ANNA YIN

Anna Yin has authored five poetry books and won the 2005 Ted Plantos Memorial Award, two MARTY Awards and a 2013 CPAC Award.  Her poems and translations appeared in New York Times, Arc Poetry, CBC Radio, Rogers TV, China Daily, World Journal, Poetry in Transit, Rice Paper, Room, and more. Anna is the Ontario representative for the League of Canadian Poets and an International Feature Poet for 2015 Austin International Poetry Festival. Her “Poetry Alive” programs are welcomed at schools, colleges and libraries, especially for the Poets in Schools Program. Website: annapoetry.co.

Apples and Pears 

In addition to apples, 
I have a special feeling toward pears. 
I place them on the kitchen table, 
but fear to pare them. 
Soon they retreat to the wall of my living room. 

Occasionally appearing in my dreams
at the same time are my dearest lover,

and the other, a stranger. 
They are close, like the pair of pears 
in the painting, shadows overlapped. 

My hands slip in the moonlight, 
the bittersweet fruit flavor 
spreads in the cool night.

Note from Anna Yin:

***  Since this month is National Poetry Month and the theme is food and poetry, so here are two of my food poems which will be in my upcoming book "Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac" by Black Moss Press:

Poetry Reading at ArtWord/Artbar April 19,2015

Monday, April 20, 2015

POETRY EVENT AT ARTWORD/ARTBAR

A lovely event, for a brisk but nice Spring day. As most of you who read this blog knows, April is Poetry Month.

Ron opened up his cozy bar on a Sunday just for this occasion which was very gracious of him.

This cute little bar is a place where people can gather to have a light snack, a beer or wine and listen to local artists play music or read poetry.

It started about 2:45 and ended at around 6 p.m. with many poets delighting the audience with their work.

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

James Deahl - M.C.

David Haskins

Norma West Linder

James is an excellent master of ceremonies I find.   My window of opportunity to take pictures was dependent on how much space was between the two people ahead of me, but thanks to a zoom lense on the little camera, the pictures are okay.

Laurence Hutchman

Anna Yin

I am hoping that I can find out his name for the blog as we have never met and I did not hear his name.

Anna Yin and guitarist Mark Harry - a lovely combination

I really enjoyed the music and poetry together.  At Tower Poetry we do paintings and poetry together.  I would love to try music and poetry but I do not know who to ask to play.

John B. Lee

Our Host - Ron

Lynn Tait

Bernadette Rule

It was a lovely reunion of like minded people who enjoy the spoken word.  There were several poets from Sarnia, Ontario, one from Port Dover, one from Mississauga, one from Grimbsy and I think one from Toronto, plus, of course local poets from the Hamilton area.

It is always good to touch base again with fellow writers.

Thanks so much for dropping by.   Poetry rocks!!!!

JERRY JORDISON

Multitudes of Concentric Rings
 
Canoe-drifting, engulfing the scenery,
Sporadic concentric rings
Appear on the water surface.
Are they caused by water striders,
Or small minnows, not observed?
A few rings detonate here,
A handful randomly erupt there.
Then calm –
An explanation burst in my head –
Bubbles of gases from fermenting debris
Formed at the bottom of the muddy lake
Are causing the disturbance.
 
Simultaneously,
Multitudes of concentric rings
Explode on the calm surface
And spiral out to infinity
As water ripples do.
 
Delight and joy swells in me,
Realizing it’s an impulsive happening –
As rare as the tumbling,
Falling star, I saw the other night.
My little world is once more touched
By Nature’s universe.

DEBBIE OKUN HILL

Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Kites Without Strings PoeTrainers Head West – Ottawa – Toronto – Winnipeg – Edmonton – Vancouver by d78hill “The adventure has changed but certainly not the adventure as a group of PoeTrainers travel westward and inward bringing poetry to the public during National Poetry Month. Poets have always been attracted to a journey and this will be a most memorable week of the "best poetry event in 2015".            -David C. Brydges,  Artistic Director, Great Canadian PoeTrain Tour All Aboard! Clickity-clack…the Great Canadian PoeTrain Tour is about to begin.  What started out as one-poet’s vision will soon turn into reality. Despite some of the glitches of not being able to start the journey on the east coast and the last minute decision to skip the Toronto-Winnipeg leg due to recent derailments in northern Ontario, the adventure moves forward. As the promotional poster states: “26 poets. 5 cities. Epic Journey” All Aboard! Photo courtesy: The Great Canadian PoeTrain Tour website. Some of the PoeTrainers have already packed their bags and are heading their way to Ottawa for Wednesday April 15’s kick-off celebration. Others will join the festivities along the way with PoeTrain events also planned for Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. For those on the train, poetry will not only fill the Skyline Dome Car Lounge but will spill with musical notes into the Park Car as well. One of the special passengers will be my kulturBOT 3.0, a robotic artwork created by Dr. David Harris Smith of McMaster University and Dr. Fauke Zeller of Ryerson University. This usual bard features a roving mobility system, a pasta strainer, a thermal printer, camera, and bicycle flag. According to a Ryerson University Public Affairs Media Release, “this ‘self-publishing’ robot, will produce ‘found’ poetry derived from the writings of the geographer and fur-trader David Thompson…Images and poems by my kulturBOT 3.0 will be publicized via its twitter and Facebook accounts. An anthology of train-themed poems by PoeTrain participants is also expected to be produced and National Poetry Month will be celebrated with food-themed poems. DC Reid, a former president of The League of Canadian Poets will be the PoeTrain’s first poet laureate. Several other members of the league will be featured thanks to Canada Reading Tour funding via the Canada Council for the Arts. Paul Sanderson and Ian Ferrier will entertain as part of the Artist on Board program. Special thanks to all the sponsors who made this adventure possible.  Clickity-clack! We’ll be back! Follow this blog for future updates on the tour. An earlier blog post on the PoeTrain appears here. The official Great Canadian PoeTrain Tour website with a list of participants, scheduled events and sponsors appearhere. d78hill | April 14, 2015 at 9:35 pm | Tags: David Brydges, League of Canadian Poets, National Poetry Month, PoeTrain, Poetry Events, The Ontario Poetry Society | Categories: blog posts, News-Events | URL:http://wp.me/p4dii3-i6

JAMES DEAHL

Artword Artbar

15 Colbourne Street

Hamilton

Sunday, April 19

2:30 to 5:30  p.m.

Lummox / Raymond Souster Celebration

featuring:

James Deahl

G.W. Down

David Haskins

Laurence Hutchman

John B. Lee

Norma West Linder

Bernadette Rule

Lynn Tait

Anna Yin

Ron Weihs & Judith Sandiford  -  artword@artword.net

or

James Deahl  -  jedeahl@gmail.com

JERRY JORDISON

It’s Weird How Things Work Out, Eh?

            My name is Natasha and I live in a condo, facing the white-tipped mountains, in Vancouver, British Columbia. How I got here is a cool story. The easiest way for me to tell you is to jump into the middle of it and go both directions from there.

            Perhaps the sole reason why I live here is that I didn’t wait for the train to start pulling out of the Toronto station before I jumped on board. This gave time for the CPR security people to approach me. Thank goodness I saw them coming and was able to exit the opposite side of the train, and as luck would have it a northbound train was just pulling out of the station. I jumped on it and waved good-bye to the security men.

            I knew this direction certainly wouldn’t take me to the protection of the US border, but I believe in fate and made myself at home. I had to climb up and over the boxcar I was riding. The next car, fortunately, had an end door. It was easy to open, and I immediately started moving boxes and crates to make myself a cosy sleeping area.

            I hadn’t slept for a couple of days, so I fell right to sleep. I woke up when I felt the train jerk a couple of times. I peeked out and saw people waving as we pulled away from the station. My eyes caught the word ‘Sudbury’ and I knew for sure that this train was heading far from Toronto.

            I went back to my secure little nest and sat down. I was hungry, but that would have to wait until the train stopped again. Now I had the chance to just relax and reflect on how I got here.

*  *  *

            Things happened fast. It was only two days ago that I bumped into Frank after a long absence. You see, I kinda had the hots for Frank, but I never let him know that. I didn’t want to get involved at the time. Frank seemed to be on top of the world when he spotted me at my regular corner, begging for food and money.

            Oh! I haven’t told you about that yet, have I? It was only a few days past my sixteenth birthday during another heated argument with my mother that I jumped on a bus and headed to Toronto. My parents were so hung up with religion and always trying to impress god knows who, that they made a thousand rules for me to follow. I couldn’t go out after school. I had a list of chores that a slave would rebel at. Plus, no lipstick, no movies (only the religious dribble they sometimes showed at church), no playing cards, and of course no boyfriends. Always nagging, nagging, nagging, and I just had enough. And I never told anyone where I was going either. Well, one thing led to the next and I found myself living the life of a street person. I can tell you it was a lot better than living with my parents.

            Anyway, back to my story. Frank had a great plan to get some money, and it almost worked. You see, there was this warehouse on River Street. Frank had heard from his cousin Chenco, who worked there part time loading electronic appliances on trucks, that the lock on the side door of the warehouse was broken for the last few days and nobody had seemed to fix it yet.

            Chenco wasn’t interested in anything illegal, he just had this insatiable habit of gossiping whenever he could. He would even search out juicy information to enhance his insistent boasting.

            It was the next piece of information that sparked Frank’s interest. Chenco told him that occupying the same warehouse, but independent of his work place, was the Black Flamingos, a local bike gang. Chenco also discovered that the Flamingos were into drugs and somehow knew that there was a deal going down in a day or two. The Flamingos, so it was rumoured, had a hundred thousand dollars stashed away waiting for the deal.

            Frank’s mojo was kindled. When he met me on the street he couldn’t help but to tell me his plan. You see, I knew him from a few years ago when he approached me and ended up buying me a hamburger. He had just come across some money from a corner store robbery, and wanted to share it with me. I knew he had a crush on me, but like I said, I didn’t want to get involved. Anyway, Frank had a habit of ‘borrowing’ things, and I even helped him out a couple of times, as his lookout person. This was the first time in a couple of years that I had seen him. He told me that he spent some time at the “Crowbar Hotel”.

            Back to my story: Frank’s plan was to enter the warehouse around 4 a.m. to look for the money. It was a simple plan because as far as anyone knew there wasn’t any chance of anybody being around the place at that time. I agreed to go with him and we would split what we could find.

            We hung around a coffee shop until 3 a.m. and made our way, on foot, to the warehouse about two miles away. The side door opened easily and we cautiously entered. There was a glow from the street lights shining through the upper windows. On the far wall we found a door with a heavy bar securing it. Frank simply lifted the bar and opened the door inwards. On the other side there was another bar, which we easily ducked under. We discovered a couple of motorbikes in various stages of repair and a dirty desk. We both started opening drawers, and there it was – a cigar box. When Frank opened it, it overflowed with big bills. The Black Flamingos were either one sandwich short of a picnic lunch or they were foolishly trusting.

            Frank grabbed the box and we made our way to the side entrance. Taking money from crooks didn’t really seem wrong.  They got it illegally, and the best part of it is they certainly wouldn’t want to report it to the police.

            If it weren’t for bad luck, there wouldn’t be any luck at all. As soon as we opened the door we startled a cop who was on patrol. We didn’t wait around to have a chat with him, but started running as fast as we could. I was a little ahead of Frank and looked back, just as the officer pulled out his gun and yelled, “stop.” Of course we didn’t stop and the next second a bullet hit Frank and he fell to the ground holding his hip. The police ran towards him and I took off to the right and into the night.

            I knew the cop had a good look at me, and me with red hair, I would be easy to find. That’s why I decided to find a train heading south.

*  *  *

            So, I was heading north now, out of Ontario and to the West Coast. I was able to sneak out of my freight car a couple of times, when the train stopped, and find some food. I didn’t want to take a chance and stay on the train all the way to the coast, so I figured that Winnipeg would be a safe place to begin again. I even thought that I would try to get a job, maybe as a waitress, and attempt to establish myself as a normal resident. I thought of Frank often, and wondered what happened to him. The bullet only wounded him, I was sure, but he will probably be revisiting his “Crowbar Hotel” again.

            The train stopped at the Winnipeg station. I peeked out the door and everything looked clear. All of the passengers were exiting the train a few cars ahead. Just as I stepped onto the platform, two well-dressed gentlemen approached me and asked for my ticket. I felt the blood drain from my face as my adrenaline cut in, tensing my body to escape. I don’t think that I took two steps before hands gripped me and lead me into a side room of the train station.

            Immediately one of the men started telling me that they were anticipating my arrival. “You see,” he said, “our people from Toronto sent out an all-points watch for you. We don’t know how you got this far, but this is the end of the road for you.”

            Deflated, I resigned myself to possible prison. At least I would have a roof over my head and three square meals a day. I could handle that, I thought.

            They took me back to Toronto for the trial. Since it was my first offence and we weren’t armed during the robbery, I only got 15 months in jail. I heard that Frank was given a longer sentence, yet at the same time they were lenient with him because they now had evidence to arrest the Black Flamingos.

            Now, here is the real cool part of my story. Did you know that in minimum security the prisoners are able to buy cigarettes, gum, and such things from a tuck shop? They even sold lottery tickets there. Well, I developed the habit of buying a lottery ticket every week. My luck changed. With only three weeks to go before I was released, I won a hundred thousand dollars. I had the good sense not to tell anybody, knowing that I could collect the money after I got out. This bit of luck cemented a whole new plan. I would fly to Vancouver, find a decent place to live, get some new clothes and find myself a job.

            And that’s what I did. I’m working at Walmart now. I’ve found myself a boyfriend and the world is nothing but sunshine. It’s weird how things work out, eh?




Originally read over the CBC many years ago.

DEBBIE OKUN HILL

Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Kites Without Strings Poetry Contests: Is It Poetic Gambling? by d78hill A poet’s husband once won a trip for two to St. Lucia. I call that luck! For me, buying a lottery ticket is like throwing cash into a burning roulette wheel. It’s a waste of money unless you want to support a good cause like the Canadian Cancer Society or need a stocking stuffer or a compact gift for a friend or relative who enjoys playing bingo or a scratch version of crossword. Let’s face it, how many of us are going to win a million dollars or a dream home during our life? What would a poet even do with that kind of cash?  Buy some exotic groceries? Quit his or her day job? Purchase more poetry books and new matching bookshelves for the office? You know I’m teasing here. A retreat might be nice, perhaps some sabbatical or retirement travelling to inspire the next book? Poets just aren’t that lucky or at least I’ve never met a poet or anyone who has taken home a sack of gold coins. Entering poetry contests can be fun. Here the ghost of Dr. William Henry Drummond appears during a contest winners' reading in Cobalt, Ontario last spring 2014. I will, however, gamble or (in softer terms) take a chance with poetry contests. Below are a dozen reasons why I believe entering literary competitions can be beneficial for a writer. Keep in mind, there are also drawbacks and some writers may have varying opinions based on his/her own experiences and viewpoints. I welcome your thoughts and feedback. Contests provide a deadline. Some writers work better under pressure. Deadlines can motivate some poets into action. It helps me focus. Contests encourage writers to dig deep into their files for old poems to tweak or word snippets to expand and nurture. Recycling is good for the environment. Contests nudge writers to explore new themes or poetic forms. Some will jump start new poems. For example, some contests like The Binnacle’s Annual International Ultra-Short Competition seeks poems with 16 lines or less. (Deadline March 15, 2015.) The Betty Drevniok Award 2015 organized by Haiku Canada seeks work based on the three-line haiku format. (Deadline February 25, 2015.) Earlier this month, The Malahat Review was accepting submissions of a single poem or a cycle of poems that was between 10 to 20 pages long for its 2015 Long Poem Prize. The Dr. William Henry Drummond Contest is an annual contest held in conjunction with the Spring Pulse Poetry Festival in Cobalt, Ontario. Contest submissions for this year must be postmarked by February 27, 2015 Contests can introduce you to organizations and magazines that you are not familiar with. HINT: It’s vital to research an organization and magazine to not only ensure the contest is legitimate but to get a feel for what that particular market might be looking for. For example, if you are a Canadian poet, seek out professional national organizations like the Canadian Authors Association, The League of Canadian Poets and the Writers Union of Canada or provincial organizations likeThe Ontario Poetry Society. Check out what contests these members are submitting to. For example, The Dr. William Henry Drummond Poetry Contest was established as part of the annual Spring Pulse Poetry Festival held in Cobalt, Ontario. (Deadline: February 28, 2015.) Also consider contests organized by established magazines affiliated with universities. Contest fees help support literary organizations and magazines that might not be able to survive otherwise. HINT: Set an annual budget. Be firm with the total amount of fees you wish to spend spent and establish the number of contests you have time for. Make sure the contest isn’t a scam. It should be affiliated with a well-known organization and/or has a reputable judge. Remember some contests like those organized by The Binnacle and Haiku Canada are free so they fit well into a poet’s budget. The Binnacle Annual International Ultra-Short Competition is a free contest that seeks poems with 16 lines or less. This year’s deadline is March 15, 2015. Some contest fees include the subscription of a literary magazine. This provides valuable market research and reading material. HINT: If you are planning to purchase a subscription, why not spend a few extra dollars and enter the magazine’s annual contest? Contests can introduce you to judges and established writers who you are unfamiliar with. HINT: It’s beneficial to study a judge’s work prior to entering any contest. The Crooked Ledge of Another Day: An Anthology of the Bizarre spotlights the results of Ascent Aspirations Publishing's 2014 poetry and flash fiction contest. Contests can introduce you to names of past winners.HINT: One way to improve your writing is to read what other poets are writing and if possible read winning poems to determine what makes them unique or award-winning. Contests teach us about sportsmanship. Not all poems entered into a contest will win a prize. That’s the reality of both contests and general submissions. Poets like writers must develop a tough skin. Just because a work is rejected does not mean it is a poorly written poem. What one judge may dislike, another judge may treasure. The key is to keep submitting. If the work is rejected take a closer look at the poem. Should it be rewritten? Should it be work shopped with other poets? Or does it belong in a different market? Treat this as a learning exercise then move on. Even the best writers receive rejections but they continue to submit their work. Surprise, surprise. Sometimes, a poet’s submission does win a prize. If you never enter a contest, you may never experience that unexpected joy of accomplishment. Each year, a Canadian and an International writer will win the $65,000 Griffin Prize for Poetry, “the world’s largest prize for a first edition single collection of poetry written in, or translated into English, from any country in the world.” The publicity surrounding this Prize has also been known to increase book sales. However, even smaller prizes can draw a publisher’s or reader’s attention to a poet’s work. Contests can reward contributions with the publication of a poem even if the work is not awarded a top prize. For example the Niagara Branch of the Canadian Authors Association will publish not only the top winning poems from their annual contest but will include honourable mentions and judge’s selections work in their Saving Bannister anthology. Ascent Aspirations Publishing also has an annual anthology where top prize winners are published with other selected work. The Niagara Branch of the Canadian Authors Association organizes a provincial contest for Ontario residents. Their 29th Saving Bannister poetry anthology was launched last autumn 2014. Submission guidelines for their 30th poetry contest will be announced soon. Finally, entering a contest is just plain fun. For example, every April, the literary magazineContemporary Verse 2 hosts the CV2 Two Day Poem Contest. Registered participants receive 10 words at midnight Friday and then the new poem using those 10 words must be finished and submitted two days later. It’s a great activity for National Poetry month. What are your reasons for entering or not entering a contest? Feel free to leave a comment or share this posting with your literary community.