Geauga Parks’ Nature Writing Honors & Performances

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon in Geauga County at the 25th annual Nature Arts Festival of the Geauga Park District, where I was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Adult Poetry category for “Among The Roots!” Please enjoy my performance and the flattering comments of contest judge Grace Butcher in the video below!

I also feel compelled to recognize Martha Kennedy, age 10, for her prize-winning haiku in the Child Poetry category of the contest. Martha’s vivid sensory descriptions and emotive undertones are stunningly brilliant, and I genuinely hope to hear much more from this poetic prodigy as her creative writing career continues to unfold! Please click here to read her piece!

Here’s the video described above:

The Ghazal Page Presents: “Ghazal Of Humanity” (+ Upcoming Event Reminder!)

Salutations, all!

My first-ever Ghazal poem has been published on The Ghazal Page in their latest issue, #59 ! Read the full poem here! (The poem will be added on this site at a later date.)

I also have a couple of reminders:

• I will be participating in a recognition ceremony on August 7th at the Geauga Park District’s Nature Arts Festival for my honorable mention in their Nature Writing Contest! Please join me there in celebrating nature and creative expression!
• One other thing I’d like to emphasize is that while, as you can see, I am continuing to share my work and announcements on this blog, I more frequently share smaller announcements and links on my Facebook page!

“Parental Senryū” (+ an Honorable Mention earned!)

Many of my friends and former classmates have young children. I wrote the following poem while thinking about all of those young families, and I dedicate it to them as well:

Props to those who get the Pollock reference!

In other poetic news, the results are in for the Geauga Park District’s 21st Annual Nature Writing Contest, and I’ve been awarded an honorable mention for “Among The Roots” in the adult poetry category! Browse all of the honored entries at the following link, and join me in celbrating nature and the arts at the Nature Arts Festival on August 7th at Big Creek Park: http://www.geaugaparkdistrict.org/arts-in-nature.shtml

Calamitous Haiku (+ Hessler Contest Video!)

The following haiku looks at a another sociopolitical political issue, violence, using a scientific metaphor:

I hope you found that worthy of contemplation. Now, in contrast, please enjoy this video clip of my comedic performance of “Error” (formerly “Cyberspace Senryū“) in this year’s Hessler Street Fair poetry competition:

See You At The Fair! (+ Hessler Competition Results)

No, I didn’t win anything, but I’m proud of my performance of my senryū, “Error” (Previously known as “Cyberspace Senryū”). Video coming soon on my YouTube channel!

That said, I’m looking forward to spending some time at the Hessler Street Fair this weekend. As I’ve said before, I’m particularly excited to participate in Ray McNiece‘s “Hessler Poetry Jam” at the Barking Spider Tavern! The event is scheduled to run from 2:00 to 5:00 PM on Saturday. If, like last year, I get a choice of position in the performance order, I’m planning to sign up for a slot toward the beginning of the show. Stop by and say “Hi!”

Oh, and if you’re at the Fair on Sunday at 2 pm, be sure to congratulate the poetry contest winners and listen to them perform their winning pieces! (You can also hear this reading on WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland at that time!)

The winners were:

1. Jeffrey Bowen: “for the godfather daniel thompson (1935-2004)”
2. Lori Ann Kusterbeck: “Simple Ways”
3. Sean Thomas Dougherty: “Surgery”

• Honorable Mention: Christine Howey: “The Killer Turkey of Malabar Farm”

UPDATE: NEW LOCATION FOR HESSLER COMPETITION!

PLEASE NOTE: The location for the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest has been changed to: Ensemble Theater, 2843 Washington Blvd, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118.

For complete event information, please refer to my previous blog post. Thanks!

It’s Hessler Season Once Again!

…and for the 4th consecutive year [Edit: My firsthand memory and my physical records are in conflict regarding this statistic. Please contact me if you can definitively confirm or disprove it. Thanks!], one of my submitted pieces has been accepted, both for publication in this year’s edition of the Hessler Street Fair’s annual poetry anthology and for the coinciding competition at Mac’s Back’s on Coventry [NEW LOCATION: Ensemble Theatre] on Wednesday, May 13th at 7:00 PM! As in years past, in addition to cash prizes, the top finishers in that competition will be given the honor of reading their winning poems at the Hessler Street Fair on Sunday, May 17th at 2:00 PM! Wish me luck!

The other event of the Hessler Street Fair which I’m specifically looking forward to is the “Hessler Poetry Jam,” which is scheduled for 2:00 to 5:00 PM on Saturday, May 16th at the Barking Spider Tavern, hosted by the awesome & talented Ray McNiece! I’m planning to recite several of my newest poems, some of which I’ll be debuting for the first time in front of a public audience! This will be my second time participating in this open mic event; my performance at the event last year can be seen in the video recording below.

I hope to see you at one or more (or all!) of the aforementioned events at the Hessler Street Fair! Viva poetry!

Hessler Street Fair Follow-Up Post

Here is my personal reflection on this year’s Hessler Street Fair:

While mine was not among the prize-winning poems/performances at this year’s Hessler Street Fair poetry competition, I did take advantage of the opportunity to participate in the open mic which took place yesterday at the Barking Spider Tavern in conjunction with the HSF. I performed three of my newest poems, including my new personal favorite, “Among The Roots,” and Ray McNiece was the emcee of the event, so it goes without saying that I had a great time! Watch the below video of my performance and see for yourself!

Galactic Genesis

This poem, which is the second villanelle I’ve composed, was part of my entry (I’ll share the other part in my next post) to this year’s “Poetry in the Museum” contest (cosponsored by the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History). The theme of the competition was “The Nature of Nature”; In my response, I chose to interpret the prompt on a universal scale, writing about the formation of our galaxy! I was not a finalist in the contest, but I am no less satisfied with my submission, the first part of which I now present for your contemplation:

The Grand Tournament II

For those who haven’t been following my progress on Facebook and Twitter: I completed my entry to Writing Knights Press’s second annual Grand Tournament today! I will be submitting it tomorrow morning, after one final inspection. The poems included in this manuscript are all new and range widely in topic as well as in format. Also included in this manuscript is my original story, Herman Titus and the Battle at the Clay Field, the entirety of which will, I hope, be received more enthusiastically than the first page of the story was received on this blog.

I will begin posting the new poems from my competition entry after the results of the manuscript round are announced. I will also, at that time, post on this blog the answer to whether or not I make it to the performance round. Look for all of that after June 1st.

Wish me luck, and to the other competitors, may the best writer win!

Oh, one more thing: The manuscript for my first chapbook has officially been approved! I will share further updates as I receive them myself.