5/29/2017 Poetry Express "Challenge"

5/29/2017  Challenge: -- use the following opening line: "It’s Very Strange…." bring your completion of this into a poem. hosted by J. D. 

5/22/2017 Jeremy Cantor Features

5/22/2017 Jeremy Cantor    hosted by J. D. 
(Need a prompt? Read Jeremy's poem below and riff on it..)

Jeremy Cantor began writing shortly before retiring from a career in laboratory chemistry.  He has made and tested engine oil additives, detergents and pharmaceuticals, driven a forklift, worked in a full-body acid-proof hazmat suit, tried to keep his fingers working in a walk-in freezer at -40°F and worked behind radiation shielding. He prefers writing.

His debut collection, Wisteria From Seed, with a foreword by former Boston Globe Arts/Classical Music correspondent Michael Manning, was published in 2015 by Kelsey Books.  He is currently working on his second volume of poetry.

Jeremy's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in ISLE (Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment, published in conjunction with Oxford University Press), The Naugatuck River Review, Glassworks, The Bicycle Review, Pirene's Fountain, Poetalk, and other journals. His poem "The Nietzsche Contrapositive," was awarded first prize in the Grey Sparrow Journal's 2014 Poetry and Flash Competition and appeared in Grey Sparrow's annual, Snow Jewel.   He was a semi-finalist in the competition for the 2016 Dartmouth Poet in Residence at The Frost Place in Franconia, New Hampshire.

​Wisteria from Seed

"Almost no one grows wisteria from seed,"
I told my sons.
"This one has a healthy set of leaves
so it ought to flower
in about ten years."

I'm sixty now.

A botany professor showed our class
a bamboo plant.  He said,
"This flowers every forty years.
I won't be here to finish the experiments
I might start now.
If any of you are planning graduate studies,
please see me after class.
I've got some ideas I'd like to try."

I never thought myself a man of faith
yet I grow wisteria from seed
while others study bamboo,
plant vineyards,
grow olives,
raise children.

© 2013 by Jeremy Cantor

All rights reserved

Joyce E. Young features 5/15/2017

5/15/2017 Joyce E. Young hosted by Jim
(Need a prompt? Convey a meaning without saying it; use imagry instead -- you don't have to use those words.)

Joyce E. Young currently lives and writes in Berkeley, California. She has read at venues as diverse as The M.H. de Young Museum, Intersection for the Arts, La Peña Cultural Center, Art & Soul Oakland, and Smith College, just to name a few. She has taught with California Poets in the Schools, The Museum of Children’s Art, The Oakland Museum of California, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Youth Speaks. She was also an English teacher for the Mills College Upward Bound Program for 3 years. She is the founder and facilitator of Write in Peace. She has received grants from the California Arts Council and the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation. She was awarded a Writers on Site residency through Poets & Writers, Inc. and has also been awarded writing residencies at Hedgebrook, Soapstone and Vermont Studio Center. Her work has most recently appeared in riverbabble, New Voices of the American West, and Temba Tupu! (Walking Naked): The Africana Woman’s Self-Portrait. She works privately as a writing consultant and with student writers at John F. Kennedy University. She is currently writing Parallel Journey, a novel, essays and poetry with her muse, President Cindy.

President Cindy’s Counter-offer 2017 (Excerpt)

Why worry my spleen, my mad?

I deserve a better gig

than holding these cinders

Fire has a purpose, but

not one I am always

able to understand.

I love to hold a torch,

which is not the same

as carrying a torch.

My mind swirls orange, red,

yellow, flame-like.

30 mph winds sweep through.

Fire’s wake requires tearing down

or rebuilding. Your choice.

I’ll wait; hold a cup of water.

Drink it slowly as you consider

my offer. Your hair is gray,

You don’t have much time.

Let me help you.

Juan Sequeira & Son Juan Carlos Sequeira feature 5/8/17

5/8/2017 Juan Sequeira & Son Juan Carlos Sequeira hosted by Jim
(Need a prompt? "Over Troubled Waters" -- you don't have to use those words.)

Juan R. Sequeira M.D. was born in Nicaragua. He was raised in the Mission District of San Francisco. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of San Francisco and obtained a Medical degree from the University of California at San Francisco. He is a practicing Physician. He has a lifelong interest in poetry. His work  appeared in Alive, Black Bear Review, Blue Unicorn,

California Poets, Carquinez Poetry, Mobius, Poet Talk, San Fernando Poetry, ZYZZYVA among others. Two collections, Marimba Dreams 1999, and Jaguar Footsteps 2006. 2017 1^st place BAPC contest 2^nd place Poets Dinner.

A Memory

My mother worked

behind a splintered counter

under the volcano breath

of the gold brushed sun

her thorn pierced hands

poured water into glasses

shaved melting ice blocks

served tropic fruit drinks

to sweat painted shoppers

lullaby nights by candlelight

raised me from crib playground

to the spring nest of her arms

kissed the leaves of my feet and

rocked me to the rosebud of sleep

  Juan Carlos Sequeira is a 13 year old boy who has been writing poetry for 3 years. He is a resident of Pleasant Hill and attends Christ the King Catholic School where he currently stands as a 7th grade student. He has been influenced to write poetry by his father and has been taught by him ever since he heard his first poem. He says he goes outside, inhales, and feels the breeze enter and escape his lungs. After that, he sits down, and looks around for a few minutes to absorb and observe the world’s beauty. Then will he be able to write poetry to express the world and his great love for it. Poetry has always seemed simple for him, as long as he is exposed to the great outdoors, in the presence of God’s creation.  

My Night Light

Your light dances around my shelter room

my heart feels protected under your cotton shade

happiness fills me as I look up

to glistening mirrors shining on my star

your metallic structured light

spilling on my barrier windows

I look to see the moon past my shudders 

and I realize it is safe to close my eyes 

5/8/2017 Juan Sequeira & Son Juan Carlos Sequeira feature

5/8/2017 Juan Sequeira & Son Juan Carlos Sequeira hosted by Jim
(Need a prompt? "Over Troubled Waters" -- you don't have to use those words.)

Juan R. Sequeira M.D. was born in Nicaragua. He was raised in the Mission District of San Francisco. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of San Francisco and obtained a Medical degree from the University of California at San Francisco. He is a practicing Physician. He has a lifelong interest in poetry. His work  appeared in Alive, Black Bear Review, Blue Unicorn,

California Poets, Carquinez Poetry, Mobius, Poet Talk, San Fernando Poetry, ZYZZYVA among others. Two collections, Marimba Dreams 1999, and Jaguar Footsteps 2006. 2017 1^st place BAPC contest 2^nd place Poets Dinner.

A Memory

My mother worked

behind a splintered counter

under the volcano breath

of the gold brushed sun

her thorn pierced hands

poured water into glasses

shaved melting ice blocks

served tropic fruit drinks

to sweat painted shoppers

lullaby nights by candlelight

raised me from crib playground

to the spring nest of her arms

kissed the leaves of my feet and 

rocked me to the rosebud of sleep 

  Juan Carlos Sequeira is a 13 year old boy who has been writing poetry for 3 years. He is a resident of Pleasant Hill and attends Christ the King Catholic School where he currently stands as a 7th grade student. He has been influenced to write poetry by his father and has been taught by him ever since he heard his first poem. He says he goes outside, inhales, and feels the breeze enter and escape his lungs. After that, he sits down, and looks around for a few minutes to absorb and observe the world’s beauty. Then will he be able to write poetry to express the world and his great love for it. Poetry has always seemed simple for him, as long as he is exposed to the great outdoors, in the presence of God’s creation.  

My Night Light

Your light dances around my shelter room

my heart feels protected under your cotton shade

happiness fills me as I look up

to glistening mirrors shining on my star

your metallic structured light

spilling on my barrier windows

I look to see the moon past my shudders 

and I realize it is safe to close my eyes