Are you waiting eagerly for the opportunity to buy a copy of I am not a fish, my new poetry book which is due out this month? Why not contact the publisher in advance and let them know? I would be grateful for your support – the book contains poems which have not been published anywhere else.
detail from ‘The Garden of Allah’ © Marie Taylor
All Fools Day seems as good a time as any to publish an e-zine. This year’s Spring Showcase at the zen space is now on line, with a peaceful feel to it, and contributions from many new writers. Please visit.
Shortly after I posted this item, I heard from the Editor-in-Chief that he had decided against the re-launch mentioned below. That’s his prerogative, and I respect his decision.
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Well, it has been some time since the last print copy of Sonnetto Poesia was seen. Officially the magazine closed more than a year ago, but of course the editorial team has been involved in producing The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes anthology, which is due out in June. But the whisper now is that the magazine may well be re-launched on line. It’s early days, but I’ll let you know for definite as I get more news – probably by late July.
Meanwhile, what would readers want from a magazine devoted to a traditional verse form like the sonnet? Where does formal verse stand in the twenty-first century? As you know, I cut my teeth on formal verse – it gave me an appreciation of technical power in poetry and has informed my writing of free and experimental poetry – and I regard the Chinese walls between styles of poetry as being unhelpful and in need of demolition. Is it a contradiction, therefore, for me to be involved with and concerned about publications dedicated solely to one poetic form?
I would be interested to hear your views.
M.
New words to an old folk tune.
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Oh love is pleasin’ and love is teasin’
Love is a treasure when first it’s new,
But as it grows older so love grows colder
And fades away like the morning dew.
When I was much younger I had a hunger
To drink my life from a lovin’ bowl.
My world is now stranger, I see the danger
To all who hazard their heart and soul.
I left my dear father, I left my mother,
I left my birthplace and childhood home.
I kept both my eyes on some grey horizon,
And far away let my footsteps roam.
Oh love is pleasin’ and love is teasin’
Love is a treasure when first it’s new,
But as it grows older so love grows colder
And fades away like the morning dew.
Recallin’ a maiden – my memory’s fadin’ –
I broke my vow that we’d never part.
She begged me to stay but I roved away,
And more than my vow, broke a faithful heart.
Recallin’ a lady in woodland shady,
Stealin’ a kiss while she lay asleep;
I was but a dream though, not what I seemed,
And left her cruelly to mourn and weep.
Oh love is pleasin’ and love is teasin’
Love is a treasure when first it’s new,
But as it grows older so love grows colder
And fades away like the morning dew
So pull back the covers, reveal my lovers,
Show me my fruitless and wasted life,
Show me the heartache and bitter heart-break,
Many a promise but never a wife!
Wherever the wind blows, through open windows,
I pass away like a dyin’ song;
But don’t you be grievin’ because I’m leavin’,
That’s been my way my whole life long.
Oh love is pleasin’ and love is teasin’
Love is a treasure when first it’s new,
But as it grows older so love grows colder
And fades away like the morning dew.
© Marie Marshall 2010
The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes, the 21st century’s first major anthology of sonnets, is due for launch in June. More precise details when I get them…
I just made that word up. The neologisms just keep on coming…
(On reading the comments below, probably herpetolalia is just as good…)
I am not a fish is now on the last stages of editing, and I should know the publication date soon. Meanwhile a short passage has been reinserted in a key scene in Lupa; its absence doesn’t spoil the book (if you have a copy already), but I’m relieved to restore an emotional dimension to the scene in question. Editing and revision of a written work are not necessarily closed processes…
© Describe Adonis Press
At the suggestion of the Editor-in-Chief, Richard Vallance, and with the agreement of the others on the editorial team, I will be credited as ‘Deputy Editor’ when the anthology is eventually published. I am honoured.
(c) Lesley Haycock
Just a reminder for all writers of poetry that this competition is still very much live, and that there is room for your entry. Click the painting above to go to the competition web site.
M
A ‘powm’ – with or without exclamation mark – is a poem that punches above its weight. Not every day you get to read a new word.
M.
Marie Marshall 