Heartbroken

Here's the new poem I promised to add earlier when I got done writing it.  Enjoy, people, and let me know what you think of it.

Heartbroken

I sit on this bench among the roses

saddened, and wishing no one imposes

on my broken heart

that shattered since my love did depart.

This is our bench, his and mine,

and I sit here thinking about our arms entwined

as the fog rolls in.

Suddenly, I feel enveloped in his arms again.

It could all be in my head

because in my heart I know he's dead.

I return every year to this spot

to mourn the love I lost,

and I wish I was buried there

next to the only man who knew me well.

My search continues for a new love

to replace the memories of the one above.

He would want me to be happy and free,

and not wasting my life away under our tree.

I just posted this poem to the 21st Century Poets website as well.  I am also thinking about adding it to the final page of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship document before sending it off into the ether.  Then, I'll add it to my manuscript for "The Trifecta."  Once all that's done, I'll feel like I've accomplished something today.

This is the picture that prompted the poem:

 

A Day of Writing Ahead...

After struggling through the week trying to get inspired with the newest writing competition prompt, I finally have something to show for it a day after I was supposed to post it.  I will try not to repeat that this week, but I wanted to share the new poem here because I will be adding it to my manuscript anyway.

Love Never Fails

The Bible says "love never fails,"

but for me that's like throwing a coin in a wishing well.

I want to believe what the Bible says

because my faith and hope depends on it.

It's difficult to wrap my head and heart around

because I haven't found

anyone I can share my life with

that wants the kids, a house, and the support I would give.

I've seen love fail

when my parents both dwelt

on this Earth

as a child experiencing a divorce

along with my brothers and sisters,

and yet I was too young to remember.

The only proof I have "love never fails"

is the love my God gives freely,

and the Book bequeathed to me:

Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

From death to life, from anger to mirth

In my Heavenly Father's eyes I'm priceless well beyond my worth.

It's Saturday now, and I find myself inspired by this week's new picture prompt.  It's slowly producing a new poem which I'm halfway done with now.  I'll probably come back on later today to share it, and anything else I've been working on.

On my Tumblr page, "The Written Word," I talked about in my last entry wanting to find my Martin Luther King, Jr. short story to finish, and I have.  I'm planning on typing that up today, but I'm not sure when I will.  There is still subject matter in the story that I'm wanting to take out because it's difficult for me to talk about. Part of me still wants to keep it in because it's all part of the reading experience.  I just feel like I didn't transition to the subject at the end of the story, and it's just BAM! right in your face out of nowhere.  I've been thinking about how I would write the transition were I to keep it in the story.

I also plan on finishing up my submission for the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship that is to be submitted by next Friday.  Where did the month of March go?  I feel like today should be closer to the 1st of March than it really is.  Anyway I was thinking about sharing my submission as a note on my Facebook page later, but I might post it here as well.

Writing Contests, and a New Poem...

I finally finished my power outage poem today, and I'm sharing it below.  I just added it to my manuscript, too.

Power Outage

Writing a poem via flashlight

Is something I thought I’d try tonight

Since the power has gone out.

Now I’m waiting for the transformer to be sorted out.

I should really be in bed,

But I now have words rattling in my head

Trying to be heard

In this darkened, snow-filled world.

I am waiting for the power to come back,

So I can turn on the heat that I lack.

The pipes may freeze

If the outage doesn’t get remedied

Soon, and the ice cream might melt

In the kitchen if the power’s not felt.

For thirty-four hours we waited

Before the cold was sated

With warmth once again

From the power being restored within,

And sleeping with extra blankets on my bed until then.

Some people’s power just got restored

Four days after there was no more.

It wasn’t too bad for one friend

Who cooked with a wood store while waiting for the end.

Another friend kept their bird warm,

But they only had to wait a few hours after the storm

Knocked their power out

Before they could get warm and go about

Doing their daily business

While others warmth was elusive as Ness[1].

I’m just happy to have power,

So I could take a warm bath or shower

Before beginning my day

And going on my way.

---

[1] A reference to Nessie, the Loch Ness monster.

Aside from finishing one poem, I started another inspired by the death of my friend Traci.  It's still a work in progress, and will be shared when I'm finished writing it.  I had to stop writing because it made me miss her so much.  I can't believe it's almost been a whole year since she died.  The time passing hasn't made it any easier on her loved ones.

I started out this year going to another memorial service for a friend of the family that I met when I was attending my mom's church.  He had a long, full life and was ready to go home.  Traci and I, however, are the same age!  The longevity of the person seems to make the passing easier to comprehend and deal with for me.  In Traci's case I still think she was taken too soon, but no one has any power over that.  Only God does!

On Another Note...

I shared this on Facebook when it happened, but wanted to share it again here in case there are other readers I have that aren't Facebook friends.  A while back I entered my poem "A Lover's Dance" into a contest at the World Poetry Movement for a chance to win one of 116 prizes.  The Grand Prize of which is $1,000.  Well, I got a letter from them in the mail telling me that I'm a semi-finalist, and my poem was automatically entered into the finals.

Besides that information, they wanted me to proof a copy of the poem in a book to be published in May called "Stars in our Hearts."  Originally, I was going to add my author's profile before sending it in, but in order for the profile to be added to the publication I would have to buy a copy of the book and pay extra for the profile to be added.  The cost of which totaled $75 that I can't afford right now.  Needless to say, I'm sending in the proof, but that's it.

I'm just ecstatic to be included because my poem was one that was picked among over 450,000 entries spanning 18 different countries!  That's huge!  The current contest ends on April 30th, 2012!  Another contest starts right after that on May 1st.

As for the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship, I still have three pages to fill before I turn that in, and I still have to tell about the different poems I picked.  That won't take me long with all the poems I've been writing lately.  I'm thinking about adding the poem I wrote for Dr. Seuss's birthday, so I'll have one more page filled up before too long.  I don't have to submit the application until March 30th, but I want to get it done this week for sure because the week of the 30th is a busy one in my life.  I'm glad I get to submit it online because that's a lot easier, and less time-consuming for me.

An eventful week....

A few entries back I talked about making a writing bucket list.  Even though, I haven't made any progress of actually writing one out by putting pen to paper, I did complete something that could've been added to the list eventually.  I wrote a poem during a power outage using my trusty flashlight.  It's certainly something I've never done, or thought about doing before.  It's still a work in progress though, but I probably won't wait for another outage to finish it, but turn off all the lights in my apartment and write in the dark.  Since the poem is about the power outage, I may just continue writing it with the light on, and talk about the aftermath.  Of course, I'll share the poem here when it's completed.

Aside from having no power for more than a day, there was snow as well.  4-6 inches to be exact, and completely unheard of where I live.  My brother and I did volunteer at the local Library.  We were a little late starting our shift, but one of the librarians was kind enough to pick us up.  She knew where we lived because she used to live across the street.  We had a hard time leaving the warmth of the library with their power, and fireplace going after our shift ended.  We thought about heading back after we walked home to find out our power was still not on, but we didn't want to go back out in the snow and slip slide around some more.

Most of the snow was gone today, and got replaced with rain and wind.  My brother and I stopped at the library on the way to the store to let the librarians know we FINALLY had power after 34 hours of being without.  A couple of librarians were saying that they were still without power when we stopped by.

We ended up trashing a lot of ice cream we had in our freezer, and some of our frozen foods as well because apart from being defrosted some of the food was expired.  It was really nice after we got home from the store to be able to have our heater turned on while we cooked our food to eat.

I also charged my cell phone right away because the battery was almost dead, and I used it a lot to get an update on the power outage from the electric company.  It's fully charged now.  :)

One of my friends had an eventful Monday, and talks about it on her fast food blog.  She had her power back on well before I did.  It's been one crazy week for our little oceanfront community, and it's not over yet.

Updating my manuscript, and other stuff...

I guess it's time to update again.  I spent some time yesterday with a couple friends at Starbucks having a writing session, and we all came out of the experience with new poems.  I actually started writing one for the new picture prompt this week yesterday morning, but got stuck halfway through.  When it was about time to leave my place, the words started flowing again.  The result of which is "A Supernatural Encounter," and a couple pages long in my manuscript!

A Supernatural Encounter

On a night both dark and dreary

As I cut through the cemetery

On my way home.

I found I was not alone.

Standing before me was an apparition,

And I had to make a quick decision.

Do I stay, or do I go?

My feet wanted to leave, but she looked so

Very sad

That I gathered up all the courage I had

To go up to her and ask “What’s wrong?”

She replied, “I haven’t seen anybody I know in so long.

Where do you think they have all gone?”

“They are probably dead, or in their old age,”

I replied, “When did you leave the world’s stage?”

She started, and ran to a grave

With a very faded name.

I followed her and read the year as if it was still plain.

There was an eerie glow around the 1878,

So I thanked her for showing me the date.

I felt I was just taught a lesson,

But something else seemed to be missing.

As I was turning to leave,

The apparition shrieked in recognition,

“My love, is it really you?”

I turned back to face her without a clue

Why she made such an outburst

Then I saw my transparent reflection on a shiny surface,

And realized I was cursed

To walk among the dead

As I recalled the bullet that entered my head.

At that moment I looked back

To her as if I knew she was what I lacked

In my life.

When we were alive, she was my wife.

I didn’t recognize her right away

Because she was younger than on the day

We had met.

My face brightened at the memory of our last sunset.

She stayed around to welcome me home,

And never left the confines of her tomb.

When I passed by

She was released, and we soared through the sky

Hand in hand

As we followed a bright light that appeared to the other end.

Then one of the weekly challenges a little while back was to write a poem about Dr. Seuss in honor of his birthday.  While I didn't finish the poem in enough time to post it to the group, I was finally able to finish it yesterday as well.

An Ode to Dr. Seuss

Theodor Geisel you were born,

But Dr. Seuss you became.

We toot our horns

For your birthday to proclaim.

I rhyme in honor of you today,

And the impact you had on my life.

Your books are cherished everyday,

And is a welcome retreat following strife.

You had a God-given talent

That was silenced when you died,

But your memory is never forgotten

Because of the legacy you left behind.

The Lorax is in theaters now

Following The Grinch and Horton Hears a Who in tow.

The Cat in the Hat is a classic

For children who act

Up, and don’t heed their parents.

We all start out like that!

I spent some time today catching up my manuscript for "The Trifecta: A Collection of Poetry," and now have a total of 26 pages.  I started out with 17 pages when I opened the file.  I've been feeling like "The Cocoa Bean" has been neglected because I haven't came up with anymore chocolate poems in a while.

The story of the Wolverine, and Another Poem

The story of the Wolverine from the movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and a new picture prompt at 21st Century Poets Weekly Writing Competition group resulted in a unique poem entitled "The Moon's Lover."  I'll start off by sharing the story as told to Logan (Hugh Jackman) in the movie and the main reason why he chose to be called Wolverine then I'll share the poem itself.

The Story of the Wolverine

 "Many years ago, the moon had a lover.  His name was Coacuatchoo. But there was a third spirit that longed for the moon, he was a trickster. So, one day the trickster tells Coacuatchoo that the Moon asked for flowers from our world and to go and pick some red roses, so he did.  But, what Coacuatchoo didn't know, is that once you leave the spirit realm, you can never go back. So he forever roams the land, howling to his lost love night after night."

Here's my poem:

The Moon’s Lover

The moon once had a lover

Who was tricked by another

Into leaving her side.

Now they are divided by the earth and sky.

They are reunited every night,

But the breaking dawn ruins the lovers delight.

The stars that shine so bright

Are the tears she cries during the daylight.

The night sky is the wolf’s sunrise

Because he can look upon his lover with his eyes.

When he howls he says “My love, I’ve missed you so,”

And the moon shines brightest for him just before she goes.

Their time together is brief,

But the next evening brings joy and relief

To be in the presence of each other once more

Until the day they’ll reunite on a Heavenly shore.

Besides writing this poem for the weekly competition, I've been compiling some poems to submit to the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship.  It has ten pages long, and the application is due by the end of March.  If my application is one of the few chosen, they will publish the poems in Poetry Magazine along with the other winning entries, and I'll receive $15,000 prize money to use in any way I want.  Click on the link above to see the guidelines.  The age limit for the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship is 31, so this would be my one and only chance to try for it because of my age.

I've been spending as much as I can compiling the poems I want to enter, so I could get everything just the way I want it before submission.  I've I put in a poem that I don't think is very good, I scrap it and put one I think is better in it's place.  The four poems I've added so far all come from working on weekly challenges at 21st Century Poets because a lot of my new material and inspiration has come from participating in those challenges, and I feel like I've blossomed in my poetry because it's provided me with what I believe to be some of my best work.  The challenges have also taken me out of my comfort zone a time or two as well.

Aside from that, the Oregon Authors Commission has Individual Artist Fellowships handed out every year.  The deadline for that is in October.  The link I used shows last years dates on the guideline, but the guidelines themselves remain the same for this year.  The reward for this Fellowship is $3,000, and has no age limit.  If I don't get chosen this round, though, I'd have to wait another five years to apply again.

A Deal from Lulu

Act fast this one ends on March 7th!