular example of cinematic art, and what a narrative! But when I want a poem, I want a musical mood to be immersed in through language.

      There may be those who knew Simic, who may step up and tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about--"That's not Simic!"--and it may be true. I have read only a few of his poems, and both were included in a tattered, old book I have in my library called "How to Read a Poem."3 One of them was "Empire of Dreams."

      Had I been quicker on the draw, I might have tried to meet Simic, or Heaney, seeing that they were, at some times, geographically accessible to me. But had I done that, what could I really have expected from them? Criticism? Should I have asked them if my poems are any good? Damn straight, they're good. What we have here at PMO are living poets whose poems are good, and for now I'm pleased to be a part of this collective of the living.
       

                      Good

      Flip your hair and flash your eyes
      I know it makes you feel
      good, move your body, real,
      good, thrill them when they fantasize.

      In Too Deep (Arthur Younger Remix)

       

      1. Charles Simic
      2. Charles Simic, Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet Dies at 84
      3. How to Read a Poem by Burton Raffel. New York: The New American Library; 1984.

       
        • Like
      • 3 replies
    • She may be young,

      She may be small,

      She may even

      Be southeast Asian.

      Yet do not

      Discount her so soon,

      For she is nimble,

      And she is quick.

       

      This young lady,

      Barefoot,

      And wearing standard

      PT gear

      And wearing a small pin

      Depicting a flag:

      A red and blue flag,

      With a triangle

      At the hoist,

      Depicting a sun

      At it’s centre

      And three stars

      At each point

      Of the triangle.

      As said before,

      Discount her not,

      For looks do deceive.

       

      For, Behold;

      With her staff;

      Graceful as a cat,

      She swings and thrusts,

      And parries,

      With the grace of a cat,

      Taking down

      All foes,

      Whether human

      Or occultic,

      Winning it all,

      For her homeland,

      For her host country,

      And for her 

      countrywomen

      In her special regiment,

      And even for

      her homeworld;

      The planet Earth!

      However,

       most importantly,

      she also fights

      For her Lord and Saviour,

      As evidenced by

      Her genuflecting,

      With her head bowed,

      And her staff held

      In an upright manner!

       

      See! Above her,

      against the

      unadorned

      Background,

      A pair of rings,

      Green, floating rings,

      Resembling eyes,

      Hover above,

      Seemingly spectral,

      To which she pays

      No notice.

      What are those rings?

      Are they the eyes

      Of a friend,

      Sent by her Lord

      And saviour to guide

      And protect

      Her and her regiment?

      Or are they

      the eyes of

      A supernatural

      Malefactor,

      The likes of which

      She is sworn to fight?

       

      That, dear reader

      Is the mystery

      behind this painting!
      • 2 replies
    • Is it not amazing?

      There you see her,

      This ginger kid,

      A teenager;

      Barefoot,

      In a navy blue

      leotard,

      Down on her knees,

      Admiring her new

      Bracelets! Bracelets-

      Bound together

      By a long, thin chain.

       

      She shakes her arms

      This way and that,

      Yet the bracelets

      Maintain their hold,

      On either wrist,

      Tightening further.

       

      How she got them,

      There’s but two theories:

      One theory says

      That she got them

      After a loss,

      From a wrestling match!

      A wrestling match

      Against another

      Like herself

      In stature, dress,

      And skills,

      Yet different from her

      In age, ethnicity,

      And even profession,

      For it has been

      Rumored that her foe

      Was a cop back

      In her homeland!

      If this story’s true,

      Then all those flips,

      Handsprings,

      Cartwheels,

      Light punches,

      And light kicks

      Availed her little,

      For she surely

      Lost the match,

      Since the terms

      Of that match were

      That whoever lost

      Would be forced

      To wear those bracelets,

      But for how long

      Would she have

      To wear those bracelets?

       

      Another story

      Goes like this:

      She wore them willingly,

      As part of a show,

      Yet why is she

      Down on her knees?

      Could it be practicing,

      So that she could break

      Into those bracelets?

      Would she be able

      To perform well

      On the balance beam,

      And on the floor,

      When the big day comes?

      If so, it’d be a first;

      A first for gymnastics!

       

      After that,

      there’s but one problem:

      After the event,

      How’s she gonna

      take them off?

      Would her coach

      Or her teammates

      Be able to help her

      Unlock those bracelets?

      Also, what about

      Her wrists? They’re

      Gonna be real sore,

      Lemme tell you!

       

       
      • 1 reply
    • Some rather nice comments from the editor:

      https://www.asppublishing.co.uk/john-winder-a6

       
        • Like
      • 3 replies
    • Fevers of the Mind
      A collaboration with poet Lia Brooks. 

      https://feversofthemind.com/2022/07/07/poetry-art-not-walking-by-phil-wood-lia-brooks/

      All the best.

      Phil

       

       

       

       

       

       
      • 1 reply
    • I have one appearing here...

      https://www.kleksograph.be/

       

      Best

       

      Phil

       
      • 1 reply
    • Killin’ time sippin’ whiskey

      At a bar on the boardwalk by the sea

      the jukebox keeps on playin’ visions of love

      and it takes me back to when I first saw you

      swayin' to the rhythm of the waves

      eyes as blue as the sea

      the wind in your hair

      pink ribbons everywhere

       

      I stopped to stare

      you did your best to make a boy aware

      your swayin’ arms reached out letting me in

      the touch of your hand calmed the storm within

      your shinning light touched my mind, body, and soul

      I saw it in your eyes

      I felt it from your heart

      Love was all around me

       

      You made it so easy

      the way you loved me

      made it so easy with every little thing you did

      Unconditional, unconditionally

      You loved me unconditionally

       

      We set sail upon the waters

      you were the wind in my sails

      drifting onto the sea of love

      tides rolled by, waves of love

      swept into my heart

      The smile on your face, your laughter

      brought me back from the depths of heartache and pain

      I felt alive for the first time in my life

       

      Anchored on the vessel of embodiment

      cherishing the freedom from within

      A rainbow appeared in the far horizon

      and that girl

       

      You made it so easy

      the way you loved me

      made it so easy with every little thing you did

      Unconditional, unconditionally

      You loved me unconditionally

       

       

       

       

       

       
      • 9 replies
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