National Poetry Month AND NaPoWriMo

April is National Poetry Month here in the United States, and it is NaPoWriMo - National Poetry Writing Month, too.  NaPoWriMo is a challenge to write thirty poems during the thirty days of April.  I am participating this year.  So far I have written seven of the thirty poems, six of which I have published online.

My Poetry Editor blog is registered with NaPoWriMo, and so that is where I am posting links to all my poems.

So Happy National Poetry Month, everyone, and Happy NaPoWriMo, too.

Remembering Cris

It's not like Cris Advincula and I ever met, yet I felt a kinship with him that will last beyond his life and perhaps mine, too.

Today Cris died unexpectedly from complications of diabetes.  He was a young man, on his computer, probably creating compelling poetry or images as was his wont.  He was ever an inspiring and community building man, always with a positive outlook.   Even when the tsunami took everything, still he was able to take it in stride.  His strength and his creativity remain as totems and exemplars to us, we who are left behind to try to grasp some corner of his genius before it is blown off into oblivion by the winds of time.

Simon Perchik at Eye On Life

This week at Eye On Life, The Poetry Locksmith, it is our pleasure to feature Simon Perchik's poetry. Simon has a unique voice that is worth hearing. I hope you'll stop by and have a look.

In other news, I wrote an article about the new PS900 series power supplies by Ingersoll Rand in an attempt to demystify them. I hope I succeeded. They also came out with a retrofit version designed to ease replacement of the old PS873 series with the new PS900 series. I'll be writing about that soon at Door Hardware Genius.

Being Happy

There is so much that is fun to do.

I wrote a poem and an article about deadbolts , and I published some other poets' poetry, too.

In addition, the weather since Hurricane Irene has been fabulous. The last couple of days I've been able to do some cycling just around the area. But more than that, it's simply wonderful to walk outside when it's neither too hot nor too cold. When the moments are this delicious, it's so much easier to be mindful of them.

Reading Poetry in Public

I tried a new tactic at the Cantab Lounge last night. Usually if I read at open mic I'm nervous, so I have a couple of beers. However, I have noticed that this does not really enhance my performance so I decided to try mindful breathing instead. Mindful breathing worked great. As the crew of the Boston Poetry Slam set up the stage, I breathed and became totally calm. When the first eight or nine poets read, I was open and receptive and ready to thoroughly enjoy - which I did. When I went up to read I was happy and eager. It was a kind of funny, cute poem I wrote about waiting for Donna outside a store. I'll post it someplace and let you know.

At the break I contacted Simone Beaubien, the driving force behind the Boston Poetry Slam and Host City Director for the National Poetry Slam coming up in August. She agreed to an interview. If you'd like to read it, please click here.

Touching Base

I've been busy. I wrote a poem, an article about some new hardware and I published one of our regular contributors to Eye On Life Magazine: Donal Mahoney.

Like I say, I've been busy. :)

Live, Sort of...

I have started putting vocal recordings of some of my work on SoundCloud. It's a good thing... but I don't want it to take the place of open mike at the Cantab in Cambridge as my spoken word outlet. Nevertheless it is nice to be heard, and one cannot be heard if one is silent. In this way I can be heard even when I am silent.

Melissa Diana, Featured Poet on EOL

Eye on Life Online Magazine is kicking off Poetry Month (United States) with work by Melissa Diana. Please come by and read.

Poet's Tool Box

When writing a poem, the poet uses words in a special way to convey meaning. “Meaning” is a slippery word, isn’t it? Well, for our purposes, let’s agree that “meaning” means what a person wants to communicate. Let us further stipulate that the reason poetry exists is because words alone are often not quite up to the task of fully expressing meaning. Poetry helps words do more than what they were designed to do by painting pictures, evoking feelings and triggering thought processes in the mind of the reader or listener. The poet attempts to do this by arranging words in a certain way.

Here is a series I wrote at the request of a friend on how to get more meaning into your poetry:

• Rhyme
• Meter
• Form
• Imagery

These articles appear on "HubPages" - a place where I make a small amount of money when people see the ads Google places on the page.

Frank De Canio

Please stop by to check out Frank De Canio’s work at Eye On Life Online Magazine (the Poetry Locksmith section). Interesting poetry from an interesting poet. I don’t often accept rhyming poetry, but Frank really makes it work.

Steele Fields

New poet up on Eye On Life Magazine: Steele Fields

Chris Grasso - Featured Poet

Chris Grasso is Featured Poet in the Poetry Locksmith section of Eye On Life Online Magazine this week. Be sure to check out his work.

Eye On Life Poetry Contest 2010 - 2011

First Prize: $100
Second Prize $50
Entries accepted November 15st, 2010 through January 31st, 2011. Winners announced in February, 2011. See contest rules below:

Entry fee: $1 per poem, payable in U.S. Dollars by check or money order payable to Tom Rubenoff

• No entry fees will be refunded
  
• Submit up to 5 poems
  
• Poems can be any style, no more than 400 words
  
• Poems must be original, previously unpublished
  

Mail entries with entry fees to:

Eye on Life Poetry Contest
c/o Tom Rubenoff, Poetry Editor
P.O. Box 35457
Brighton, MA 02135

• No poems submitted to this competition will be returned
  
• No entries will be accepted without payment
  
• No online entries will be accepted. Submit entries by mail only.
  

The top five poems will be published at Eye On Life Online Magazine. Honorable mentions may be given as well.

Other prizes may be announced. If you would like to donate a prize to the Eye On Life Poetry Contest, please email tomr@rubecom.us

Changes at the Poetry Locksmith

Look for big changes soon at the Poetry Locksmith at Eye On Life Online Magazine.

This year's poetry contest will have no entry fee.
First prize will be $100
Second prize will be $50
Working on 3rd prize.

If you are interested in sponsoring a prize, please contact me.

In addition, I will be announcing a new fiscal sponsor for our Poetry Travel Fund.

Keep your eyes open. You don't want to miss nothing!

New Poems Up

New poems up at Eye On Life Magazine!

http://www.eyeonlifemag.com/poetry-unlocked/

Check out "Jimmy the Blind Man Says He's in Love" and "Small Time Town"

Good stuff.

Summer Poetry

In summer the poetry universe slows down, kicks back, goes on vacation, but not the Poetry Locksmith , where I have published my first review in a series on poetry for summer reading.

Next I'll review a book by local Boston poet, Ben Mazer, "Poems"

Please stay tuned. :)

Poetry Contest Winners to be Announced

Winners of the first annual Eye On Life Poetry Contest will be announced next week on February 23rd or 25th.

We enjoyed an eclectic and wonderful assortment of entries and we will be hard pressed to select the winning poem. But we will. All winners will be published here on Eye On Life. The first prize winner will receive $100 and publication. The second prize winner will receive a gift crate from Zhi Tea and publication. Third prize winners will receive publication.

Thank you to all entrants. It was a pleasure reading all the entries.

We hope next year even more poets hop on board and enter the contest. Contest entries are accepted from November 15th through January 31st.

Regular poetry submissions are accepted year round.

Send Momma To The Slam

In my role as Poetry Editor for Eye on Life Online Magazine I have had the pleasure of reading and publishing poetry. Some of the talented poets I have corresponded with have fallen into a particular demographic – female, poets who do not currently read their work in public, between 25 and 45 years old, with small children to care for. We have chosen four of these women to send to the Women Of The World Poetry Slam in March.

If you would like to help us “Send Momma To The Slam”, please CLICK HERE.