plea to a higher power

On this day in 2153 many lives were lost
two governments, names forgotten
slew each other's people
humanity stuck in a homicidal rut
have we changed at all?
save us, evolution!

read after eating

http://www.dailycabal.com/ "Hold the Mayo," my new flash story, a tale of sandwiches & terror.

another dang poem

Can't Eat Just One

People ask me why
I prefer yellow suns
it's simple really
you don't have to add butter.
And stay away
from the galactic core
one bite
and you'll be sucked right in.
It's like a potato chip
only bigger
and not as salty .

really?

this plastic truck
some of these artifacts
came from Mars

144 cases

man bites lace
trapped under ice with only
edible drawers

land of the Giants

William jumped
to the next grain of sand
rising tide

tribute to Ogden Nash?

I think that I shall never eat
an olive bigger than my feet

AZicality

a blue cat devours
eleven fairy godmothers
how inconsiderate

loop

would you book tickets
on Mr. Wells' new machine
nevermind I'm home

new flash

http://www.dailycabal.com/2010/05/al/ -- A close encounter

identity theft

your infection spreads
to every part of me
Y becomes X

never needs cutting

nature vs nurture
sing praise in chorus for
a well-trained clipped verdure
our safety to restore.

options we had many
we went with centipede
it strangles, then dismembers
its genome has been freed.

e real thi

oca-co


“Here's something”

plastic containers

outlive us all

Sirian exoarcheologists

ponder faded ad copy


end

reprint nanofiction

https://twitter.com/7x20/status/14354862267

tall, too

The Promise of Tubers



Jerusalem Artichokes

shift through the spectrum,

give up hydrogen,

and half as much oxygen.

No sunny flowers now,

pretty boy,

no crunchy snacks,

just compost for next year,

and the everlasting Sun,

which, unless I'm very much mistaken,

is moving closer every year,

and when the corona gets just a little closer,

we'll see some fireworks for sure!


the end

DN 86

Subscriber & contributor copies mailed today & yesterday.

beyond the reef

this chill tentacle
curled about my throat
welcome home

the first year is so hard

can you say
which sprout is the vine we seek
this unfamiliar leaf

hello?

the story ends
with the heat-death of the universe
no one fills the hat

genre poetry contest for new poets

Copied from Karen Romanko post to sfpanet

Most folks here won't be eligible for this contest, because the requirement is three paid poetry publications or less, but I hope you'll help spread the word on your blogs/websites and to any new poets you may teach or mentor.

Thanks!

Contest Guidelines – SFPA New Poets Contest: The Art of Poetry

The Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA) is holding a poetry contest with art as its inspiration! The contest is offering cash prizes and there are no fees to enter. New poets are invited to contribute. Non-members as well as members are eligible. Please read the complete rules below for theme, submission specifics, etc. Then write 'em up and send 'em in!

PRIZES:
First prize: $10, a one year SFPA membership, and publication on SFPA's web site
Second prize: $8, a copy of Cinema Spec: Tales of Hollywood and Fantasy, and publication on SFPA's web site
Third prize: $7, a copy of Dwarf Stars 2009, and publication on SFPA's web site

We plan to archive the winning poems indefinitely, but authors may request removal from the web site after six months. SFPA reserves the right to grant all, some, or none of the prizes, at its discretion.

WHO MAY ENTER:
The contest is open to new poets, SFPA members and nonmembers alike, with the following exclusions. Poets must have three or fewer paid poetry publication credits. No members of the contest committee, no current SFPA officers or web site staff, and no family members of the judges may enter the contest.

CONTEST THEME:
SFPA has posted links to five works of art at the SFPA Forum. Write a speculative poem of 20 lines or less inspired by one of these works of art. All forms welcome--haiku, cinquains, tanka, sonnets, free verse, etc., but poems must contain one or more of the following elements: science fiction, fantasy, horror, surrealism or straight science. Post previously unpublished poems only. No reprints. Poems should be appropriate for a general audience. We reserve the right to remove from contest consideration and from the forums any poems that might be considered above a "PG" rating.

SUBMISSION SPECIFICS:
Submissions must be made at the SFPA Forum (http://www.sfpoetry.com/forum/index.php). Registration at the forum will be required to post poems. Poets shall submit poems as posts under the heading SFPA New Poets Contest: The Art of Poetry. This topic will be password-protected. The password will be listed on the forum, right under the contest topic heading. One must register to even SEE the contest topic. One poem per post, with a maximum of three poems per person. Include your name, title of poem, and then text of poem. Winners will be contacted for their addresses via email after the contest closes.

DEADLINE:
The deadline for submissions is 11:59 EDT on June 30, 2010. SFPA reserves the right to extend the contest deadline, if necessary. Winners will be announced on the SFPA Forum. Questions? The first topic under the contest heading is the place to post questions. If you cannot access this topic after registering, post your question in the "Website and Forum" area. The SFPA shall not be held liable if submissions cannot be made due to website problems or connection difficulties, etc.

harbinger

stone robins fall
each spring but I miss old school
each beating breast

My duotrope interview

http://www.duotrope.com/interview.aspx?id=116

DN 86

At least some copies will be mailed tomorrow.

red collar of disappointment

undinner bell rings
shadow freezes under
the old wood deck

Cook before you leap

Think I'll stay put

There was a young mollusk named Stan
who found himself dipped in a pan
butter was bubbling
the heat it was troubling
“But fire's much worse,” remarked Stan

Collaboratorious

http://www.dailycabal.com/2010/05/parameters-of-the-parametes/ -- Dead at the Cabal, exquisitely

DN 86 Contents

Dreams & Nightmares 86

Contents

Randy Moore cover
From the Brain Stem 3
Sheila Kopaska-Merkel, Cookie? 3
Gary Every, Moon Tickets 4
Ruth Berman, Affair 5
Neal Wilgus, Mariah 6
Brian Trent, A holiday in Necropolis 7
Terrie Leigh Relf, SETI message in translation 8
Samantha Henderson, The Pharaoh Plays at Senet 9
Richard Fay, From the bubbling black pool 10
Marge Simon, The Wavering Hour 11
Terrie Leigh Relf, The Boortean Storybook Hour:
A Fairytale Romance 13
Denny Marshall, illo 14
Fred Herman, Four Bits of the Rim 15
Denny Marshall, illo 17
Roger Dutcher, The Last Day 18
Darrell Schweitzer, In ghostly Ravenna 19

what do they know that we don't know?

stone
tools had
been replaced
high-tech look-alikes
filled the worlds museums; who made
iridium-rich copies of Earth's antiquities?

quadrophenia

Dr. Jim
only see him when I
rotate dimensions



What do you call it when you rock in 11 orthogonal ways?

dog park dome

poodles on Mars
frolic in spring sun
CO2 sublimates

Rodinian visitation

algae sleep
in icy shroud
warm shuttle lands

Darths & Droids has a good point

what if
all your followers were clones
bellwether you
shapeshifter clicks follow
just like everybody else



http://www.darthsanddroids.net/

son of "After noon"

he swallowed
mushroom water flood
flying fish

fall fossil field workshop for teachers

http://dreamnnightmare.livejournal.com/109744.html

I usually stick to things somehow related to science fiction in this blog, but I can't resist posting this notice about a workshop we will be holding for science teachers in October.

urp

bird flew
from tree to feeder
a licking of chops

new dead alien story

http://www.dailycabal.com/

oh noes!

The bottle tipped


the parchment estuary flooded
across the map
like a silver tongue,
speaking of reeds, crabs
and huge, mud-colored fish
swimming slowly beneath
the blotter,
their dead orange eyes
rolling with the tide.


end

DN 86

Back from the printer.

turn it up

Getting old


All winter I fantasize
about a solar flare
a gigantic gout of fire
erupting from the Sun's
unsettled belly.

I'm not greedy
I want just enough
to make it about 10 degrees
warmer
at my house.

Until spring.

And never wear my scarf indoors again.


end

DN 86

dreams and nightmares 86 is at the printer and has been proofed. I expect to get the big box of zines any day now.

maybe last time

Flicking the time switch



Pain, cacophony, disorientation

the sensorium overwhelmed

body rebelling

discharges from orifices, etc.


Clearly, going back two days

to tell Jake where to stick it

was a luxury she couldn't yet afford,


but she was close, so close

to delivering the skewering words
when they counted most

and she had all the time in the world

to get it right.



end

leftovers

Oh, you can tell



You can recognize

survivors from a previous creation

by the look in their eyes.


A billion years of waiting

for a universe to cool,

for life to evolve,

for new species to achieve spaceflight,

for images and sound encoded

in electromagnetic radiation

to reach

that cold and pitted hull

wherein sapients older than time

play the same damn games

and sip hydroponic home brew,

waiting for the new folk

to reinvent the good stuff.


Oh yes, it leaves a mark.


So if one of them

takes the stool next to you,

buy him or her or it a drink

of something local and highly prized;

don't let on you know,

but listen to the stories;

some of them are probably true.



The end

yesterday all within 2 meters

April garden


anole

shows his red throat

young love


stink bug lady

drags her mate by his privates

takes a real man


chipmunk runs

but he can't hide

hobbles now

how to begin again

A few thoughts on stimulating creativity


In connection with coyotecon.con, a month-long virtual SF convention, I've jotted down a few words about writers' block. At the end I include one example of a way that helps me break out of it. And I promise brevity!

When I first started writing I often had a problem coming up with a suitable idea. The blank page syndrome really cut into my productivity. This was especially bad when I switched from short fiction to poetry. I did that in 1982, when we were expecting our first child. I figured I would have less free time and needed to write shorter things. I still think I was right to make the change, but I had little experience writing poetry, so that negated most of my advantage gained from concision. When I looked at the page, I saw sentences, if I saw anything I had trouble coming up with suitable ideas that I could express in verse. (Partly because I was ignorant of poetic forms, but that's another story.) Over the years I have developed or learned about a few techniques to stimulate creativity.

One of the simplest is to write a list of words. My writing group does this collaboratively every week, but you can do it by yourself. Do some free association and then look at what you have generated. Chances are it will stimulate some ideas.

Another way is to choose a form and a subject and then just see what comes. This is probably more useful for experimenting with different forms than for stimulating an absent spark of creativity. But one way you can use this to tackle both problems at the same time is to take an existing poem in one form and try to rewrite it in a different form. If you do this with one of your own unsuccessful pieces you might come up with something that you can sell. You can also take a published poem by anybody and rewrite it in new form purely as an exercise.

Collaboration can revive flagging inspiration. Over the past decade or so Kendall Evans and I have collaborated on dozens of poems. Many of these have begun with fragments that seemed to go nowhere at first. So I might say "I have something I don't know what to do with, see if it gives you any ideas." More often than not we could achieve more by taking turns than one of us could have alone, because my ideas spring off from his and vice versa.

Here is one of my favorites. Take a long poem that you wrote. The longer the better, and it's even better if it was never finished. Shorten it drastically, and make sure you omit at least some of the main parts of the poem. Now, take what you have left and free associate for a bit. There's a good chance you'll end up with something nice that's very different from the original.

-----

Example of making a new poem from an old one:

Original poem, first published in Tin Wreath, 1990


Wild Horses

Agamemnon--
You look quite lifelike now
saffron in the odor of your disinterment.
Were you alone, or did your fellows
wonder at your demise?

Metal music made,
broken axle crost the dotted line,
rumors of an incident
circulating, fulminating,
impromptu
toxic waste dump on the busy I:
red light district/spaghetti snarl

After the rains came strange new
growths, born of the water's burden:
Paisley river horses foaming at the banks
called the hustlers home.
So many more of them have died--
I color the windows
in green leaves and rosethorns/chilled apricot brandy/
sunset over the ruined palace/
nightlife in another time zone/
goodbye.


The end

-----

Surely something else good can be made from this....

Intermediate step (after cutting)



no title

.
Were you alone,

red light

called the hustlers home.

I color the windows


The end

-----

New poem


Cadillac Crossing


Window rolls down.
Were you alone,
Standing in the light?

Did you wave away the smoke,
Swallow your words?
Willie remember you?

Dawn colors the windows
Turning engine catches
Did you walk away?

Cadillac coughing.


The end



Different, for sure. Better? Good? I don't know.

Oh, one more suggestion. Read poetry. (Not a bad thing to do anyway.) But ideas in beget ideas out. Just like garbage, only better.


David

overslept

rising from
the waves he blinks
where's Atlantis

Haiti fundraiser

Just got "in articulate concision of appendices", by me, which is Hay(na)ku for Haiti 13. A fundraiser for Haiti. haynakupoetry.blogspot.com