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!

Much to tell, much to do!

There’s lots of news of which to tell! In no particular order, here’s what’s new:

• Full details of the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest have finally been made public! Check out this year’s plans for the Cleveland tradition!
• Writing Knight Press is graciously including me in their lineup of featured poets for the 20th National Poetry Month! The details for the event at which I’ll be reading haven’t yet been finalized, but  UPDATE: Here is the event info! I am scheduled for the evening of April 4th! My 100-word bio is now featured on their website!
• As you may have noticed, I’ve created an official Facebook page for my career as a poet! Please “Like” me to be among the first to hear what I’m up to!
• Last but not least, I’m excited to announce that The Ghazal Page has accepted my submission of “Ghazal of Humanity” for an upcoming publication!

Please watch for updated on these and other topics in the near future!

Tempers of Abuse (+ Coffee Phix Open Mic #2 and beyond!)

This is my third consecutive weekly post to this blog! Go me!

Today, I’d like to share the second Blitz Poem I’ve completed. It’s entitled “Tempers of Abuse” and it was inspired, at least in part, by the issue of bullying. A particularly common but too-often-overlooked form of abuse, I find even the concept of such cruelty to be nauseating, and I wholeheartedly believe the behavior to be unacceptable from any species that dares to call itself “intelligent” in any sense.

As I mentioned in “Dear Old School,” I was bullied many times over the course of my childhood. For this reason and others, it is a concern which I’ve come to hold close to my heart. If you share my anti-bullying passion, please speak out, as I do via social media outlets (such as my Twitter feed) and poetry, in an effort to improve awareness of the issue. Thank you, and enjoy my new poem:

The Blitz poetry format lends itself well to serious subjects, doesn’t it?

In other news, a friend and I will be attending the second open mic event at the reincarnated Coffee Phix Café tomorrow night (6-17-2015). We’ll both be debuting new material as part of our performances, so you don’t want to miss this show! Also, the venue is locally owned & run, and I can personally testify that interesting customers come by often (especially on open mic nights–hint, hint!), so please be kind and support the shop by purchasing a drink and/or snack to enjoy along with the entertainment. Thanks! See you there!

P.S.: Coffee Phix plans to hold these events on the first & third Thursday evenings of each month!

Forever Forecast

This piece takes a brief look at what I perceive as the worst-case scenario for humanity’s fate, as well as a message of hope for other species which outlive our own. As with most of my work, I enthusiastically encourage you to initiate relevant conversation with myself and each other in this post’s comment section.

The Habitat For Humanity Song

Song lyrics are poetry put to music. That said, here is a song I wrote while on my 3rd Habitat For Humanity trip in Putnam County, TN, about the amazing experience of going on that trip. I am including the video in this post with the lyrics below.