A Poem by Florentina Tunduc, Student, Bellevue College

FIG

You gave me the sun

From under your skin,

You gave me your light

Trapped in a thousand tiny seeds.

--Florentina Tunduc, Student, Bellevue College

From the Poet:

My name is Florentina. Many years ago, I wrote some poetry when I was about 12-13 years old. The poem was in Romanian, and it was about my little dog named Maxi and my cat Mimi. I grew up in a family where animals were always welcomed. My parents taught me to love nature, and especially animals.

Now, living in the USA with my husband, after many years finally I have a son, three cats and a fig tree. When the assignment for my English 101 course was about poetry… Gosh, I said, I won’t be able to write a single line that even makes a little sense.

Days went by and the due date approached. Suddenly, I had a flash about the joy and happiness I felt on the day I ate my first fig fruit from my own tree. Even now I feel those little tiny seeds bursting in my mouth, that silky soft feeling of the inside of the fruit, its skin like velvet, soft, yet the same time protecting the richness of fruit inside. My mind clicked to the muse of that day, and my heart participated by giving me the excitement of such simple and pure joy. Then I wrote my second poem of my life, but this time in English. Thanks to my fig tree for saving my assignment and bringing joy to others reading my little poem.

Writers' Workshoppe Marathon Poetry Writing Session, September 27, 2014

On a gorgeous fall day in a small fishing town with more writers than you can shake a caesura at, Kelli Russell Agodon and I excitedly breezed into a conference room on Main Street, each of us equipped with close to a dozen writing prompts in our satchels. Our goal: keep the customer satisfied, the customers being five poets who'd come there precisely to write till they dropped.

Six hours and EIGHT rough drafts later, we knew we'd done our job,  our sturdy and steadfast team o five exiting the building with new poem drafts about jobs they never had (including working in a potato chip factory and as a fisheries biologist) and poems that began with "When ...", along with poems written in one long run-on sentence, poems made of coined compound words, and poems that interrogate and rearrange cliches.

It. Was. Fun.

Below, a few pics that share a taste of the deep digging, the going there, and, most of all, all of us writing like the dickens.

Thanks so much to Anna Quinn and The Writers' Workshoppe for letting us laugh and play (and cry a little too) and to the participants and their never-flagging spirits.

If you want a taste of what went on, pick up a copy of The Daily Poet. Our workshops don't limit themselves to these prompts, but the book is a good enough substitute till you can enroll in one of our classes.

The Haiku Project - Shin Yu Pai

During her recent appearance at The Station for the Beacon Bards reading series, poet Shin Yu Pai shared haiku she wrote each day during this past April.

I was struck by these new poems, immediately finding much to like about their keen imagery and leaps from the close at hand to the far away and worldly. Even better, her poems have stayed with me--I keep finding myself wanting to re-read/re-experience that initial joy in hearing news that stays news.  In looking at them more closely, I notice they are unsentimental in how they deal with a baby's behaviors, actions, growth. The exhaustion of new motherhood is here, but so are student demonstrations and the unequal distribution of wealth. I admire how she moves easily between and among the personal, the local, and the larger world of injustices and tragedies.

I asked Pai if I might share a few of these haiku on my blog, and she obliged. They work best as a unit, which likely will be published in a reputable journal before too long. In the meantime, here are a few to whet your appetite:

APRIL 4
students stand up for
freedom, occupy the legislative yuan,
dear mother-land, never give up
*
far eastern sweet
potatoes, the dark
outline of Taiwan

APRIL
at the eye exam
wondering all the sudden where
fibbing gets me

APRIL 14
scrubbing poop from
the swaddle cloth, end of
a long day

*
in the alley, the Kenyan laborer
picks up needles w/ gloved hands  -

what asylum is this?

APRIL 16
when I twist the top
off the pineapple head my boy
screams in horror

APRIL 24

trying to recall the word
for "gaslighting" my brain
pulls up "waterboarding"
*
hundreds of students
drowned when the ship went down
all just kids
*
weighing whether to
ask my doctor or other
moms about weaning

More of Pai's haiku may be read in Haiku Not Bombs, a collaborative collection of poems written as part of a project to write a haiku a day for a year. She is also the author of the newly released Auxs Arc. 

I felt lucky to be present for Shin Yu's reading. 

Gerry MacFarland also read. 

Our next scheduled Beacon Bards event is Wednesday, June 11, when Kathleen Flennekin and Peter Pereira will take the podium at 7 pm. As always, an open mic follows our featured readers.  On warm/dry nights we move the stage to the back-alley patio. 

Hope to see you there!

Winners of the Annual Poetry Book Give-Away Announced!

I used a random number generator, and it chose the number 19 for a free copy of Reckless Lovely, and the number 33 for a free copy of Clean by David Daniels. Without further ado, the winners are:

Mystical Marianne, winner of a copy of Reckless Lovely; and

Andrew, winner of a copy of Clean. 

Winners! Please email me a copy of your mailing address. My email address is marthasilano@yahoo.com.

Thanks so much to all the participants - I hope you won big on another blog!

Guest Blogging this Week at Best American Poetry!

From now until May 2, I am the guest blogger over at The Best American Poetry blog. So far I've interviewed Molly Tenenbaum about her collaborative poetry/book project with Ellen Ziegler, and David J. Daniels, winner of the 2013 Four Way Books Intro Poetry Prize. Stay tuned for more ...

Poem for Poem in Your Pocket Day

*Poof* - It's gone!

The Big Poetry Giveaway!

Thanks to Kelli Russell Agodon and Susan Rich for spearheading The Big Poetry Giveaway once again this April for National Poetry Month.

I am giving away a copy of my fourth collection of poetry, Reckless Lovely, just released from Saturnalia Books, along with a copy of David Daniel's Clean, the just-released winner of the Four Way Books Intro Poetry Prize.

To enter to win, post a comment on Blue Positive letting me know you're in.

At the end of the month, I will number all comments and pick two from a hat. The first drawn will receive Reckless Lovely; the second will receive Clean. Ready, set, go!

Winner of the Four Way Books Intro Poetry Prize, Chosen by D.A. Powell

Aimee Nezhukumatathil writes "Martha Silano's poetry is gloriously street-smart and fully roaming and ripe. I want to slow-clap when she fixes her exacting gaze on warthogs, space probes, millipedes, or miracles. These stunning pages, like a "land-less landmass, [a] dollop-y desert dessert unloosed," fold moments of joy into something 'Reckless Lovely,' with inventive, chewy language, and a relentless appreciation of music and delight."