Tag: words

#TPQ5

#TPQ5: SAMUEL DODSON

The Inevitable Gift Shop – Will Eaves This collection of mini vignettes of fiction and non fiction, as well as poetry, is beautifully written and frequently hilarious– “really what tortoises teach you about is abusive relationships”. It’s a book that demands to be read and re-read – and then re-read again; both front to back, back to front, and in all other manner of combinations. … Continue reading #TPQ5: SAMUEL DODSON

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BOOK REVIEWS

REVIEW: GOLD THAT FRAMES THE MIRROR – BRANDON MELENDEZ (WRITE BLOODY PUBLISHING)

When language and bodies and heritage and history don’t make sense, it’s not easy to find yourself within the world. When the words your family speak turn to those once spoken. When your parents silence your voice, and all you want to do is remember the sound of theirs. Continue reading REVIEW: GOLD THAT FRAMES THE MIRROR – BRANDON MELENDEZ (WRITE BLOODY PUBLISHING)

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #33: AMY SAUL-ZERBY

  THE POWER OF POETRY – Amy Saul-Zerby   In order to explain the power of poetry to you, I need you to understand about metaphors. EXAMPLE: TIME IS AN OCEAN It brings things to you then takes them away It seems bottomless but is not If you stop moving, you will sink and drown It terrifies you. You might write this and think you’ve … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #33: AMY SAUL-ZERBY

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #32: LEE ANN RORIPAUGH – SOUTH DAKOTA’S POET LAUREATE

LEE ANN RORIPAUGH – SOUTH DAKOTA’S POET LAUREATE Poetry is the shape-shifting ouroboros of language, image, sound, form, and content held in infinite tension. It is the muscular pulse of sheened coil, forked tongue tasting the air. It is a voraciousness of language, hungry to apprehend and take in the world and through that desire, that yearning, perpetually becoming consumed by the world. A linguistic … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #32: LEE ANN RORIPAUGH – SOUTH DAKOTA’S POET LAUREATE

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #31: SARA HENNING

    The Power of Poetry – Sara Henning I’d like to tell you a story about life’s untamable narrative that leaves us transformed. In other words, I’d like to tell you a story about my relationship to poetry. At 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning this past July, my mother telephoned me, the tone in her voice desperate and fearful. Through rushed, slurred whispers, she … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #31: SARA HENNING

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #28: “Warrendale, a Chance Medley with Lines from “Brother of Leaving”” – Cal Freeman

Warrendale, a Chance Medley with Lines from “Brother of Leaving” The Warrendale neighborhood sits on the far west side of the city of Detroit. I describe my childhood home and the neighborhood in which it rests in my first collection of poems, Brother of Leaving. Historically it was a Polish Catholic neighborhood with St. Peter and Paul Parish anchoring the community on the north side … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #28: “Warrendale, a Chance Medley with Lines from “Brother of Leaving”” – Cal Freeman

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #24: LOGEN CURE

I self-published a book of poems when I was 19. Print-on-demand websites like Lulu were just beginning to gain popularity. I’m one of those people who has been a writer her whole life. By 19 I had plenty of work to create a book and I figured, why not? I talked a few of my friends into being my editors, then lucked into the opportunity … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #24: LOGEN CURE

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THE POWER OF POETRY

POETS ON POETS #1: “Muriel Rukeyser’s “Calling” and the Power of Poetry” – JOANNA PENN COOPER

  Faith is found here, not in a destiny raiding and parceling out knowledge and the earth, but in a people who, person by person, believes itself. Do you accept your own gestures and symbols? Do you believe what you yourself say? When you act, do you believe what you are doing? ​​​​​​–Muriel Rukeyser, The Life of Poetry When I came across Muriel Rukeyser’s The … Continue reading POETS ON POETS #1: “Muriel Rukeyser’s “Calling” and the Power of Poetry” – JOANNA PENN COOPER

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #21: RONNIE K. STEPHENS

THE POWER OF POETRY – Ronnie K. Stephens There is no origin story, here. No single point on the broadside of this universe. For me, poetry has been a series of planets dotting up the sky when I’m not looking, and suddenly I’m thirty-two with a galaxy spread out around me. I don’t know how it came to be. I don’t know what it will … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #21: RONNIE K. STEPHENS

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #12: “THE POWER OF GRIEF” – KIERAN COLLIER

   Power of Grief       – Kieran Collier I. My mother passed when I was 14. I say passed because it’s gentle in the same way she was. I could say she was taken from us, killed by ALS, but then the disease would be the subject instead of her. Or, she died, which always sounds so passive. As if she didn’t put up … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #12: “THE POWER OF GRIEF” – KIERAN COLLIER

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #8: “THE SUPER POWERS OF POETRY” – JESSICA HELEN LOPEZ

The Super Powers of Poetry – Jessica Helen Lopez Listen here. When I write poetry I take on an extraordinary ability to warp, utterly break, and then mend again the rules of physics. Teacups may melt in the cabinets of my kitchen and my braided hair is able to drip with sadness. Or vengeance if the mood is right. My tongue is forked and I … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #8: “THE SUPER POWERS OF POETRY” – JESSICA HELEN LOPEZ

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THE POWER OF POETRY

THE POWER OF POETRY #6: “A POND, A STICK” – DIANE SEUSS

  A Pond, a Stick I just finished grading final portfolios for two of my poetry courses, here at the tail end of the academic year when teachers feel foul, ragged, bone-tired, and heartbroken. I have found myself wondering if poetry is in a losing battle with Kim Kardashian’s ass and everything it represents. By now, even her ass is a distant memory. The image … Continue reading THE POWER OF POETRY #6: “A POND, A STICK” – DIANE SEUSS

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ARCHIVE

REVIEW: HERE COMES THE NEW JOY – JOHN BARRIOS (UNIVERSITY OF HELL PRESS)

   I am hesitant to include quotes from the book in this review. Not that it is a bad book, completely the opposite actually. I had such fun reading the book that I feel like any lines or poems I could use would be short changing the book as a whole,almost like watching a few scenes from True Detective and not watching all of the first season. … Continue reading REVIEW: HERE COMES THE NEW JOY – JOHN BARRIOS (UNIVERSITY OF HELL PRESS)

Will Gibson
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REVIEW: An Electric Sheep Jumps to Greener Pasture – Tyler Atwood (University of Hell Press)

  the truth was a mirror the church led me to believe I discovered the impossibility of finding my reflection in  the pieces when it broke a single-parent household I ran  my fingers through the shards of glass probing the edges  for where they once fit together finding only the  weakness of my own skin An introspective, dynamic collection with more layers than human skin … Continue reading REVIEW: An Electric Sheep Jumps to Greener Pasture – Tyler Atwood (University of Hell Press)

Will Gibson
THE POWER OF POETRY

The Power of Poetry #4: “The Transformative Power of Poetry” – Ethan Smith

The Transformative Power of Poetry – Ethan Smith On language When I first started writing intentionally for poetry performance, I thought my word choice was easily understandable, and was often frustrated when people were confused about the language I was using. Over time, I improved at actually saying what I was trying to say – very important when given a stage and a captive audience. … Continue reading The Power of Poetry #4: “The Transformative Power of Poetry” – Ethan Smith

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THE POWER OF POETRY

POWER OF POETRY #1: I’m Uncomfortable Too. – by Wil Gibson

  The first time I remember hearing the word “poetry” it came from a family member who was making fun of poets. How dumb they were for thinking their words mattered. How silly they talked. How lazy they must be to just sit around and write all day. “Why the hell would anyone want to talk about love and flowers and stuff all the time?” … Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #1: I’m Uncomfortable Too. – by Wil Gibson

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ARCHIVE, BOOK REVIEWS

REVIEW: DELPHINE BEDIENT – DOWN AND OUT ON A YACHT

DISASTER Men kept smiling at you today, but you felt like a disaster. You were an influenza epidemic, you were Hurricane Katrina, you were a four-car pileup, and there they were, these men, smiling.   Dear Insecurities, We have company. We have found a friend. It’s okay to step out of the shadows, talk to the guy at the bar, say our name loud and … Continue reading REVIEW: DELPHINE BEDIENT – DOWN AND OUT ON A YACHT

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REVIEW: ROSS ROBBINS – ALL IN BLACK BLOOD MY LOVE WENT RIDING

See me taxidermied – a prom date after four wine coolers. Ooh la la! Such romance. You see me cross-sectioned, slit and pinned a science class earthworm. Point to my parts, label them clearly. This is amateurish, groping.   Thank you Ross Robbins for splaying yourself open like the science class earth worm. For letting everything out in the open. For being the extroverted mass transit … Continue reading REVIEW: ROSS ROBBINS – ALL IN BLACK BLOOD MY LOVE WENT RIDING

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