Poems New and Old Here and There

I've had two more poems reprinted from my first book, Eve's Red Dress. "Feeding Habits" and "Losing the Blues" both appear online at Redux, a site run by writer Leslie Pietrzyk. This site is "invitation only," though there is a time when you can submit poems. Then if the poems pass Leslie's approval, you receive an invitation. Right now the submission window is closed. The policy is that the poems must first have appeared in print but not be available elsewhere online. The site features both prose and poetry. The online posts occur each Monday. Then on Tuesday the weekly post goes out to email subscribers. You can subscribe at the site.

I was also asked to send "The Story Behind the Poems," so that follows the two poems. My story begins, "We poets are multi-taskers. We are never just dining or driving; we are also gathering material for poems." Read more.

Lest you think that I'm only repeating myself these days, I'm also happy to report that I have two spanking new poems, "Your Blue Shirt" and "The Wrong Monkey," in the fall issue of Innisfree Poetry Journal. This issue is loaded with a terrific variety of poems and a number of book reviews. You'll find poems by at least four dozen poets, including Kim Bridgford, Grace Cavalieri, and Rosemary Winslow.

I've also just received my contributor's copy of Naugatuck River Review. How gorgeous is that cover? Publisher Lori Desrosiers has made a beautiful reality of her dream of having a print journal devoted to narrative poetry. My poem, "Warnings," is joined by poems by Pat Fargnoli, Michelle Bitting, Paul Scot August, and many others.

The journal is currently accepting online submissions for their annual contest which offers a $1000 prize. If interested, you'd better move fast as the deadline is September 1.

You can order a copy of the new issue at the website—and should do so!

One last thing—my poem, "Your Blue Shirt," was written to one of the prompts I created for my monthly Poetry Newsletter. Not yet subscribed? Head on over to the sidebar and sign up in time for the September 1 issue.