The Emperor has died

We march Uptown
Head, I hate you.
Y you wanna treat me so bad?

Pink cashmere in the Purple Rain
Raspberry beret in the Little red corvette
I feel for you
Nothing compares to you
Controversy - Delirious, Let's go crazy with
Endorphinmachine.


Whose song titles did I use for a poem? A clue is in the poem!

Cupcake by Shawn Jackson

Shawn Jackson read his poem "Cupcake" on Saturday, April 23rd at Cinema Paradiso. His poem had wit with an unexpected twist so I asked him a couple questions:

1. Where were you when inspired?

My girlfriend bakes the best cakes and cupcakes ever. One day I was bored and in need of a topic to write about. I asked a friend to give me a topic and she said Cupcakes. I fully understood what she expected me to write but I wanted to create something that would be an unexpected surprise.

2. I noticed the acrostic for 'Cupcake' , have you experimented with any other forms?

Other than a few Haiku's I'm just beginning to explore different styles of poetry. 

3. Which poets inspire you?

Henry W Longfellow, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, Jewel and countless slam poets. 

Here's Shawn Jackson's poem for you to enjoy:

Dialing for Wisdom

I had the pleasure of hosting a poetry reading this past Saturday and will be featuring some of the poets in the upcoming weeks.

The first poet is Mara Schlackman who was inspired to write the poem Dialing for Wisdom after a visit to the Broward Art Guild's gallery in 2015:

Day 9: 2016 National Poetry Month

Why I Cry



So many tears I've cried yet I'm not done.

Not because it's election year and dirty

Slings are part of the game. As people shun

And shame and play guilty games for country.

So many tears still welled up inside me

Not because people are so self-centered

That they can't put the cellphone down even

When someone is right there helping.

We all think of our own needs and not of others.

I'm no different with things I want to do

As I wished to see all the worldly offers

Instead of spending some time to visit you.

So now I cry for all I can never say

And I wished you had lived even just one more day.

Copyright 2016 Suzzette Dawes

April 1, 2016

April 1st is April's Fools Day, a day renown for pranks

A free pass in some workplaces although it is a work day,

radio stations deejays have a field day 

And listeners delight in the prank.

It is also the beginning of National Poetry Month

And somewhere someone is writing yet another editorial

Declaring poetry is dead or why it matters.

More bothersome to me is why April?

When tradition holds the first day for fools.

A fool and is money may be easily parted

But are poets and their verse easily imparted

To the masses?

Copyright 2016 Suzzette Dawes

NASA and Poetry

So NASA wants to send poetry from humans to the asteroid Bennu.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nasa-will-send-your-art-into-space_us_56e73ce3e4b0b25c9183081b

 If there are inhabitants of Bennu be forewarned: before replying with beautiful art and poetry of your own and letting us know of your existence, our scientists will gather samples retrieved during the mission to "provide important clues of how our solar system formed and evolved" or more apropos is new place to colonize (we have history).

Here's a poem I wrote for our Venutians neighbors, Bennuites I will go write to send you that poem:

Venus is our planetary neighbor

Which brings hope to learn

Our history and our future.

They found bright spots

Indicating flowing lava 

From active volcanoes.

The terrains had less craters

Than Mars which also may have had water

Russian astronauts pierced the shroud

And had a look.

Earth is our predatory neighbor

Which brings us fear to learn

That they have pierced our veil -

Our force field of sulfuric acid 

In the atmosphere and entered our terrain.

Once they realized Venus sustains life

We'll expect the colonization

And destruction of our terrain,

Our Venus.

Copyright 2016 Suzzette Dawes

Tallahassee II

Last weekend I went to Tallahassee

The black top, shrubbery and trees

Was all I saw for miles and miles

Until just after turnpike and before I-10, red leaves

Either green or stark branches for miles and miles

Interspersed among the green were red trees

I didn't know the type of tree but appreciated the beauty

Unlike my mom misunderstanding of my cousin's sexuality

She's still my cousin, she's still my mother's niece 

I couldn't understand the questions my mother was asking me

Her concern seems misplaced of my well-being

I've travelled much further and have been away longer without a peep

It made me shake my head in disbelief

That she thought what she thought

And the impact that it would have on me

My mother and her strange theories about her niece

Tallahassee I've wanted to visit but also visit my younger cousin

Who's busy and involved with events in her community.

We remembered the times when I took her and her brother to watch Toy Story

We made new memories visiting the capital and a night of karaoke.

Copyright (c) 2016 Suzzette Dawes