Poetry Related: Poetry Foundation

Hi Friends,
If you love poetry (you do love poetry, right?) you should definitely check out the website of the Poetry Foundation. It's all things poetic, and a great resource for poets and writers. I recently discovered their page, and I'm still trekking through the labyrinth of information available there. There's a learning lab, poetry for children, historical articles, a mobile APP, Poetry Magazine, and of course, lots of great poetry. Don't have time to read? They even have an audio feature.

Poetry Foundation

 

 

Also be sure to check out their blog, called Harriet Blog. The latest article is a very intriguing one, about the profitability, or more accurately the lack thereof, of a career in poetry. I think the times are ripe with opportunity for careers in all the arts, but check it out and see what you think. It's definitely worth reading.

Best Always!
Rose

Poem from "Write or Die"

A poem for you to enjoy.  It's from my work in progress, a book of short and rebellious verse called "Write or Die" that explores the dark, the wild, the redeemed, and the savage... 

Dawn

Without regrets, without remorse, without sorrows
Bury quietly yesterdays, resurrect gleaming tomorrows.
Down falls the ruined tower of dreams deferred
Of pleas unanswered, of prayers unheard;
The long deep dark of unbroken cold
The sovereign night in which hope grows old
And the dew of youth, brewed to a murky mixture
Does unglue the truth and makes lies the fixture.
Like docile slaves, we fasten the shackles about our feet
Then complain and cry in pain to every free soul that we meet.
We watch with envy-laden eyes those who rise like satellites
Men who loved and lived their dreams, achieving astral heights.
Those alone on the ground look around and see the truth,
Decades have been squandered, we've seen the end of joyous youth.
It's at that moment, when all seems lost and darkness rules the sky
That the twinkle of a single star ignites and lights our eye--
Then comes the shift, when cleansing winds sweep the clouds aside
The full splendor of the moon appears, and wicked shadows hide,
Their power broken.  By the passage of time we have a token:
Even the darkest night holds a promise unspoken.
For the tears that we cry, fallen just before the dawn
Are the tears that purify, giving strength to carry on,
And when the first golden rays hit the sky and make a blaze
They burn a fire that rises higher and lights the soul a million days.
They thaw the heart, that frozen deep had ceased to love and ceased to beat;
And then remembrance returns of all we once held dear and sweet...
We chance to hope: a fragile hope, but still a hope, renewed at last.
We shake the yoke and shackles like the sad detritus of the past.
Without regrets, without remorse, without sorrows
Bury quietly yesterdays, resurrect gleaming tomorrows.

Copyright The Poet Rose

A Poem For Merlin

If you watched the BBC Series Merlin for any length of time, you'll probably share my feelings about the cancellation of the show last year.  I was so sad about it (yet ashamed to admit it) I stopped watching the programs on DVD and HULU altogether.  Then I realized that lots of other fans were experiencing the same thing.  But who wants to admit that they're a full grown adult getting all emotional and disappointed about the untimely cancellation of a TV show?  Only the truest fans will do it, and thanks to them, there are plenty of sites now where you can see fan art, fan fiction (some are fan-written screenplays for subsequent seasons,) scene montages, and other stuff to keep your Camelot-ian heart happy.  If you need some support or you want to get inside our heads about why we're missing this show so much, there's a really good op ed on Hypable about why we're still mourning Merlin.  Thought I'd share a Top 10 List of why I want this show to come back, even if just for the 6th Season we were all hoping for. And there's an original poem below that I wrote a couple years ago, inspired by the series, although it's not directly about the show.

Top 10 Reasons I'd Love Another Season of Merlin on BBC

10.  The cast was outstanding! They were very engaging, and they worked so well together.  The triad of Colin Morgan (Merlin), Bradley James (Arthur), and Richard Wilson (Gaius) all working for the common cause of defending Camelot and yet keeping all sorts of secrets from each other was genius. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching, it just worked.

9.  The soundtrack was epic, especially for a TV show.

8.  The costumes were also terrific, especially for Katie McGrath (Morgana) and Angel Coulby (Guinevere.) Some of those pieces were just magnificent and very rich to watch.

7.  The stories tended to be quite gripping, a great way to totally disconnect from everyday life.  You could lose yourself in Camelot for an hour a week and forget that you burned dinner or got stood up again. (Not that it's ever happened to me.)

6.  The themes were universal, sort of reminiscent of Gene Rodenberry.  Although we were watching a fantasy and seeing things wholly unfamiliar to our contemporary life, the themes of acceptance, living peacefully with others, love and loss, etc. are concepts we all know and can relate to.  And the writers of Merlin treated those themes really well.

5.  Bradley James is gorgeous!

4.  We never got to see the Camelot of legend, the great kingdom of peace, prosperity, and goodness that thrived under the reign of King Arthur. By cutting the series short, the producers failed to deliver on the promises made throughout the seasons, that by his devotion and tireless work Merlin would help Arthur usher in the Golden Age of Albion.  It feels as if the series as a whole will never be complete now.

3.  The marriage of Arthur and Guinevere was not treated with the care it deserved.  We didn't get to see much of the married life of the most fabled royal couple in Western literature.  And there was no wedding scene, boo! Worse, we didn't even see a proper funeral ceremony for King Arthur.  The last episode was hurried and missing some very important scenes as well.  Bringing the show back would give the writers a way to flash back and treat the fans to some of the scenes we really want to see. 

2.  Merlin was one of the few prime time programs ever to feature an interracial couple of a Black or bi-racial woman (Coulby) and a White man (James), and not make it an issue.  In fact, the diverse casting of Merlin made it sensational to watch.  But specifically, the chemistry between beautiful Angel Coulby and  Bradley James was mesmerizing.  They complemented each other's talent and played some scenes that are destined to become classic. I'd love to see them on screen together again.

1.  If there were one more season of Merlin, it could be a great lead-up to a full feature movie! (hint, hint)



Now, here's the poem. I wrote it about a personal situation, but it was written during my "Merlin" period and clearly inspired by my love of Arthurian lore. This is one of the darker poems I've written; I actually do not write many dark poems or rhyming verse. It was just one of those times... This poem is included in my upcoming book of Gothic poetry "Song of Shadows." So if you like Gothic poetry or dark poetry, you'll like the book.  You can share this poem with friends or post it on your Facebook as long as you attribute it to me, but please check out my copyright information first so you know what's okay and what's not okay to do with it. Hope you enjoy...

The Lady Of The Lake

I cried my life like falling rain

I cried my love's unending pain

I cried my voice like wailing gust

I cried my dreams in broken trust

I cried my eyes with heavy wails

I cried my arms like rushing gales

I cried my hopes an early death

I cried my kiss like wasted breath

I cried my soul a lonely grave

I cried my heart I could not save

I cried my tears that never end

I cried my years without a friend

I cried my song for sorrow's sake

I cried myself into the Lake.

Copyright Rose Evenstar

Is This Another Poetry Blog?

It is :) But before you click away, won't you stay a minute?  I have a very good reason for making this blog.  Poetry is my life. I've been writing it since childhood, and in my teen years I imagined I was in love with dead poets. Seriously.  Rumi, Donne, Petrarch, Shakespeare, Keats, Hughes, can't get enough of 'em.  But who reads poetry anymore? Poetry is so neglected in a fast-moving world, nobody remembers it until Valentine's Day when they're shopping for cards to tape to the boxes of chocolates.  Who even has time for it? You can't send it in a text message, it doesn't make a very exciting e-book, and it won't get you many views on Youtube... It seems poetry has no place in the technological age unless it's filled with four-letter words and superimposed over a deafening bass line. So what's going to happen to poetry if nobody likes it anymore? Will we let it go the way of all un-loved things, into a dusty grave with VHS tapes, powdered wigs, and spray starch? I'm hoping not.
If you've never had the joy of opening a handwritten letter containing a beautiful yet hopelessly flawed original poem written just for you, then let me introduce you to that.  If you remember the days when people shared poems, letters, and flowers before beds, let me remind you of that. And if you could care less about all this, thanks for reading me this far. It's been a pleasure!
If you come back to my blog, there'll be some poems, some critiques, some recommendations, some interviews, and lots of other stuff that may or may not interest you. Sometimes I write a lot, and sometimes I'm off in the stars of my own universe, so you won't see me for a bit. But definitely, there will be Poetry! And feel free to share your poems here, the good, the bad, and the cheesy. Let's stick to the clean stuff so young people can join in. Thanks a bunch.
Love ya!
Rose