Calum Graham tribute to musical legend Michael Hedges - The Nomad

The spring issue (#186) of lit journal "Crack The Spine" is out!

I'm proud to be one of the contributors included in issue #186.

My poem, "Afternoon Date," sprang from the composite memories of what it was like to date while in my twenties. I pretty much always hated the construct of dating -- of behaving in ways that were not natural in order to "get to know" a romantic interest -- the act of dressing up, going out, talking "small talk," and generally being unnatural seemed to me to be the opposite of an actual, valid form of interpersonal connection. It always felt absurd to me. Looking back at those painful attempts to create something real out of a cultural tradition that is completely false in nature, led to a good laugh and, hopefully, a good poem.

"Afternoon Date" was published in the March issue of the literary journal "Crack The Spine." There are also short stories and art. Check it out!

http://www.crackthespine.com/2016/03/issue-186.html

Well-written piece on how the Dem Party is fighting tooth and nail to keep the status quo

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_confederacy_of_dunces_the_democratic_establishments_assault_on_sanders_be

This piece originally ran on Common Dreams.
“When a true genius appears in your world, you may know him by this sign; that all the dunces are against him in a confederacy.”
—Jonathan Swift
Well, it’s started. You knew it would. The Democratic establishment is going into attack mode as their anointed one – Hillary Clinton – is in danger of losing.
Take a look at some of the assaults that have been launched within the last five days:
- Sandy Goodman, a former producer at NBC Nightly News, published a piece on the Huffington Post, entitled, Voting for Sanders is Voting Republican. The fact that Bernie does better than Hillary against Republicans is an inconvenient fact Goodman ignores in this ludicrous hit piece;
- Paul Krugman’s column last Friday suggested that progressives voting for Sanders weren’t being “adults” and had no idea how change occurred – in Krugman’s world, change doesn’t come from the people, apparently. It comes from party apparatchiks working with the plutocracy;
- Thomas Friedman, another New York Times columnist, essentially called Sanders a communist – something he knows isn’t true, but it’s a great scare tactic;
- President Obama said Bernie Sanders’ ideas haven’t yet been tested and went on to heap praise on Hillary.  It wasn’t an endorsement, but it came mighty close.
All of these are coming from credentialed liberals who have been staunch supporters of the Democratic Party.  And therein lies the problem. The Democratic Party’s interests are no longer aligned with the people’s interests and they haven’t been for a long time.

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And this comes after Debbie Wassermann Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, set up the modern era’s first stealth debate program, designed to guarantee a coronation for Mrs. Clinton and keep real progressives like Sanders and O’Malley under wraps.
But it’s not just the press and the Party.Civil institutions, environmental groups, and unions that should be with the people – and therefore with Sanders – are lining up to back Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party’s traditional PAC candidate.
The bottom line is, the institutions that used to represent the people no longer derive their power from the people, so they are threatened by Sanders, because he does.
Make no mistake - this is about power
After decades, a right-wing cabal of the uber-wealthy, in conjunction with corporations, has literally seized control of government.
Not only have they rolled back controls on Wall Street, turned elections into a bidding war in which politicians are purchased like livestock, and pared government funds down to the point where it can no longer function; they’ve also set up the rules so that corporations are our largest recipients of welfare and the 1% walks away with all the spoils. Incredibly, they’ve convinced people it’s good for them.
And Democrats have been co-authors of the problem. Even when poll after poll showed that the majority of American people are left of center on an issue-by-issue basis, Democrats inched to the center and then to the right of center … where, until a few months ago, is where you’d find Hillary, by the way.
Bottom line: until Sanders, the terms of the national debate were dictated by the Plutocracy, and there was no way to pierce the interlocking web of money, media, and myth the Oligarchs constructed.  Oh, there were voices – but they were largely consigned to the fringes of society, with little or no chance of breaking through to reach the masses of people who’ve been duped, fleeced, and fooled into believing that government is inevitably inept, taxes are a curse, and an uber-free market is our salvation.
Some of the players in media are a part of this process; some are merely so immersed in the system they’ve forgotten that it wasn’t always this way.  But either way …
The Revolution has not been televised—but the counterattack will be. 
Up until now, the mainstream media has all but ignored Sanders, despite the record crowds, the good poll numbers, and the record-breaking contributions from everyday Americans.
But of course, the better he does with the people, the more he threatens their power base—which is their relationship with corporations and the uber-rich and the PACs they fund.  Now that Sanders has become a real threat to their dominance, brace yourself for the well-financed counter attack that’s coming soon to a media outlet near you.
It will be nasty. It will be swift. It will be merciless.
They will use fear. They will use bigotry. They will use greed. And – oh, yes – they will use money. Lots of money.
The most dangerous of all, though, may be those who are so inured to the system, they can’t see the prospect of real change – of a real, and much needed, revolution.
In Sanders we have a leader who – against all odds – has broken through the rigged system, reached out to us, and given voice to the 99% who’ve been left behind.
If we choose choose courage over fear. We must choose tolerance over jingoism, hate and bigotry. We must hold a belief in our own industry, resourcefulness and ability over the siren song of magic markets and easy money. If we stand together, then we can put this evil genie back in its bottle and we can take back our country and make government work again – for all of us.
That is the source of our power.  And it is the only power that can take on the establishment confederacy that is now gathering against us.

Bill Clinton is Right: I'm Angry | Bernie Sanders

Bill Clinton is Right: I'm Angry | Bernie Sanders

Corporate Media Admits Bernie Sanders Is A Strong(er) General Election C...

Haiku lovers: enjoy the latest version of Cattails, now online!

The link below will take you to the UHTS site. Enjoy!

http://www.unitedhaikuandtankasociety.com/haiku161intro.html

My haiku published in this latest edition:

rainbow trout

nipping at the lake’s surface

full of stars 

Call to Earth - A Message from the World's Astronauts to COP21

Call to Earth - A Message from the World's Astronauts to COP21

This is a very tender and beautifully presented plea from our astronauts for us -- all of us -- to take stock of our relationship with our planet, and to understand that it is truly our one and only home; we must stop abusing her and begin taking the steps needed to ensure that future generations of all species have a chance to live on -- and with -- an earth that is healthy and well. Beautifully done, NASA!

Copy and paste the link below into your browser for the YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN1eSMXI_6Y

Bernie Sanders Speaks With Katie Couric - Full Interview

Calum Graham - Waiting (Solo Acoustic Guitar)

Calum Graham is such a brilliant young musician/composer and this is another one of his transcendently beautiful pieces. Enjoy!

Wonderful haiku by Jeannie Martin, published via tinywords.com

I'm always so delighted to find great haiku! In so few words, so much is presented to the reading audience. 

Check out this lovely haiku by Jeannie Martin, published through tinywords.com (issue 15.1): 

loneliness
opening the window
to let in the rain

Poem, "A Night at the Silver Moon."

Check the The Seismic Thread for stories, poems, and more.

Here is a link to my poem, "A Night at the Silver Moon," the featured poem of the current issue. You can read more of the online pub from there:

http://theseismicthread.com/night-silver-moon/


If you liked "A Night at the Silver Moon," check out my poem, "The Weave."

http://theseismicthread.com/the-weave/

Both of the above poems were inspired by places in beautiful Bend, Oregon.

To read more of my published poems, visit my website:

http://www.susanbotich.com/poetry.htm

Writer's Quote of the Week

"Why did I write? Because I found life unsatisfactory." --- Tennessee Williams

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* Pulled from: http://www.authorspublish.com/quote-of-the-week-41/

Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" (Book 1)

Gabaldon is a superb writer. She uses a lot of detail in scene description and keeps the pace moving. The story kept me interested through to the end. It was more of a romance than I thought it would be, though. But she was original in how she spun the romantic elements into the story. Very good read, overall.


Here's what Gabaldon recently wrote regarding the writing and publishing of "Outlander." I find it very interesting and, as a writer, inspiring: 

"I didn’t intend that anyone should ever see this book. I wrote it for practice, as a means of learning to write a novel, and chose historical fiction because I was a research professor—I knew how to look things up. But after all…if no one was going to see it… So it is Big, Fat Historical Fiction (ala James Clavell and James Michener), and it is very accurate in that regard. That’s just…not quite all it is. Let’s put it this way: if I’d known anyone was going to see it, I wouldn’t have written it. I mean, I’d have written a book, sure. It just wouldn’t have been this book. I kind of did anything I liked—and I like a lot of things. So all I could say is that OUTLANDER is Eclectic (always a good word when you can’t describe something), Entertaining (at that size, it better be), and above all, dead honest. Because after all, no one was watching…" Best, —Diana

Enter the Outlander Challenge on Goodreads for a chance to win a Kindle Fire HD and a signed copy of Outlander!

A poem for Valentine's Day

Love's Philosophy

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle--
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain'd its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea--
What is all this sweet work worth
If thou kiss not me?

 

 

 

Today's poem is in the public domain.

Holiday dinner skit - hilarious!

I thought I'd share this hilarious skit; it's a clever little ditty about hosting a dinner for the holidays these days. (You'll need to copy and paste the link into your browser.) Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9EAavxrus&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DTX9EAavx&app=desktop

"This is My Life" by William Stanley Braithwaite

This is My Life

by William Stanley Braithwaite

 

 

To feed my soul with beauty till I die; 

To give my hands a pleasant task to do; 

To keep my heart forever filled anew 

With dreams and wonders which the days supply; 

To love all conscious living, and thereby 

Respect the brute who renders up its due, 

And know the world as planned is good and true- 

And thus -because there chanced to be an I! 

This is my life since things are as they are: 

One half akin to flowers and the grass: 

The rest a law unto the changeless star. 

And I believe when I shall come to pass 

Within the Door His hand shall hold ajar 

I'll leave no echoing whisper of Alas!

Even though This is My Life by Braithwaite is written in the more formal, structured style of the very early 20th Century poets, I appreciate its flow, timbre and emotion. I would call this a romantic poem, though the "romance" of it has more to do with the poets metaphysical relationship with life than a romance with another human being. As much as I enjoy contemporary free-verse poetry, I think I will always love and admire structured verse when it reaches deeper levels like this one does. What I'm hearing from this poem is an acceptance of life as it is, not with apathy but with exuberance and even gratitude. I find it sweet and pure, not sugary sweet or pretentious in any way but childlike in its simplicity of heart, which works for me.  

Three new poems published in the Edgar Allan Poet Journal 2013

I'm proud to be one of the contributing poets of Edgar Allan Poet's Journal 2013. Here's a wonderful write-up on the Journal published in The Examiner:

http://www.examiner.com/article/edgar-lenore-s-publishing-house-releases-its-first-ever-free-annual-journal?fb_action_ids=522340377848825&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%22522340377848825%22%3A203365043169805%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22522340377848825%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Here's a link to the Edgar Allan Poet website:
http://www.edgarallanpoet.com/Journal_2013.html

Interesting: Melville, author of "Moby Dick," was unrecognized during his lifetime.

Herman Melville

Born in 1819 into a once-prominent New York family, Herman Melville was raised in an atmosphere of financial instability and genteel pretense. After his father's death, Melville attempted to support his family by working various jobs, from banking to teaching school. However, it was his adventures as a seaman in 1845 that inspired Melville to write. On one voyage, he was captured and held for several months by the Typees; when he returned unscathed, friends encouraged Melville to write the escapade down. Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life became his first literary success; the continuation of his adventures appeared in his second book, Omoo.

After ending his seafaring career, Melville's concern over his sporadic education inspired him to read voraciously. In 1847, he married Elizabeth Shaw and moved first to New York and then the Berkshires. There he lived near the reclusive writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was to become a close friend and confidant. Intoxicated by metaphysics, Melville penned Mardi and a Voyage Thither, a philosophical allegory. The book failed, and though discouraged, Melville dashed off Redburn, a comedy. Although the book proved a financial success, Melville immediately returned to the symbolic in his next novel, White-Jacket; or, the World in a Man-of-War. In 1851, he completed his masterpiece, Moby-Dick, or the Whale. Considered by modern scholars to be one of the great American novels, the book was dismissed by Melville's contemporaries and he made little money from the effort. The other two novels that today form the core of the Melville canon—Pierre; or the Ambiguities and The Confidence Man—met with a similar fate.

During the 1850s, Melville supported his family by farming and writing stories for magazines. He later traveled to Europe, where he saw his friend Hawthorne for the last time. During that visit in 1856, it was clear to Melville that his novel-writing career was finished. In 1857, after returning to New York still unnoticed by the literary public, he stopped writing fiction. He became a customs inspector, a job he held for twenty years. And he began to write poetry.

The Civil War made a deep impression on Melville and became the principal subject of his verse. With so many family members participating in various aspects of the war, Melville found himself intimately connected to events, and also sought out conflict for himself. He observed the Senate debating secession during a visit to Washington D.C. in 1861, and made a remarkable trip to the front with his brother in 1864. Melville's first published book of poems was Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), a meditation. The volume is regarded by many critics as a work as ambitious and rich as any of his novels. Unfortunately, Melville's remains relatively unrecognized as a poet.

Herman Melville died of a heart attack on September 28, 1891, at the age of 72. At that time, he was almost completely forgotten by all but a few admirers. During the week of his death, The New York Times wrote: "There has died and been buried in this city…a man who is so little known, even by name, to the generation now in the vigor of life that only one newspaper contained an obituary account of him, and this was but of three or four lines." It wasn't until the 1920s that the literary public began to recognize Melville as one of America's greatest writers.

A Selected Bibliography

Poetry

Battle-Pieces and Aspectsof the War: Civil War Poems (1866)
Clarel: A Poem and a Pilgrimage (1876)
John Marr and Other Sailors (1888)
Timoleon (1891)

Prose

Billy Budd, Sailor (1924)
Israel Potter (1855)
Mardi (1849)
Moby-Dick, or the Whale (1851)
Omoo (1847)
Pierre, or The Ambiguities (1852)
Redburn (1849)
The Confidence-Man (1857)
The Piazza Tales Israel Potter (1856)
Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846)
White-Jacket; or, the World in a Man-of-War (1850)

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/236#sthash.8gzYQvme.dpuf

First Smartphone to Be Produced Ethically

Very interesting article on a new company that will soon be producing a smart phone ethically or, at least, more ethically than the current smartphones. Worth the read.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-and-gadgets/first-smartphone-produced-ethically-130920.htm