Hello, dear Members, and welcome to 2025. Who knows what the year ahead holds? I am reminded of a line from Marc Cohn's song "Strangers in a Car" -- "
Don't know where you're going, don't know what you're doing. It might be the highway to heaven or the road to ruin." But here we are, on the journey again.
Sometimes I teach Dante Alighieri's 14th century poem, The Divine Comedy, in my Humanities 101 class. We don't have a lot of time, so we usually just go through the first part, Inferno. Our hero is guided through the nine concentric circles of hell by the Ancient Roman poet, Virgil. It's convenient for Virgil because he lives there, in the first circle called Limbo, along with several other poets and Socrates and Plato. Strange, isn't it? It's because they were virtuous but unbaptized. Anyway, we all know the poets should be populating heaven, but Dante puts them in "a lesser form of heaven." I don't believe it was because each poet wrote "a sentence worse perhaps than what he meant" (Canto IX, Line 15), but that line did make me smile, as did "and there no ear its power for long could keep" (Line 105).
At least they are spared from the descending levels of hell, each of which is designed for certain kinds of sin, and each features a unique type of torment. Just inside the gate, people are chased and stung by wasps. Later, there are fortunetellers who have to walk with their heads on backwards, and lustful people who live now in a permanent storm, being buffeted around by the wind. And so on; I don't have time here to explore all of the Inferno with you, but have a look yourself.
Today, however, I am in the throes of another poet's vision: David Hinton's translation of the classical Chinese poet Li Po's "Gazing at the Thatch-Hut Mountain Waterfall." I'm actually reading it from a collection called Field Work: Modern Poems from Eastern Forests, edited by Erik Reese.
Part 2 of the poem is just four lines:
Sunlight on Incense-Burner kindles violet smoke.
Watching the distant falls hanging there, river
headwaters plummeting three thousand feet in flight,
I see the Star River falling through nine heavens.
What would your nine heavens consist of? I'd have a garden heaven, and one each for music, art, poetry, and a gathering of everyone I love, all good friends and family past and present. That leaves four heavens, and one would definitely be a heaven of dogs. Then have one full of swings of every kind, one a small ocean, and one in which all of my happy memories are stored.
Some of those happy memories happened in December, and I can share some of them here.
One was a visit from poet Lisa Spears, whose debut book of poems, Releasing Birds, came out in 2024. At my home, we dreamed about attending various writers’ retreats, read poetry, and shared stories. If you don’t know Lisa and her work, I hope she is part of your 2025 levels of heaven. Add a good dog like Missy Mae.
On December 7, there were two important events. The first was a Poetry Read-a-Thon featuring several of our members along with other community poets led by Len Lawson. The Read-a-Thon was held via individual Facebook Lives. We shared poems of our own and those of others we admire, and each of us shared our thoughts on the current need for a Poet Laureate to represent the state.
After I did my reading, I raced over to host Bo Bryan (Poet Laureate of Myrtle Beach), who read for the Society at the Richland Main Library in Columbia as part of our Every Corner, Every County initiative. Larry Rhu was a brilliant opener. We also opened the floor for a few open mic readers, including Chris Blackmon and Ruth Nicholson. Before the reading, we had a workshop in which we considered the roles of pride and pleasure in poetry, and finished by writing our own poems in response. Pride, by the way, appears in Dante's first level of purgatory, but we won't worry about that here. :>)
I was also invited to a poetry event in Lancaster, where Chris and several other dynamic poets performed. I have truly enjoyed all of my county visits, meeting new people and seeing diverse performances.
And that was about it for December! I hope everyone had a happy holiday season.
So here we are, ready to celebrate the New Year with our last reading in the Midlands Region, featuring Angelo Geter. Thank you to Loli Molina Munoz for hosting the workshop and reading. We are also grateful to Richland Main Library and to SC Humanities for sponsoring this and all of the Every Corner, Every County initiative!
More information about Angelo's event (and Zoom links) will be provided in the Every Corner, Every County section.
Now, what else can we get up to for January?
On January 10, Jim Lundy is hosting the Annual Open Mic in Charleston. I believe he is sending out information separately for this event, but you can also find details on the website.
You could also join us on Saturday, January 11, at 1 p.m. for a New Year Creative Renewal Workshop with Della Watson. Light food and beverages will be provided. Space is limited; RSVP required. Please e-mail info@dkwproductions.com
The Porgy House
The 2nd meeting related to The Porgy House (important!) is coming up quickly.
And the Litchfield Poetry Series!
A longer press-release for this event will be included in the Members in the News section of this newsletter.
Every Corner, Every County Reading Series
January
(Workshop link)
(Reading link)
Our next Every Corner, Every County readings will take place in the Upstate Region, namely Greenville, so stay tuned.
The Poetry Prompt Contest is a monthly contest where we encourage you to submit a piece inspired by the new prompt found below. The winning poem or flash fiction is published in the following month's newsletter. We also offer the winner the opportunity to record a video of him or herself reading the poem to be posted to the Poetry Society's YouTube channel. There is no obligation to record the video, it is only there as an offer if the winner feels comfortable doing so.
The prompt for January is "falling." An alternative is "heavens" or you could write about January itself.
Please send your poem to everycornereverycounty@gmail.com, and let me know which county you are in. Thank you!
Our judge for the December contest, Lisa Spears, has selected Peg Lodovina's poem "Parallel Columns" as the winner! Here are her comments first, and then the poem.
"I chose “Parallel Columns,” as the winning poem. The poet’s fortitude in creating columns of opposites between peace and war to exemplify this juxtaposition was insightful. This poem follows the (December) and (city) prompt combined, as well. Great poem!"
Parallel Columns
(to be read both vertically and horizontally)
Landing The flight gliding over water landing gear down city skyline smiles welcomes me home - memories of times I’ve come here with friends for shopping in the city - Boston. Home for the Holidays
| Landing Perilous flight gliding without lights landing gear groans skyline of broken smiles with burned out homes – dark times, I come to find friends now missing in the city – Kiev. Home for the Holidays
|
(I have no idea how to remove the extra rows in that table.) Congratulations, Peg!
Members in the News
Tina Baumis has shared a flyer for the next Poetry Trails adventure. Join in!
Randy Spencer's new book has just been released by Muddy Ford Press (to be released nationally in January). Andersonville: the Poem is set in Andersonville Military Prison in Georgia during the Civil War. (We will soon have a special event related to the book -- stay tuned!)
Randall Ivey's fourth collection of short stories, THE GIFT OF GAB, was published this October by Green Altar Books in Columbia. It is available for sale at the moment through the publisher and through Amazon.
Randall also recently had five poems published in The Brussels Review and three in Chronicles.
and... he shared the following information:
In March, USC Union will present the annual Upcountry Literary Festival. This year's keynote speaker is Rodney Jones, the Pulitzer-nominated, Alabama-born poet now retired in New Orleans. The poet Tim Conroy will also be there. The dates are March 21-22nd.
Eugene Platt was featured at "A Night of Poetry" on December 15.
Another Way to Support the Society
In addition to our brand new, lovely Christmas ornament, we have a collection of Society shirts, hats, bags, and mugs available at our website. You can look sporty and support the important work of the Poetry Society with each purchase. Click here to visit the website.
Til next time, may you discover your nine levels of heaven,
"Thou hast not yet through all the circle turned. Therefore if something new appear to us, It should not bring amazement to thy face" (Canto XIV).
Tamara
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