Tanka Thursday #3

Puffed Chests
after Andrew and Sam

A competition
with crushed paper to see who
hits the recycle
bin with the right amount of
arc to make a basket. Boys.

American Sublime by Elizabeth Alexander: Book Giveaway

Free. Is there a word more beautiful? If there is, I don't know it.

Free + book = Bliss

So, do you want to know how you can be a part of this equation?

If you would like my signed copy of American Sublime by Elizabeth Alexander all you have to do is:

1. Leave a comment with your email address.

2. Follow my blog.

3. Follow me on Twitter.

4. Follow me to the ends of the Earth.

*Scratch that last one*

Contest ends October 29th.

I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner.

Winner announced November 1st.

P.S. You can enter once daily on one condition:

you must retweet the contest details using

my little share button thingee below. Deal?

National Book Festival 2010

Last year, the weather put a slight damper on the book festival because it was cold and rainy. This year, it was slightly kinder, with heat instead. However, the weather did not ruin my good time, it just slowed me down, made me sweat, and made me sleepy.

I had a chance to see all the authors I planned to see: Elizabeth Alexander, Margarita Engle, Marilyn Nelson, and Natasha Trethewey.

My visit to the book sales tent was deadly to my debit card, and it would have been worse had they actually had a wider selection of Natasha Tretheway's books. They only had Beyond Katrina, which is her newest book about the effects of Hurricane Katrina from the Mississippi Gulf Coast's point of view.

A highlight of the festival, besides meeting the authors, was hearing Natasha Trethewey say that she would be one of the faculty at Cave Canem next year...after having the courage to ask her about CC in a tent full of folks. I also got to ask her who her favorite poets were. She mentioned three people, but I unfortunately didn't write it down, dagnabbit! Lucky for me, the whole thing is taped, so I'll be able to watch her answer later once it's available. Today was a good day.

Tanka Thursday #2

Okay, so I know it's really Friday, but I went on a school camping trip from Tuesday to Thursday and I didn't get the tanka done until today.

Not a Nature Girl
for CBF

I couldn't enjoy
the sunrise because a bug
bit me on my thigh
I couldn't enjoy the sand
because a bug bit my hand

Mahogany Books and Tara Betts

I had such a wonderful time! I can't even describe it. It was like, like, like Red Velvet cupcake. Tara was great, better than I could have imagined. I see how that saying became cliche. Wish I had something better to say, but it was just good. If you get a chance to see Tara live, don't miss out. She's got the type of voice that makes you want to close your eyes so you can hear better.

Reeeeeejected #5

I thought I might have a better chance of being accepted to The Barefoot Muse because the poems I sent were triolets and they are into form, but nothing tickled their fancy. To be fair they said it didn't fit their "current editorial needs" and not "your poetry sucks eggs." The next reading period is March 1st.

*Back dating again*

My feelings weren't even bothered by receiving this rejection, because the day I received it was the same day of Tara Betts anniversary party with Mahogany Books.

The Read Write Poem Anthology is Live

Click here to see the Read Write Poem Anthology.

I'm so excited to have been involved with the site and the anthology. All the poems come from members of the RWP site who participated in NaPoWriMo.

Not Oprah's Book Club Pick

Ernessa T. Carter came to the Border's bookstore in Largo Wednesday (9/15) and during her Q & A, someone asked which books she was currently reading, or ones she read recently...I forget the exact wording, however the books she mentioned were: Substitute Me, Girl in Translation, Getting to Happy, and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. She might have mentioned more, but those are the ones I remember.

So just in case Oprah's recommendation isn't your cup of tea, those are a few from the author of 32 Candles.

Tanka Thursday

On Fridays with my English classes, we have independent writing. Last week the writing prompt was about what you would do if you earned a billion dollars. The only stipulation with earning the money is that you had to give half of it to charity.

I wrote a story along with them, but later I went back and wrote a tanka using the same prompt in mind.

A billion dollars!
If I won, I would tanka
all day, triolet
all night, pay off all my debt
and give money to the arts.

Triolets to Tankas

Triolets have been my thing, my poetry form thing, for a minute. Alas, it is time to move on. For awhile, I figured my next poetry form to tackle would be kyrielles, because they sound like songs and are French like triolets. However, tankas have snatched my affection away from the kyrielle, being the fan of alliteration...

*pumps brakes*

Well, I guess that's not entirely true. I was about to say that being a fan of alliteration, I liked the idea of switching Triolet Thursdays, to Tanka Thursdays, but that isn't exactly alliteration now, is it? The 't' sound in tanka, and the 't' sound in Thursday don't sound enough alike to truly follow the rules of alliteration. The same applies to the 't' in triolet.

*hand to forehead*

Feeling all types of fraudulent right now.

Alright, so it's better to say I just like having the two t's next to each other then. Oh, and I don't have to feel forced to rhyme with tankas. Yes, tankas. I did intend to talk about them at the beginning of all this.

Anyway, here is my first one:

Ancient Japanese
thirty-one flavored segments
uninterrupted
except for English line breaks
breaking the original.

Reeeeeejected #4

Aww, rejected again. This time from Mythium. I wish I could be a fly on the wall of a slush pile session. Just curious about the process.

I had to back date this blog because this rejection I received a while back, but failed to blog about it.

What is your writing process like?: Part 9

Click here for part eight.
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I sent the bops off today. Hopefully one of them will resonate with the editors.

Out of all the places I've ever sent my poetry, I'd be the most crushed if they weren't accepted for this anthology. However, I do plan to still purchase it regardless of the outcome.