| THIRTY-SEVEN
CENTS Vol. 2, No. 5 An Online Chapter of Missouri State Poetry Society 1 May 2003 |
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FOCUS ON THE FLOWERS Spring is in full glory all around us--at home,
at work, at play--with lawns to mow, baseball and soccer games to take children
to, vacations to plan and carry out. More and more activities clutter
our personal landscapes. Our time for writing is limited even more
than usual. The photo above by Lee Ann Russell is a good spring reminder
to focus on the beauty in the various aspects of our lives. The pawpaw
is designated a shrub by some botanists, a "low tree" by others, but whichever
you call it (and whether or not you like the fruit these blooms promise),
the pawpaw along creeks and rivers from New York to Nebraska and south
to Florida and Texas shyly produces one-to-two-inch blossoms before quickly
onsetting foliage hides their beauty. Learn the lesson presented here.
Focus on the flowers (write the poems) of your personal spring before
the season gets away. Our members have faithfully sent in works to
be included in Thirty-Seven Cents, new poems as well as old.
It makes no difference here, but take the time to write a few fresh
ones while you can. I have never eaten pawpaw preserves.
--Tom Padgett, Editor
Next Issue Missouri State Poetry Society
National Federation of State Poetry
Societies
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APRIL ISSUES OF ONLINE NEWSLETTERS ARE AVAILABLE NOW
Remember to read Spare Mule Online and Strophes Online at the addresses given on the Contents menu. You can keep up with members who get newsletters by mail by remembering to read them on the Net. NFSPS MEETS IN SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA, IN JUNE Our national organization will meet June 5-8 for its annual convention at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Tom Padgett will be on the program conducting a workshop on the use of computers to build and maintain poetry chapters. As part of the hands-on instruction, participants in the workshop will visit this site and see your work. When they read this sentence, they will raise their hands. Come on now, participant, raise your hand. Show your leaders that you can follow directions, even those given by computers.
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POEMS BY MEMBERS HAIKU (Barbara Magerl) Hyacinth fragrance heady scent of spring's rebirth wafts on zephyr wings RESURRECTION MOURN (Todd Sukany) At the peep of dawn Feet donning a dew suit And self searching for colorful eggs Stripes and welts of plum Crimson streams paint an olive shell Seeking sweetness and pleasure Discovering agony and splinters. I COULD WORSHIP (Tammie Bush) I could worship the sun maybe not the ball of hydrogen itself but it's effect twice a day I am stunned into stillness and joy what pride and innocence of purpose to parade twice a day across the whole planets sky just to please sleepy people MY PLACE (Tania Gray) Little chair in the comer, Little clock on the wall, Little cat on the cushion-- How I need them all! This matter, all that matters, This moment, standing still, This life, one worth living, This heart, one to fill. Little prism in the window, Little candle on the shelf, Little footstool, little basket-- Big extensions of myself. A universe of smallness, Atoms of infinite space, Eternity on my horizon, Ultimate love in your face. SEASONAL FRUSTRATION (Bev Conklin) I love to live where seasons change. I really do, you know; but when it's time, let's hurry up. Their change is much too slow. Don't waiver back and forth for weeks twixt warm, and cold, and warm. That kind of weather breeds strong winds and thunder storms. When the calendar says it's time for spring, I'm waiting and I'm ready. When I see ice and frozen blooms, my temper's not too steady! HAIKU (Wesley Willis) . Spring flowers fruitful nectar for the butterfly inhaling sweetness. Honey of the bees sucking nectar for its strength for the long flight home. |
CONSULTATION (Gwen Eisenmann) Am I ready now? Have I learned enough to write the picture of an "old lady" (that's what children call me, but they don't know what old is) --an old lady learning what wise is? This vast cosmic self goes on its way in vehicle after vehicle without consulting me. That much I've learned and welcome the idea of surprise. If that's wise it's knowing we continue. As for consultation, perhaps in writing down the words of old poetry, remembering the feeling of dreams, I'll recall what was given, not asked but recorded, to be read. It's my own script I'm consulting! SPEAK PEACE INTO THE DAY (Jean Even) Speak peace into the day It shall return unto you More than a hundred fold. Hold it in your arms with care Placing it close to your heart. Let it grow into a warm smile And in friendship let it depart So it can change a frown into a smile And bring peace into your day. BEFORE AND AFTER SUNSETS (Harding Stedler) Hours before daybreak, I wake from a half-night's sleep and count vehicles that do not pass. Full throttle, freight trains race to beat the dawn. Cold and coal meet briefly on the tracks, each searching for the other. Through familiar paths I stagger, eager to feel a desert breeze and the grain of seeds between my fingers. I yearn to plant warm days and nights and sunsets after ten. SUMMER'S B-MOVIES (Tom Padgett) Hornet mafia from gum-tree hide-out plans sting operation. Cat-burglar squirrels dangle in our apple tree for golden opals. Ruthless rabbits rob backyard convenience store of greenbacked shoots and run. FARMER’S ALMANAC (Darwyne Tessier) As spring approached with winter’s fade, Dad started to study his new planting bible. Reading it through, he carefully made Our crops depend on this source--reliable, Using methods from centuries past, Giving foreknowledge what weather would be. However, when summer burned up so fast, The truth was there for us to see. |
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REMEMBER TO VISIT THE WORKSHOP PAGE FOR LESSON 7. |