The Beats And Others Influences

Yesterday my spouse and I were at the Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. I usually browse the literature and poetry section. I selected a few books and sat down in the reading area. I read some chapters of two books by Beat writer Jack Kerouac. Big Sur and Dharma Bums were the books titles. 

Kerouac is one writer I've taken a great interest in. I've read a few of his poetry books and a couple of his novels. I read On The Road a couple of years back but my interest in the beat writers goes back a long way.Kerouac, along with Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and later Neal Cassidy for an interesting nucleus of disaffected writers disgusted with war and the current state of society during the 1940s and 1950s.

 Last Friday after an open mic I reflected on the power of the spoken word and art throughout the ages with another artist. It's amazing about some genres and some artists and poets ad writers still influence a generation of writers and artist today. That's the beauty of it. Some may wonder what our importance is. Look at the many neighborhoods artist brought attention to. Harlem, Chelsea, Greenwich and the East Village to name a few. Artist brought attention to these neighborhoods where rents were cheap, food was reasonable, and where they could develop their craft. These places are slowly going away but they will not disappear.

 I love reading the history of these and other areas where the arts were a vital part of the community. The people who were the catalysts were colorful and unique. Many years after their heydays I can still feel their spirit. I can here them saying "Keep on writing!"

Background Singers

 

This past Tuesday my wife and and I watched this movie at a local theater. Background singers are much a part of the musical performances as the stars themselves. This documentary details the lives of these wonderful women and men on and off stage. 

One of my favorite singers growing up was Darlene Love. Songs like 'Wait Until My Bobby Gets Home' and 'He's The Boy I Love' bring back memories of my youth. Now in her seventies, Darlene is as beautiful and lively as ever. How many people know that the late, great Luther Vondross was a backup singer before achieving fame as a solo artist? 

I recommend this for our music lovers. 

Words Of Wisdom

Let us be grateful to people who make us
happy, they are the charming gardeners who
make our souls blossom.

~Marcel Proust

Words Of Wisdom

Poetry is painting that speaks. Painting is poetry that's silent.

~Simonides

Reading More

I see that I will be reading a lot more this year. I mentioned in the past that I read biographies of poets that I read. It helps me to understand the mindset of the poet. Reading Sylvia Plath's bio helped me to understand the poetry she wrote. 

One thing I have found is that there's more to poetry than I realize. Reading like a poet and putting myself in the poet's mind is quite interesting. I did this with Edgar Allan Poe and found him to be a compelling, brilliant, and complicated individual. It's a possibility that I could write an essay about an author. I have thought about translating an author but right now it's a passing thought. 

Seeing it now, I see myself doing a protracted study on a poet. I have Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvia Plath in my sights. Langston Hughes is another poet I admire ad love. If I were to make this a goal of mine it would be a LOOOOOONNG term project.    

Writing Goals

One of my writing goals is to write more. I confess that I always haven't been consistent in writing but now it's changed. I have set aside time to write. I do read a lot of poetry and other works but don't always write. I will write poems and a novella to start with.

A second goal is to have a chapbook published. I have procrastinated on this but I can't anymore. 

Poetry On New Year's Day

Last night my wife and I attended the New Year's Day Poetry Marathon Benefit. It was my umpteenth time and my spouse's first. Over 140 poets perform through reading, the spoken word, drama, musical accompaniment and dance. My wife was impressed by the numerous variety of performances. The marathon goes from two in the afternoon till one in the morning (sometimes longer). I'm hopefully that next year I will be able to read at this wonderful event. Below are pictures of some of the performers.

Words Of Wisdom

If you want to change the world...pick up your pen and write.

                ~Martin Luther 

2014

With 2013 drawing to a close, I have taken steps forward to improving my writing. I love writing and reading poetry. I still write short stories, commentaries, and articles. I am working on a novella, a genre I discovered while doing some research. I googled novellas and discovered that a number of classics are novellas. Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor comes to mind. 

Going into 2014 I have been working on some writing goals. Publishing a chapbook is one. Writing a novella is another. There's so much I hope to accomplish in 2014.

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR!

Current Reading

This is the book I am currently reading. Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) wrote a number of novels, short stores, plays and articles. She was active in the Harlem Renaissance.

Words Of Wisdom

Poems have a different music from ordinary language, and every poem has a different kind of music of necessity, and that's in a way the hardest thing about writing poetry is waiting for that music, and sometimes you never know if it's going to come.

~C.K.Williams

I Love Writing Poems

I started writing poetry only two years ago. Believing that my short story and essay writing had become stale, I decided to tackle a genre that I read little or wrote about. Now I'm absolutely in love with poetry. 

I believe that Edgar Allan Poe may have piqued my interest many years ago. I loved reading his short stories (still do) but it was his classic poem The Raven that may have planted the seed in my heart. Poe is my favorite writer. I have read the work of Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Herman Melville, Theodore Roethke, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rumi and numerous others.

Each of these authors had their own voice. Robinson Jeffers poems were quite different from those of Jack Kerouac. James Weldon Johnson and Lawrence Ferlinghetti were different but had their own distinct voice. I have taking a liking to the spoken word by the young people. Their words are strong and heartfelt. 

I read a lot of poetry which in turn has helped educate me and honed my own particular style. My spouse also writes poetry. Her style is totally different from mine. We have read at open mics and poetry venues and hope to do more reading.

Setting Goals

About this time each year I am creating goals in which I will achieve in the coming year. Besides other goals, I do have writing goals. One is to publish a chapbook of poems. I'm deciding whether or not to self publish.

Setting goals, in my mind, is a more concrete way of achieving them rather than making resolutions. For one thing, when a timetable is set, it puts teeth into those goals.  It's up to me to achieve them.  If adjustments are to be made, then I make them.  

Set a few goals to begin with. When the goal is achieved, set some more. By the end of the year you see that you achieved more than you thought.  

Words Of Wisdom

A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.

~Charles Baudelaire, French Poet (1821-1867)

POEM

Woods in Winter

  by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When winter winds are piercing chill,
  And through the hawthorn blows the gale,
With solemn feet I tread the hill,
  That overbrows the lonely vale. 

O'er the bare upland, and away
  Through the long reach of desert woods,
The embracing sunbeams chastely play,
  And gladden these deep solitudes. 

Where, twisted round the barren oak,
  The summer vine in beauty clung,
And summer winds the stillness broke,
  The crystal icicle is hung. 

Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs
  Pour out the river's gradual tide,
Shrilly the skater's iron rings,
  And voices fill the woodland side. 

Alas! how changed from the fair scene,
  When birds sang out their mellow lay,
And winds were soft, and woods were green,
  And the song ceased not with the day! 

But still wild music is abroad,
  Pale, desert woods! within your crowd;
And gathering winds, in hoarse accord,
  Amid the vocal reeds pipe loud.
 
Chill airs and wintry winds! my ear
  Has grown familiar with your song;
I hear it in the opening year,
  I listen, and it cheers me long.

1950s Classic

One of the all time classics from the 1950s, Rebel Without A Cause, will be shown at the Film Forum thru December 19th. I watched this movie years ago and I was drawn by the actors who later became stars. James Dean (1931-1955) was a talented actor who died too young. Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo became stars in their own right.

www.filmforum.com

Claude McKay

An early contributor to the Harlem Renaissance, Claude McKay (1889-1948) had an influence on  the major players, most notably Langston Hughes. He wrote of black life in his native Jamaica and in the United States. He wrote of the racism he experienced and his dealings with it. 

When I read his poem If We Must Die, I was touched by the strength of character in his words. His poems are strong and direct. I have read some of McKay's other poems and find them strong and reflecting the many experiences in his life.

If we Must Die

 

If we must die—let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die—oh, let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
Oh, Kinsmen!  We must meet the common foe;
Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

Words Of Wisdom

Learn poetry by heart. If you know a poem by heart, no one can take from you, and you can take advantage of it anytime.

~Raymond Aubrac

A Play by Ishmael Reed

Ishmael Reed's The Final Version will premiere December 12 at the Nuyorican Poet's Café in the East Village. Performances run through January 15th. For info go to:

www.nuyorican.org

PLACES TO GO

The arts calender is very busy during the holiday season. Movies, plays, poetry, opera, recitals and art shows go on. I will list a few each day if anyone is looking for such entertainment.

At the Anthology Film Archives:
DECEMBER 12TH

THE HANGING TREE- 6:45 PM.
A SUMMER PLACE-     9 PM.

DECEMBER 13TH

SPENSER'S MOUNTAIN- 9:15 PM

WEBSITE:  www.anthologyfilmarchives.org

DANCE SPACE PROJECT:
CORI OLINGHOUSE 
GHOST LINES

DECEMBER 12-14TH  @  8 PM

www.dancespaceproject.org

New Year's Day Poetry Marathon

One of my favorite events is attending New York's Day Poetry Marathon at St. Mark's Church in the East Village. I have been attending for about five years and love listening to the many poets who read. There is a diversity of many styles and presentations. For more information go to:

www.poetryproject.org

Books As Gifts

With the Christmas season upon us, it's time to see what kind of books we would like to receive. If I had a wish I would like to receive the following books:

Complete Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Anything by Sylvia Plath

Anything by William Shakespeare

Words Of Wisdom

Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Be thankful for all the good things in your life.

Be thankful for God granting you a new day.

Books, Books, and More Books

I have so many books to read. I don't always know where to start. I recently purchased a number of books. Stephen Crane I read in college. I've never read the works of D.H. Lawrence but bought his complete poems. I discussed Edgar Allan Poe with someone last night. I have three books about Sylvia Plath.

I read biographies and non-fiction and history so I'm not want for any particular genre. Well, time to start reading.

Today's Word

CHANGELING, n.

A child secretly exchanged for another in infancy

Today's Word

OUBLIETTE

A dungeon with an opening at the top.

Today's Word

ELEGY, n.

A song, poem or speech expressing grief for one who is dead: also, a reflective poem, usually melancholy in tone.

Two Books

Today I stopped by Strand's bookstore and purchase a couple of books. One is The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century American Poetry. The book is filled with from many authors. The price wasn't bad for a 600 page book ($22.50).

I paid ten dollars for The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. She is one of my favorite poets who died too soon.

WORDS OF WISDOM

Find joy in everything you chose to do. Every job, relationship, home...it's your responsibility to love it, or change it.

                        ~Chuck Palahniuk 

Today's Word

VIATICUM, n.

The Christian Eucharist given to a person in danger of death.

An allowance esp. in money for traveling needs and expenses.

POEM

Which is worth more, a crowd of thousands,
Or your own genuine solitude?
Freedom, or power over an entire nation?

A little while alone in your room
Will prove more valuable than anything else
That could ever be given you.

                                                  ~Rumi

TODAY'S WORD

IAMB, n.

A metrical foot of one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable.

TODAY'S WORD

REPARTEE

A witty reply.

A succession of clever replies

Interesting Venue

I was browsing on the bowery poetry website when I discovered this ad. This theater has performances centered around life and issues here in New York City. The next performance is Sunday, November 10th at 6PM. This performance will take place at Bowery Poetry Club at 308 Bowery. For further info, go to www.theatreoftheoppressednyc.org.

TODAY'S WORD

FATUITY, n.

Foolishness, stupidity

LATIN JAZZ

If you're a fan of Latin jazz, you're in luck.



Thursday Night Latin Jazz with Chembo Corniel
 
Thursday November 7, 2013 @ 9PM

Nuyorican Poets Café

236 East 3rd St. (bet. Ave. A & B)

New York, NY

WORDS OF WISDOM

Writing is a passion that has been in me since my teen years. It evolves a number of times but the passion never dies.

TODAY'S WORD

ESTAMINET, n.

A small café.

TODAY'S WORD

PORTCULLIS, n.

A grating at the gateway of a castle or fortress that can be let down to stop entrance.

OLD WRITNGS

Recently I read some short stories I had written over a decade ago. Some of them were fine as they were  originally written. Others could be improved or rewritten. Writing is an evolving process that writers go through.

Some people may have the notion that writers are insecure perfectionists who are never satisfied. What's wrong with turning a mediocre story into a masterpiece that will keep the reader hooked? That's what editing and rewriting are about. 

In the decade since I wrote those stories, there has been growth and evolution as a writer. I started writing poems in earnest nearly two years ago. I believe that because of the changes, struggles, and epiphanies that I was able to transition smoothly into that genre. In the process I see that writing novellas could be the next frontier to conquer. 

Today's Word

SENESCENCE, n.

The state of being old; the process of getting old.

Classic Film

I remember watching this film several years back. Thinking about it now, it's relevant to what REALLY goes on in Washington. Mr.Smith Goes To Washington was made in 1939!

Those of you in the New York City area can see it on Sunday, November 3rd, at 11:00AM.

www.filmforum.com

Words Of Wisdom

I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.

~Ray Charles  

Poetry At The Shed

Trace Peterson & Burt Kimmelman

Featured Poets: Trace Peterson and Burt Kimmelman November 1, 2013, 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Shed, 366 6th Street (btw 5th & 6th Ave's), Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY A reading by Trace Peterson and Burt Kimmelman. Tim Trace Peterson is a poet, editor, and scholar living in Brooklyn. The author of Since I Moved In (Chax Press) and numerous chapbooks, Peterson is also Editor/Publisher of EOAGH (http://eoagh.com) and co-editor of the new anthology Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics. For more information, visit http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/peterson/. Burt Kimmelman’s eighth collection of poetry is Gradually the World: New and Selected Poems, 1982 – 2013 (BlazeVOX [books], 2013). In addition to poetry, he has published a number of books of literary criticism and scores of essays on medieval, modern or contemporary poetry. Recent interviews of him by Tom Fink in Jacket and Geoffrey Gatza at BlazeVOX (text), and George Spencer at Poetry Thin Air (video, in two parts) are online. For more information, visit BurtKimmelman.com. Sponsored by The Shed Info: info@theshedspace.org http://theshedspace.org

Today's Word

PORTMANTEAU

A large traveling bag

Words Of Wisdom

A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain around us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out.

~Virginia Woolf

Discipline

I have been writing much the past several weeks. Poems mostly, but also short stories, commentaries, and even a novella. If there's one thing I've learned is that the need to be disciplined saved much time. It can be a challenge for me because I think much faster than I write. It's one reason why people think I write left handed because it is slanted, but I'm a righty.

I'm sure many a writer has struggled with this but it is a necessary aspect of a writer's life. Set aside time during the day to write. If I write one poem I feel that I have accomplished something. It doesn't seem like much but to me it's mission accomplished.

Homer

Homer is a Greek epic poet credited as the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Questions abound about whether he wrote these two masterpieces.  Not much is known about his life.  Homer (800 BC-701BC) also wrote Homeric Hymns.

More Novellas

The Tenth Man- Graham Greene
Aura- Carlos Fuentes
Maggie: Girl of the Streets- Stephen Crane
A Clockwork Orange- Anthony Burgess
Breakfast At Tiffany's- Truman Capote

Greek Poetry

I have a strong interest in the poetry of ancient Greece. That society fascinates me from the standpoint that there must have been much creativity and poetic expression. There are numerous types of poetry from that society; epic, lyric, iambic, elegiac, to name a few. I have imagined myself living during that time. I would have loved to have listened to Homer, who penned Iliad. Sappho is another I would have loved to have met.


Many times I have wondered if I am continuing the tradition of poetry writing not from a Greek perspectivr but from life as a whole. Having Native-American ancestry, I see myself carrying the tradions of my ancestors.

WORDS OF WISDOM

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.


Billy Graham

List Of Novellas

I was looking up the meaning of 'novella'. It is a fictional, narrative prose piece longer than a short story but shoter than a novel. I looked up a list of novellas. Below are some of them.

Billy Budd, Sailor-Herman
Melville Quest For Pandaria-Sarah Pine
The War Of The Worlds-H.G.Wells
The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-Robert Louis Stevenson
The Pearl-John Steinbeck
The Mist-Stephen King

A Second Time

For the second time I was in Barnes and Noble. This time my wife was with me. We browsed through numerous books, especially the cookbooks and poetry. We wrote down a number of recipes in the composition book Louise brought with her. I scoured through a number of poetry books. There was Proust, Roethke, some Chinese poetry, a poetry Anthology and other works. Essay was a favorite of mine in college so I looked through some essay books. I glanced through Herman Melville's 'Billy Budd, Sailor after discovering that it is in fact a novella. I did some research into the structure of a novella and definitely see myself writing one in the future.

Spent Day At Barnes and Noble

I spent the day at Barnes and Noble today. It was nirvana to me because I browsed through so many books, especially the cookbooks and the poetry books. I read Mary Oliver's 'A Thousand Dreams'. I wrote down a few recipes to try out. Just being around books invigorates me. As I sat there, I concluded that I am a writer. I have a passion to write and have a book published. I am working on a chapbook, putting it together. I have written essays, short stories, commentaries, plays,and poems. My challenge is to harness my thoughts and focus on one thing at a time.

Words Of Wisdom

The best way out is always rough. Robert Frost

Been having some computer issues so I using a tablet. Love this thing!

Jack Kerouac

 

One of the founding members of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) was a novelist and poet. When I read his famous book On The Road, it was like being on a crazy journey that could have ended between nowhere and anywhere. As I reflect on it, On The Road WAS Kerouac; offbeat and unconventional.

I am fascinated by the Beat Generation which also gave us Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti (still going strong at ninety-four). Kerouac wrote whatever came to mind.  He called it spontaneous prose. It took me time to understand his poems, which I found somewhat disjointed. I also read Mexico City Blues and enjoyed it. Other books include Big Sur, The Dharma Bums, The Subterraneans, Desolation Angels and Visions of Cody. 

Jack Kerouac was proud of his French-Canadian heritage and being an American. He wrote some poems in French which he could speak fluently. Kerouac was also a loyal Catholic. The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado is named in his honor.

Mexico City Blues [113th Chorus]
Got up and dressed up and went out & got laid Then died and got buried in a coffin in the grave, Man— Yet everything is perfect, Because it is empty, Because it is perfect with emptiness, Because it's not even happening. Everything Is Ignorant of its own emptiness— Anger Doesn't like to be reminded of fits— You start with the Teaching Inscrutable of the Diamond And end with it, your goal is your startingplace, No race was run, no walk of prophetic toenails Across Arabies of hot meaning—you just numbly don't get there

Current Book

This is the second time I'm reading this book. Bram Stoker (1847-1912)was a brilliant and creative writer, on a par with Edgar Allan Poe in terms of subject matter and suspense. Stoker is an underrated but important author whom students should get to know. I would recommend it in MFA courses.

Stoker is most known for the classic Dracula which overshadows his excellence as a short story writer. My personal favorites are The Judge's House and The Secret of the Growing Gold.   

WORDS OF WISDOM

Much of our education is borne through experience, some hard knocks, and a clearer idea of where we need to go. 

Janis Joplin

Last week, I watched a documentary on the life of Janis Joplin (1943-1970). She was reared in Port Arthur, Texas. Joplin was a misfit who went against convention in a conservative town. She started singing her teens and rose to fame during the turbulent 1960s.

What piqued my interest was that she was the only female rock icon in a male dominated area. She, along with Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison of the Doors were three of the most popular icons of that time. Janis could really sing and she poured her heart out during her performances. Her bluesy-folk sound was appealing and women flocked to her.

Janis was also plagued by drug and alcohol problems. She was adored by fans but was lonely. All her life she looked for someone to love her for who she was. Her parents really didn't understand her and she ended her association with her hometown. Joplin died alone in an LA motel of a drug overdose.

Janis Joplin was misunderstood by her family and society. She was a feeling and loving person who wanted to accepted.  Joplin was a creative and energetic performer who could really sang.     

WORDS OF WISDOM

Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.

       ~Plato

Poetry and Prose

Always be a poet, even in prose.

                                                  ~Charles Baudelaire

I have taken these words to heart. When I began writing poems in earnest a couple of years back, I realized that much poetry does not rhyme. Perhaps that might be the reason there's some angst in reading and writing poetry in schools. There's this misconception that poems have to rhyme.

Prose is spoken every day. It is speaking to others in normal everyday language. Writing it may be easier but the same time and effort to complete a quality piece is just the same as poetry or any form of writing. Many famous authors have written prose and poetry. With the former it has helped me to comprehend what they are speaking in the latter. You can say that poetry and prose can go hand in hand.

I've gone over my prose and poetry and find that my voice in both is strong and clear. Prose is more detailed while poetry more concise.  I'm always looking for ways to say things better. This should be the goal of every writer. 

Strand Books

I stopped by Strands a couple of days ago. This place flies under the radar but there's so many books here that it r  ivals some of the libraries I go to. There's new, used, and rare books, volumes of classics, arts, theatre, history, and loads of fiction and non-fiction.

You can purchase books below the retail price. For example,  you can get a 20 dollar book for 13 dollars. I have purchased book still in the wrapper for a low price. Strand literally has miles of books. One can easily lose themselves here. There are events featuring speakers, artists, and other literari and artistic persons. Some of the speakers hosted have been James Franco, David Sedaris, artist Alex Katz, Teju Cole, and Pete Hamill to mention a few.  

Strand is located on Broadway and East 12th Street, just below Union Square. For store hours and directions go to:


 www.strandbooks.com

Aldous Huxley

I will be doing research on Aldous Huxley but can anyone share with me what they know about him?

WORDS OF WISDOM

You can't suppress creativity, you can't suppress innovation.

~James Daly, actor (1918-1978)

Langston Hughes

James Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was one of the major players in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. His writings about life in Harlem during that time made me feel like I was there. In the 125th Street subway station there are large portraits of life in this black mecca during the 1920s and 1930s.

Hughes' work took in the whole breadth of life. Poems such as Dreams and Montage of a Dream Deferred reflect this. Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of his influences (mine too). Hughes is one of my top five influences.


www.poets.org  
 .

TODAY'S WORD

JEJUNE

adj. empty of food; hungry.


dull, lacking interest or significance.

Read At Open Mic

Last night my wife and I read at an open mic. She read a horror story while I read a couple of poems. It was my first time this year and it felt good. We both received compliments about our work. It's wonderful that there's a place like Word Up Bookstore where local artists can read, sing, and dance and present their work to the community.


www.wordupbooks.com

WORDS OF WISDOM

There's plenty to write about. We can use our imagination to create whatever plots and characters we desire.

Bluestockings Bookstore

 

Nestled on the Lower East Side just below Houston Street, I have been visiting this store since 1998. Back then the store was smaller (yeah, you could say a hole-in-the-wall), rustic in appearance, and independent in nature. Bluestockings is bigger and has a loyal following.

Bluestockings is very active,  hosting events almost every night. Topics range from vegan cooking, gender, and prison reform to comedy, radical politics, and feminist musings. The store is run by women who are helpful and pleasant. I'm happy that Bluestockings is there because, despite the constantly changing scene on the Lower East Side, is vital to the community as a source for bring another perspective on the sometimes artificial (my take on it) scene.

I support independent bookstores because, with the chains stores closing some establisments and/going online, they are really needed. 

Revising and Rewritng Old Work

I read some of the stories I've written in past years and see that they could be improved. Some may feel that it's sacrilegious to do this (I would feel this way if say, Romeo and Juliet, was redone) but the idea is to write a story that you feel comfortable with. The other point is that you want to keep the readers engaged.

I'm certainly not famous or rolling in cash and possessions but writing a quality story, article, or poem is important to me. I have evolved and am evolving as a writer. It's not always tangible but I notice the difference. Reading the work of others opens my mind to other styles. I ask what is the author trying to convey to the audience? This is what every writer, I believe, should ask.

I read about a dozen of my old stories and saw that some could be revised or even rewritten. No shame in that. What I have gained is an appreciation for putting out the best quality work that I can. I have a great respect for editing and revision because it can be the difference between engaging the audience and giving them a reason not to continue reading. Something to think about.

WORDS OF WISDOM

Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during the moment.


~Carl Sandburg 

Edgar Allan Poe

I have a personal list of my favorite authors. I have a top five list and Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) may be my favorite. He cultivated my current love for mystery and horror. That love wasn't manifested until many years later. Poe's famous poem, The Raven, opened the door.

Poe wrote many poems but it is his short stories that brought him fame. Two of my favorite stories are Fall of the House of Usher and Murders in the Rue Morgue. Poe is considered the father of the detective story. His stories still sends chills through me.  

Death and loss seem to follow Poe. He was plagued by alcoholism, financial woes, and the loss of meaningful people in his life. Poe was only forty years old when he died.

Lenore
Ah broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever! Let the bell toll!--a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river; And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear?--weep now or never more! See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore! Come! let the burial rite be read--the funeral song be sung!-- An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young-- A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young. "Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride, "And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her--that she died! "How shall the ritual, then, be read?--the requiem how be sung "By you--by yours, the evil eye,--by yours, the slanderous tongue "That did to death the innocent that died, and died so young?" Peccavimus; but rave not thus! and let a Sabbath song Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel so wrong! The sweet Lenore hath "gone before," with Hope, that flew beside Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy bride-- For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies, The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes-- The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes. "Avaunt! to-night my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise, "But waft the angel on her flight with a Pæan of old days! "Let no bell toll!--lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth, "Should catch the note, as it doth float up from the damnéd Earth. "To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven-- "From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven-- "From grief and groan, to a golden throne, beside the King of Heaven."

Writing Is Still Evolving

I was at my local bookstore and browsed books written by local authors. There are plenty of them here where I live. I have taken particular interest in them since I first came to the Word Up Bookstore two years ago. They may not be famous or wealthy but there is a wealth of talents and gifts and experiences.

As I read their works, I realize how much my own writing has and is still evolving. I don't know if there's any exact science to any style of writing. I believe that experiences and our particular styles dictates some of it. I believe the other is that as our writing matures we are able to present unique styles that may not always be  popular or even accepted by writing literary. It's part of the reason I'm drawn to author who were marginized.

Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe were marginized because they didn't write in the style that was popular at the time. Melville thought he was a failure as a novelist but found a second career as poet. Having read couple of his novels I found him very perceptive of his own experiences. He told so much about life on the seas and distant islands. 

To me the local poets and writers share their own gifts about things much closer to home. As I will join their ranks some time later this year, I trust that many budding artists will be inspired and challenged.

Sci-Fi and Horror Films

If you are a science fiction, fantasy, and horror, the Film Forum here in New York City will have classic films from these genre. Films like Psycho and Invasion of the Body Snatchers will be presented in their original form. I am also a big fan of Godzilla.  The summer festival will continue through September 5th.



www.filmforum.com

Poetry at Bryant Park

Red Hen Press at Bryant Park

Poet: Evie Shockley Featured Poets: Evie Shockley, Peggy Shumaker, Tess Taylor, Ron Carlson August 20, 2013, 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Bryant Park, 42nd St and 5th Ave., New York, NY Please join Red Hen Press at Bryant Park on August 20 for a reading event featuring Peggy Shumaker, Evie Shockley, Tess Taylor, and Ron Carlson Info: 626.356.4760 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 626.356.4760 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlightingpublicity@redhen.org http://redhen.org

WORDS OF WISDOM

There is creative reading as well as creative writing.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson



p.s- this is my 1200th post.

The Colossus

Sylvia Plath's poems are poignant as well as mystical. I'm reading the above book and I understand her poems much better now than when I first read her work. The raw emotion that I feel when reading them cannot be understated. Plath is one of my favorite poets.