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Saturday, November 30, 2013

Dusting, by Marilyn Nelson

Dusting

Thank you for these tiny
particles of ocean salt,
pearl-necklace viruses;
winged protozoans:
for the infinite,
intricate shapes
of submicroscopic
living things.

For algae spores
and fungus spores,
bonded by vital
mutual genetic cooperation,
spreading their 
inseparable lives
from equator to pole.

My hand, my arm,
make sweeping circles.
Dust climbs the ladder of light. 
For this infernal, endless chore,
for these eternal seeds of rain:
Thank you. For dust.


I am thankful for dust, too, and also for my trip this past summer to France, getting to walk past these men on my way to the Camille Claude museum in Nogents.


And I am thankful that I have been given time to write



and that I have access to fresh and local foods

And I am thankful for views like these

And I am grateful to my parents for instilling a passion for learning


even though I still have no idea why this saint is blasting off like a rocket.




Monday, November 25, 2013

The Official Black Friday Daily Poet Giveaway!



I am not the biggest fan of a day devoted to buying up stuff like a fiend, but my reasoning is all summed up in one of my very favorite cliches: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Oh, not only join 'em, but instead of slashing prices 40% or 50%, give something away for free!

Which is why I am giving away TWO FREE COPIES of The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts for Your Writing Practice, recently released by Two Sylvias Press and co-edited by me and Kelli Russell Agodon.

In order to be in the running for one of the two free copies, leave a comment to this here blog post - say hello and tell me you're "in," at the very least, but also feel free to share your favorite poetry book(s) of 2013, or your writing resolutions for 2014, or something on your wish list (experiences and actions preferred, but if you have a friend on Etsy.com who makes amazing jewelry, share away!).

Anyway, at the end of the week (on the "actual" Black Friday), I will number the comments one to whatever, then toss the numbers in a hat and have my daughter draw two of them. I will then contact the winners, get addresses, and send them their books completely postage free.

It's easy! You can't lose! It's fun! No fine print & no messy clean-up!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Huffington Post Reviews The Daily Poet: Fuck Yeah!!!


There I was ... doing a little research on Saint Francis of Assisi, working on a poem about toxic outgassing of ordinary household furniture, when the text came in:

We r on the huff post for the daily poet. Fuck yeah!!!

It was Kelli, of course.

My response was simple.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. 

(So much for on-screen eloquence.)

But okay, what if they canned it? What if the reviewer went all snarky and wiseass about the prompts we worked so hard on these past five years, all those drives up and down I-5, all those ferry trips?

I clicked. I read. And no, they didn't can it.

Instead, reviewer Jeb Harrison makes the case that "in today's screen culture where the written word ... has become the prevalent mode of communication, people are starting to realize that those that can write well are more likely to be heard. Not just folks that make their living by the pen, but ostensibly everybody that communicates via the screen; smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or smart TV--it makes no difference, we're all writers now."

Yep, we're all writers. And by that line of reasoning, "we need professional tools; we need 'prompts' to loosen up the gray matter. We need The Daily Poet by Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano."

Did he really say that? Did he really suggest our book could be used to help people at a loss for words on a first, second, or third date? During uncomfy moments at the dinner table?

He DID.

He suggested we should turn to our tablemates and ask:

What do you hate? I'm not particularly fond of guavas ...

(which happens to be the prompt for June 29, the Hate Prompt!)

Here's the full text:  Writing Prompts, Conversation Starts, and Good Screen Livin.'

And, just in case you want to try it:

June 29

Hate

What do you hate? I'm not particularly fond of guavas, synthetic fabrics, or costume jewelry. Fashion a poem from your list of things you'd rather not eat, drink, wear, hear, or see. For more inspiration, do a quick Internet search to find Charles Simic's poem "Our Salvation" to get your invective juices flowing.










Sunday, November 10, 2013

Wednesday, November 6, 2013


I am teaming up with poet Tina Schumann for a productive and restorative weekend on Orcas Island this winter at the historic Kangaroo House B&B in East Sound, Washington - http://www.kangaroohouse.com/ 

Our time together begins on Friday afternoon with a fireside writing prompt and dessert. On Saturday, we'll spend the afternoon strolling/hiking, writing in and out of doors (weather permitting), followed by a lively evening repast at a local restaurant. Sunday morning brings another delicious breakfast at the B&B, then wrap things up with a guided writing exercise at nearby North Beach. 

All the details, including accommodations, rates, and optional one-on-one poetry consultations, are provided here: http://orcasartsmith.org/workshops.html  

It would be wonderful to spend the weekend with you, nurturing your creative side and enjoying a relaxing time together while generating new work. 

Can't make it? I do understand how hard it is to get away. Please share this information with those you think might be looking for the perfect excuse to travel to Western Washington.  Thanks so much!



Sunday, November 3, 2013

You Write 183 & I'll Write 183: The Making of The Daily Poet

It was Kelli's idea, of course. We were sitting in a cafe, most likely. It was probably the day we spent four hours in a crowded Starbucks because we were too involved in conversation and generating new work to bother moving our bodies elsewhere.

How about we write a book of writing prompts, Marty? We make them up all the time anyway - why not share them with the world?

I just wasn't sure. Could I really come up with 183 writing prompts?

It was sometime around early 2010. My kids were five and nine. I had a full-time teaching gig, and then there were my own poems. As it was I barely had time for those three very important jobs. Did I really have the time to come up with bushels and bushels of exercises?

Well, heck yeah!

We divided up the months and got to work, making December 2010 our first deadline: the halfway mark. We would meet at a nearby retreat center on an undisclosed island to share what we had so far -- then spend some time testing out our po-recipes!

By some miracle we both met that December deadline, spending a productive week in collaborative sequester. We sat at the dining room table with the electric fireplace flickering away, listening to the ferries (and the float planes) come and go. In the kitchen Kelli had erected a Shrine to Chocolate. Stacks of dark, milk, and red-hot chili kept us fortified. When the chocolate gave out, it was canned soup, fresh fruit, and a Mr. Coffee that wouldn't quit.

It took two more years to get the other three months finished. For me it meant that I spent the summer of 2012 writing an exercise a day.  [Don't ask me what happened to 2011!]

2013 was the year of editing. We wanted the entries to be clear and succinct, and we also wanted them to cover as many bases as possible: a subject, a trope, words to include, excerpts from sample poems, formal elements, extra credit requirements (we love extra credit).

All of this meant lots of reading and re-reading, And testing. And more chocolate. And more trips to Starbucks.

Along the way, I never gave it a thought that a day would come when the book would be finished. All I thought about was what had to be done that week: I have to revise the pantoum exercise,  or I have to send that permissions request to Ellen Bass. 

It's nice to not have to dig down deep to write more exercises (I honestly don't think I have another prompt in me!), but I am revved up more than ever to create new work using our exercises.

Here's the exercise for November 5, just in case you want to play along:

Three-Ring Circus
Write a poem in the form of a three-ring circus—create three sections each with something unique happening in each section.  To help the poem stay connected, have a word, color, or unique phrase reappear in each section.   Make a list of three events that seem to have nothing to do with each other—playing tennis in a field of wildflowers, memorizing the moons of Jupiter, and taking the subway to work—and write a poem that connects them.


If you do write a draft using this prompt, please share it in the comments section. If you want to get your hands on 365 more writing exercises, consider purchasing a copy of The Daily Poet.

Thanks!





Friday, November 1, 2013

Crab Creek Review: Call me Poetry Editor


I am the new poetry editor at Crab Creek Review! In case you didn't know, CCR is a Seattle-based print journal committed to publishing the best poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Contributors include Denise Duhamel, Aimee Nezhukamatathil, Peggy Shumaker, Patricia Fargnoli, Jim Daniels, Molly Tenenbaum, and Ilya Kaminsky.

Submissions are open from now through December 15, 2013, for possible inclusion in the Spring 2014 issue.

What type of poetry are we looking for? Read this post about the kinds of poems I/we tend to get excited about.

I look forward to reading your poems!