“And the raft is cast aside on the shore of destination only replaced by a new raft which in time will discard itself, inasmuch as knowledge begets wisdom.” -JC
I had a dream that I lived on an island, a faraway island where I was completely ignorant of the world and my place in it. And one day I awoke from a deep sleep only to see a Dragonfly who bid me follow. I suddenly found
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An interesting, touching and amusing post. Kevin
Indian Head 1
It sits on the floor and the cat is scared to death. She’s never seen at eye-level a nearly life-sized plaster bust of a Native American Chief in full-feathered headdress. She skirts the edge of the living room, never taking her saucer-sized eyes off this menacing object. We all laugh hilariously. LOL, for sure, if that abbreviation had even been known back in the mid-1960s.
I’ve been hauling that thing around ever since then, through many moves. Right now it’s sitting on the sideboard in my dining room, surrounded by antique photos, as you can see in the accompanying pictures. That’s my grandmother at the left of the left-hand picture, with two of her friends, taken in the 1890’s when she was a “teenager” (another term never used in those early days) and the belle of the small town. And that’s my grandmother in the middle picture…
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An interesting post regarding whether poets should insert “trigger warnings” when performing their work live so as to avoid causing hurt or offence. If children are present at a performance then it is right that the kinds of poems performed should be constrained by the requirement not to subject youngsters to age inappropriate material. However where an audience is composed of adults they should be treated as such and it would be wrong for a poet to censore his/her material in any manner whatsoever. Kevin
Ed. note: This post has sparked discussion on Facebook and Twitter since being published, with feedback from a wide range of perspectives and opinions (some Facebook comments here, Twitter Storify here, some comments on the blog below). I’m delighted that a public conversation is occurring on the importance of trigger warnings, since for some they are essential components to live arts events. As I stated in my post, this is a discussion I think poets and promoters need to be having to ensure that poetry events are safe spaces for both performers and audience members, without censoring the poets’ freedom of expression. My original post is below, unaltered. Let’s keep the discussion going; please comment if you disagree/agree/want to talk. As this space is intended to be a forum for discussion, I’m also happy to have folks write guest posts sharing their thoughts on this issue. Thanks to all who’ve shared…
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I agree with the author of this post, while writing is a goal to aspire to, not writing every day does not make the writer any less of an author. Kevin
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Many thanks to the reviewer, Olivia, for taking the time to read and review my recently released collection of poetry, “Refractions”, which is available to read a free sample or download, in the Amazon Kindle store.
Children are malleable and therefore can be influenced greatly by their parents, siblings, teachers, and other people in their lives.
It’s important to be a good role model and to encourage good behavior so that they grow up to be productive citizens of society. But, we’re not just trying to raise productive citizens, are we? No, we are raising children to be adults who can think for themselves, are independent people, and are influencers in the world. We don’t want to raise automotons, we want our children to be all they can be! (I’m making an assumption here, but I hope you agree).
I believe the single most important thing that makes a child grow up to be all they can be vs. one that doesn’t, is love. That may seem over-simplified and to a point, it is. However, I can say both from a professional standpoint and a personal one that even when a child lives in a toxic environment, if they know they are loved, they fare much better.
I’m a Guidance Counselor in a High School and I hold a license in Mental Health Counseling. I’ve seen my share of people who have been hurt by other people. When counseling a client who had been abused or abandoned or both or worse, if they had one person in their life that loved them (even if that love was imperfect), they had a better chance of healing and overcoming their pain than those who didn’t have that in their life.
I want to encourage you today to be that one person! Be the one person that makes a difference in a child’s life. You will not only be doing that child a favor, you will be doing the world a favor. We need children to know they are loved so they can grow up and be all they can be—making the world a better place for us all.
We know that if you are authentically you, if you follow your passion, if you fulfill your destiny—you add to the greatness of this world! If a child feels loved, they will be able to be authentic, find their passion and follow their destiny. Show love today!
Wanda Luthman
Children’s Author
Growing children of character through quality literature
www.wandaluthman.wordpress.com
My children’s books are available on Amazon at www.amazon.com/author/wandaluthman in paperback, ebook, and audiobook.
Five of the best collections of English poetry
What are the best English poetry anthologies? And how would one define ‘best’? The answer, of course, is that it’s always going to be subjective to a point. But it’s worth having a go at picking the greatest anthologies from which the poetry fan can choose. The poetry anthology is a great way not only of revisiting old favourites, but of discovering new poets. In this post, we’ve turned our attention to a kind of book that provides a highly valuable service for the poetry-lover. Many of these books can be purchased for the equivalent of the cost of lunch (depending on where you lunch, of course), or, at most, set back the book-buyer no more than a night out in the local pub would. And a volume of poetry can provide a lifetime of pleasure!
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Extract from an article in the New York Times Online:
Rainier Velardo watched the basketball-player-tall man in the blue shirt who sat down next to him — the man had gotten on at the last subway stop, West Fourth Street in Manhattan, and this was an F train going to Brooklyn.
Mr. Velardo watched the man tap the screen of an iPad. He heard the man chuckle and say: “You’d think I would know this. I wrote it.” And then, with even more of a chuckle, “Didn’t see that twist coming.”
Mr. Velardo, 66, perked up at what the man said next: “Actually, it’s a big enough font. I can read it without my glasses.”
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K Morris - Poet 