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Monday Poetry Discoveries: Dunn, PLUME

/ Gerry Wilson / Leave a comment

A couple of Monday Discoveries for my poet friends: first, a poem by Stephen Dunn. Maybe I’m drawn to this poem because there’s a story inherent in it.  To read all of “Sea Level,” go to Poetry Daily:

Scrub pines, Everglades, May 2010

Sea Level

Down from the mountains of Appalachia
and the highs of new love
I’ve come across the extended monotonies
of interstates, back to where
scrub pines stand small at sea level.
There’s the house I left for good
(if forever can ever be good), . . .

And here’s a link to a new-to-me online poetry journal, Plume. Go exploring . . . Some outstanding writers (and good poems) here, among them Sharon Olds, Billy Collins, Linda Pastan, and many, many others. Enjoy!

Call to action: What inspires you and gets your creative juices flowing? Share a favorite source or link (or a newly discovered one) in a comment.

Monday Discovery: Sorrygnat, World Citizen

/ Gerry Wilson / Leave a comment

Esther’s book: You Carry the Heavy Stuff

Yesterday, Esther Bradley-DeTally’s Sorrygnat, World Citizen, subtitled “Esther Bradley-DeTally’s whimsical writing website,” posted a moving, lovely, and yes, whimsical-but-at-the-same-time-serious piece called “why i write.”

The why is something we writers ask ourselves at one time or another. Sometimes we have clear answers; sometimes not. But Esther says it far better than I ever could.

Here’s a taste of “why i write”:

Why do I write?  Like now, when the dishes sit orphaned in the kitchen sink because I, the washer, am typing, sharing, breathing, living, putting off the inevitable, because once a long time ago, I was so hurt, I couldn’t breathe.

Thanks, Esther, for sharing your “whys” with us. Go have a taste of Sorrygnat. You’ll be glad you did.

Change of Plans

/ Gerry Wilson / Leave a comment

Wow! A Liebster Blog Award has come my way, courtesy of Michelle Reynoso at My Writing Life. Thanks so much, Michelle!

I had a post ready to go today, but in light of the award, I feel compelled to write about something else: community. Yes. Bear with me . . .

Turns out that community has a range of definitions. Maybe a neighborhood first comes to mind—a group of people living together in one place, in harmony and good will. Community also means people bound together by race, religion, profession, or common interest. That one’s closer to what I have in mind. (These are coming from my dashboard dictionary, so you may come up with others.)

The third and most striking definition is this: a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

This definition best fits a community of writers like the MNINBers, literally scattered across the globe. Proximity doesn’t bind us. Our common “profession” does, but we also share interests, goals, and a spirit of fellowship that transcends boundaries of time and place. (Mightn’t we also add space here, since our connections are mostly in cyberspace?)

Before the April MNINB platform challenge, maybe some of us were acquaintances or friends, or we were familiar with each other’s blogs or writing projects. For the most part, though, I suspect we were a bunch of strangers thrown together by a common goal: to build community, not just among our writerly selves but among readers, as well. It seems to me that friendships begun in the context of completing our tasks during the APC strengthened even after the challenge ended. We continue to cheer each other on.

As we share, we learn more about each other. And as we learn, we share on a deeper level. We’re happy when one of us succeeds, and we’re sad when rejections come along. Regardless, we are there, and our little community of writers will survive and make a difference.

In that spirit, I get to pass on the Liebster Blog Award! Here are the rules.

1. Thank the one who nominated you by linking back (done, above).

2. Nominate five blogs with less than 200 followers (below).

3. Let the nominees know by leaving a comment at their sites (in process).

4. Add the award image to your site (done, with pleasure).

Here are my nominees for the Liebster Blog Award:

Joy Weese Moll     Joy’s Book Blog

Veronica Roth    Veronica Roth: Well then…this is a life moment…isn’t it

Kim Bussey     Purrfect Tale

E. B. Pike    Writerlious     

Kasey Whitener    Life on Clemson Road

So fellow bloggers, I know we’re beyond the challenge, but here’s your call to action: Perform one small act today that extends your writing or artist community in some way. There. Doesn’t that feel good?