Featured Poet Laureate
CHARLES SIMIC, US POET LAUREATE (2007-2008)
Charles Simic, the fifteenth Poet Laureate of the United States (2007-2008), was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1938, and immigrated to the United States in 1953, at the age of 15. He has lived in New York, Chicago, San Francisco area and for many years in New Hampshire where until his retirement he was a professor of English at the university. A poet, essayist and translator, he has been honored with Wallace Stevens Award, a Pulitzer Prize, two PEN Awards for his work as a translator, and a MacArthur Fellowship. Read More
LATE SEPTEMBER
The mail truck goes down the coast
Carrying a single letter.
At the end of a long pier
The bored seagull lifts a leg now and then
And forgets to put it down.
There is a menace in the air
Of tragedies in the making.
Last night you thought you heard television
In the house next door.
You were sure it was some new
Horror they were reporting,
So you went out to find out.
Barefoot, wearing just shorts.
It was only the sea sounding weary
After so many lifetimes
Of pretending to be rushing off somewhere
And never getting anywhere.
This morning, it felt like Sunday.
The heavens did their part
By casting no shadow along the boardwalk
Or the row of vacant cottages,
Among them a small church
With a dozen gray tombstones huddled close
As if they, too, had the shivers.
Featured Classical Poet
John Keats |
One of England’s greatest poets, Keats was a key element in the Romantic Movement. Known especially for his love of the country and sensuous descriptions of the beauty of nature, his poetry also resonated with deep philosophic questions. Read More |
On leaving some Friends at an Early Hour
GIVE me a golden pen, and let me lean
On heap’d up flowers, in regions clear, and far;
Bring me a tablet whiter than a star,
Or hand of hymning angel, when ’tis seen
The silver strings of heavenly harp atween:
And let there glide by many a pearly car,
Pink robes, and wavy hair, and diamond jar,
And half discovered wings, and glances keen.
The while let music wander round my ears,
And as it reaches each delicious ending,
Let me write down a line of glorious tone,
And full of many wonders of the spheres:
For what a height my spirit is contending!
’Tis not content so soon to be alone.
Featured Form
Retourne
Like so many other French forms, the retourne is all about repetition. It contains four quatrains (four-line stanzas), and each line has eight syllables. The trick is that the first stanza's second line must also be the second stanza's first line, the first stanza's third line is the third stanza's first, and the first stanza's fourth line is the fourth stanza's first. Retournes do not have to rhyme. Consider the following example:
Peruse the wide and distant sky
What gifts of glory do you see?
Perhaps a wisp of cloud appears
Or maybe sunlight streams across.
What gifts of glory do you see?
How perfect is the firmament -
A panegyric to the world
That shames the sapphire with its light.
Perhaps a wisp of cloud appears
It cannot mar the cosmic sphere
But rather complements its scope
And makes it august all the more.
Or maybe sunlight streams across
As from the dusk or coming dawn
Or clear and vibrant down from noon
To sweep the placid world below.
Winklings Buzz
Major changes are afoot at winklings. A new management has taken place and we are becoming a more structured group that is more defined and knows of its goals. A mission statement has been defined and many cosmetic changes have been underway as well. Personally I believe these changes can only benefit the group and benefit the viability and good standing of the group members.
Featured Winklings
Winkling's Administrative Manager
Personally I find her always willing to try a form. She consistently enters my form contests and always does well in them. She is a fine addition to the management team and an excellent winkling. Just click on her name to read more about her and her poetry.
The Thief of Time
The fruitless hours spent in strategy
to postpone tasks for yet another day
while projects lay undone in disarray
are using all my thoughts and energy.
What caused me to acquire an allergy
to taking care of business straightaway?
I flounder, make excuses and delay
while drowning in a sea of lethargy.
A task becomes no easier with time;
in fact, the worry gives me fitful dreams.
Each year I hope to find a paradigm
that emphasizes actions and not schemes;
one which allows my self esteem to climb.
Regrettably it’s harder than it seems.
Winkling's Contests
Well this spot is currently empty until I get some messages about who is hosting contest. I have a few going right now but I have already posted them else where. Please check back for updates to this and any of our other areas
Variety
Poet Quote of the Week
A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.
W. H. Auden
Who Wrote these words - 50 pts
"And a head in the freakish Atlantic
Where it pours bean green over blue
In the waters off beautiful Nauset.
I used to pray to recover you.
Ach, du."
Riddle Me this Riddle Me That - 50 pts
People come
With hope in mind
Disappointment
Is what many will find
My numbers are spread
Throughout the land
My biggest numbers
Are in the sand
When my sound
Is loud and clear
People gather
Around and cheer
Adding your comment:
