Sunday, December 29, 2013

Count Downs

The title dictates that we are counting down something. I always liked that Billboard’s top 100 count-down. Some others are ok (such as top influential people of 2013) and some are truly morbid (people who died in 2013). However, when I am in the supermarket line and every cover has some kind of count down, I get really sick of count downs. So let's add one more list so we can be truly sated - My Top Nine Influences in 2013:

9.         Poetry Contests – so I barely entered any for 2013 but I made a note of deadlines and guidelines for poetry chapbook contests for 2014

8.         ART - After viewing Art (I can barely pass up a good artwalk such as Island City Art Walk, FATs Village or when Sailboat Bend is open to the public), I feel an surge from my eyes to my fingers and I must write. Also see post “Art Walk

7.         Other poets have inspired me such as those I have blogged about (Meryl, Linda,Anastasia, Monica, Richard) to those I have watched performed at venues (Emily, Ryan and CheChe)

6.         Food - my elixir and my problem; hence, my need to write and to exercise. See post “Onefor the Road” for elixir and any grumpy post and poem: ”The Torturer” in Tortured Souls for the problem

5.         A vacation that inspired. see post “ATreat for the Senses

4.         Learning about “prompts” at FWA conference (and eventually using them; see post on “PoetryChallenge”).

3.         Figuring out that my research on where to go read poetry should be shared on my blog (Poetry in News and Around Town).

2.         Reading poetry in Daytona then going to Sarasota for a PoetryLife event (see post “TheRoad from Daytona to Sarasota”) and seeing poet Naomi Shihab Nye (a poet herself) reading a WS Merwin poem for “Favorite Poet Reading” at a PoetryLife event in Sarasota.


1.         On the Road – after watching the movie, I planned my own road-trip and named my first blog post “On the Road

I want to know your top influences of 2013. Add to the comments below.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Poetry Challenge (deuxiéme partie)

So I continued the poetry challenge but I couldn't append to previous post without turning on my PC as iPad limit reached but I did tweet or email myself depending how awake I was that morning.
Recap: for 1 week, I will use word of the day from dictionary.com as a prompt and write a poem. Since Monday, I would wake up, look up the word of the day and write until 6:30 am before going to work. Friday was my birthday so I took off from work so no 6 am alarm to wake me but I still tried for the word of the day.
(Last post covered Monday and Tuesday, hence why I am starting with Wednesday)

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday
It's my birthday, I'll cry if I want to...
Why start a challenge knowing it's my birthweek?
Saturday
It's nuts to do but fun!
Sunday


SHOUT-OUT
Congratulations to Sandra on the launch of her book; available at Amazon.
  http://amzn.to/1hnPsCF

POETRY AROUND TOWN 

Poetry Club. South Regional/BC Library Multi-Purpose Room. Monthly, 3rd Tuesdays at 6:30pm.
Poetry & Spoken Word. Goddess Store n Studio. 2017 Harrison St, Hollywood, FL. Monthly, 3rd Sundays at 6 pm.
Open mike (music, comedy, poetry). Gigi’s Music Café. 4385 NW 88 Ave. Sunrise, FL. Weekly on Wednesdays at 7 pm.
Some resources for poetry events include poetry.openmikes.org and meetup.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS


10th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival
When: January 20-25, 2014
http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Poetry Challenge

What?
Broaden my vocabulary?
Dictionary.com has a word of the day.
Challenge accepted! I will be inspired by the word of the day for the next week.
Sunday
misoneism: hatred or dislike of what is new or represents change. 
I'll use an old but on point poem from Tortured Souls:
Monday
klaxon: loud electric horn, formerly used on automobiles, trucks, etc., and now often used as a warning signal. 


Tuesday
cathexis
kuh-THEK-sis

noun
  1.  Psychoanalysis.  the investment of emotional significancein an activity, object, or idea.

  2.  Psychoanalysis.  the charge of psychic energy so invested.
--- dictionary.com


POETRY AROUND TOWN 

Poetry Club. South Regional/BC Library Multi-Purpose Room. Monthly, 3rd Tuesdays at 6:30pm.
Poetry & Spoken Word. Goddess Store n Studio. 2017 Harrison St, Hollywood, FL. Monthly, 3rd Sundays at 6 pm.
Open mike (music, comedy, poetry). Gigi’s Music Café. 4385 NW 88 Ave. Sunrise, FL. Weekly on Wednesdays at 7 pm.
Some resources for poetry events include poetry.openmikes.org and meetup.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS


10th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival
When: January 20-25, 2014
http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/





Sunday, December 8, 2013

There

There

I let it all get to my head
Without focusing on the good
And solely focusing on the bad
Then I left it all behind.

In my ears was his chatter
About how it used to be
Constantly complaining
On how it is now
Yet he is still there.

In my eyes was her demeanor
About her mistreatment
Constantly complaining
But needs the benefits for here
So she is still there.

In my heart was their pain
About their sickness
Constantly complaining on getting sicker
Not sure if they can go elsewhere
They are still there.

I didn’t want to be one of them
Trapped with no chance of promotion
Constantly complaining, constantly getting sick
So I left it all behind
And I am no longer there.

From Tortured Souls, Copyrighted 2013 Suzzette Dawes

Where is your "there?" 

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Seasonal Sadness

Sorry Lana but I don't understand summertime sadness. Then again I do avoid the bikini clad beaches. Summer is long gone but sadness rather madness marks this season. It started right after Halloween, that's right, Christmas decorations were everywhere and pre-Black Friday activities abound. Some retailers were open on Thanksgiving Day luring shoppers with deals where shoppers rush off after gobbling their dinners, waiting in lines and rushing around the store to grab their deals (I hope the retail employees had a good meal before dealing with this crowd. Also, see some the backlash to shopping on Thanksgiving Day at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=557622844315156&set=a.495770773833697.1073741828.495680573842717&type=1&theater which has an image and succinctly states:"If you're shopping on Thanksgiving ... You're part of the problem."

It is a nasty circle where consumers via demand control the market but retailers discount the supply to lure the customer. It created Black Friday madness where retailers were opening at 5 am in prior years then last year few retailers opened ahead of a Black Friday on Thanksgiving at 8 pm and this year even more retailers opened on Thanksgiving. So what is the future of Thanksgiving? Well, according to pundits, the consumer is responsible.

So why my sadness? Two main reasons: I feel that Thanksgiving is slipping away and will be just another day open for sales like New Year's Day, President's Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day. As an immigrant, I didn't understand at first but later adapted Thanksgiving Day and had just begun to enjoy it with the family. My family has many people with different religious persuasions and some don't celebrate the Holy days. Thanksgiving is the only holiday where we can get together because it is not really linked to any major religion. My second reason: I have embarked on accepting seasonal employment in retail and have already seen some pretty bad behavior by shoppers reminiscing of "Jingle All the Way" and most movies of bad retail shoppers (too many to describe). Therefore, I suffer from seasonal sadness.

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My poem for the week

Since I am suffering from seasonal sadness, I will share some poem therapy (a poem that is a bit of rhyme with a touch of silliness to lift the mood):

ILLNESS
Picasso is calling my name,
Shapes appear out of thin air.
First, a cube, a rhombus and then a square
Are dangling and swirling above my head.

Red, black, blue and white!
The colors are changing in my sight.
My eyes are blurry, my brain feels dead -
The shapes are dancing on the walls instead.

Each time I focus and when I move,
My head gets heavier and out of groove.
From neck down to my "itty-bitty" toes,
The pain throbs and continues to grow!

From The Collection, copyrighted 2013 by Suzzette Dawes

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So what is your take on Thanksgiving: will it go away?