Natl Poetry Month, Day 2, Changes in Early Spring

Changes in Early Spring

Winter’s cold ebbs to mild winds of early spring

Change of seasons,

Changes of life

 New ideas meld among veiled dreams,

 Spring’s light through winter’s darkness

Reawakening of my human form and inner being

Yet, I am a spec of dirt within the grandeur of nature and sky

Awaiting the wind to be uplifted into infinity

Returning as gentle rain upon Mother Earth

Completing the cycle

Death to birth

Despair to hope

Reflection to resolve

Meditation to enlightenment

We emerge in brilliant light--

Beginning a new day

@Wayne Adam 2012

Natl Poetry Month, Day 1, Lizard Love

For the first day of National Poetry Month, a request from the Lovely Lady D,
the poem is Lizard Love.
Enjoy mi Lady(bowing).

Lizard Love

@wayneadam2017

Two lizards on my screen

One on each side

They meet each day in their special spot

Above a flower pot

Their lizard hands touch

And their noses too

On the unyielding screen

Dividing the two

 They stay there for hours

Staring into each other’s eyes

For they are lovers

No big surprise

Their love is unyielding

Passions are high

Devoted but divided

Their love will not die

I must try to unite these lovers

For I sense their pain,

Love should not be suppressed

Desire no barriers

And passion no chains

The two lizards meet on my screen

Doing their dance of love

And staring into each other’s eyes

But today they’ll embrace

Without a wall between

Get Creative for National Poetry Month 2016

April 2016 will mark the 20^th anniversary of National Poetry Month, established and organized by the Academy of American Poets, 1966, for the purpose of increasing awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. Each year the Academy of American Poets partners with award winner designers and commission a poster for National Poetry Month. They distribute over 120,000 posters to schools, libraries, and bookstores from coast-to-coast. Individuals can also download an 8x12 copy of the poster from their PC from www.poets.org

National Poetry Month focuses on awareness and introduction of great poems and poets. There are over 30 ways to celebrate this event. Here are my top five: 

Read Poetry. The best way to appreciate poetry is to read it. Great poems and poets are easy to find. Visit the poetry section of your local library. Subscribe to a literary journal, or buy a poetry collection. Browse poetry websites, and if you find a work you admire, leave a comment on your opinion. Or you can sign up for Poem-a-Day on the Academy of American Poets website.

Write Poetry. Everyone has a little bit of a poet within him/her. It’s cathartic, it’s fun, and if you need prompts you can find one every day in April on the Poetic Asides blog. Write a poem about your favorite friend, animal or lover. Poetry has many forms Rhyming, Free Verse, Ode, Haiku, and so forth, try writing a poem in different forms, or if you feel the need for free expression—chalk a poem on a sidewalk.

Experience Poetry.. Get out to a poetry reading, like the Favorite Poem Project, April 4^th, or the PoetryLife Spring Weekend, April2 & 23 at the Florida Studio Theatre (FST) in Sarasota, FL. If you’re too busy, there’s always YouTube. Search for “poetry reading” or “poetry slam,” there you’ll find hours of performances for you viewing pleasure.

Share Poetry. To love poetry is to share it. April 21 is Poem in Your Pocket Day—a day where you carry a favorite poem and share it throughout the day. Or, take your favorite collection and lend it to a friend. You may even want to give a book of poetry as a gift or write a collaborative poem with someone.

Publish Poetry. If you already doing all of the above try taking your poetry passion to the next level by getting your work published. Send your poems to a publication you love or post them online via a blog or forum (like Google G+). If you like the self-publication route, contact printers about creating a high-quality, low-cost chapbook you can give to friends and family.

Poetry is a very creative and expressive art forum. It transcends our physical bonds and is the true essence of free expression that everyone should experience, Even if you’re not a poet—celebrating National Poetry Month will be a rewarding and interesting journey.


You all know I am a poet, and  for National Poetry Month I will write one poem a day and post it on this site. In addition, I'll distribute a poem to people I meet, maybe I'll drop one off at my local library, or hand one out to a person I meet on the street, or at a restaurant, the possibilities are endless. Maybe I'll even record them on this site. So get inspired, create and have fun with poetry.

Midnight

Midnight and I can't sleep, maybe it's just my mind unable to unwind or just a restless soul looking for a place to rest in the dark. So I write and listen to songs of my mood, songs of softness, love, loss and conscientious. It's just a mood with no particular meaning to my thoughts or events of the day.
Here with only the light of my computer and a candle I try to create prose/poetry. But it's unknown if any of it is worthy or  just the ramble of a guy on a sleepless night with no beginnings or ends. Either way, it's killing time until sleep comes to put me in another state.
Midnight turns to one and the eyes get heavier and the thoughts start to scatter. No matter if my words are good or bad I know they won't be a waste of time.                                                    

                                                                             

Remember to comment about this post.

Brush Up on Your Poe

Followers of Edgar Allan Poe already know that January 19th is his birthday. For non-followers, it's time to brush up on a great American writer who has contributed much to American Literature. Poe's achievements are staggering, he is recognized as the father of the modern short story, the inventor of the detective story, pioneer of science fiction, and master of the horror story. Furthermore, he was the first writer from the United States to gain international status and the first American writer to attempt earning a living from his writing alone.

Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849) had a horrific tragic life  filled with unremitting misery, repeating disappointment and frustration, constant poverty, and addiction. For those who want to read more about his life, I suggest you read, Edgar Allan Poe: The Strange Man Standing Deep in the Shadows

                                                                                                                                         


The Poe Toaster

Starting around 1930, in the early morning hours of January 19th (Poe's birthday), the Poe Toaster, a person dressed in all black, face hidden by a hood/scarf and carrying a silver-tipped cane, entered the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore. He would go to Poe's original grave site and toast the dead writer with a glass of Martell cognac and place three red roses in a distinctive configuration on the monument along with the unfinished bottle of cognac. Although the significance of the cognac is unknown, the roses represented, Poe, his wife Virginia, and her mother Martha Clemm. Notes were occasionally left, in 1999, a note stated that the original Toaster had passed away and the tradition was passed on to his "son." The tradition abruptly stopped in 2009, the two-hundredth anniversary of Poe's birth.

In honor of Poe's birthday, I have written the following poem titled Remembering Poe:

Raven sits above my door

A gentle rapping, tapping

And the whisper of—Nevermore

These I dream, but something more,

Valdemar wakes from his decaying bed

While the Ebony Clock strikes upon the glass stained red,  

Boldly I go through the Valley of the Shadows

And fear the eerie gloom of Usher’s Manor,

The Pendulum swings upon the deathly Rue Morgue

Amontillado I drink and nothing more.

I stand at the edge of the shining sea

And wait for her—my Annabel Lee

But it’s just a Dream within a Dream,

The Toaster pays homage this day

Cognac and roses lay upon the grave,

He inspirers our thoughts and guides our pens

And thus we’re his students—Evermore.

@Wayne Adam 2016

New Year 2016

Oh the joy of a fulfilled life                                                                              
Underneath a lighted sky,
Recalling memories of the year gone by
Time to sing Old Lang Syne
Remember those who passed away
You'll meet with them another day

Rejoice the sun of a brand new day,
Look forward to the days to come
New hopes and dreams will surely come,
All things change as life decrees
Love and peace, prosperity

Joy to the coming year
Good fortune to you
On this New Year

@Wayne Adam 2015

Winter Solstice 2015

Today we cross into the darkness. The days light  is short and night prolongs its shadow marks the start of winter. On this day of the Winter Solstice(Alban Arthan), the sun's light impregnates the earth. The Sun God Mates with the Goddess of the Land conceiving new light and Mother Earth sleeps until the rebirth of light at Litha.

So as we sit under the Rowan, we mourn and let go of that which is finishing or dying, reflecting within our inner darkness and seeking the reality of rebirth of the soul, opening ourselves to a new dawn.                            
We step into the darkness under the Oak Moon. Celebration, reflection, dying and rebirth is our journey's path through the dark half of the year. It is the looking back on the year's events, triumphs and failures, the letting goes of things physical and spiritual that are no longer needed or wanted and the beginning of forming new ideas and desires for the coming new year.

May your journey fulfill your dreams.

New Article

 At last! My new article, Medieval Dogs, has been published in Renaissance Magazine and is available in bookstores and on newsstands. Don't miss it.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

Medieval dogs were trained for war, protection and hunting, they provided a service to every social class in medieval society, a companion, protector of property and livestock, a guardian against enemies, and pets of royalty. Revered in legend and myth, coveted by royalty and loved by peasants to kings; they remained a constant throughout the middle ages.

Dogs of War

Egyptians, Samaritans, Greeks, and Romans used dogs for war. These dogs were called Bullenbeisser, a mastiff type dog known for its strength and agility. These large fighting dogs were brought to Europe by migrating Sarmatian tribes (Alans) and by the late 5^th century were adopted throughout Europe and became extinct by crossbreeding.   

On another note, I wish everyone a joyous and safe holiday season.  

It's Halloween.

Light your bonfires

Strike your candles

                                  Place your water and food                                 

Pictures of the deceased,

In the light of the full moon

In the blackness of night

As the waters still

And the trees bow

A murder swarms the skies

landing on rooftops,

As the veil between worlds thin--

They await the dead
In the moon light
In shadows of trees
Under the wing and eyes
Of the Crow and Owl,
They come to your call
Upon this Hallow night.

@Wayne Adam 2015

Poem: Casey at the Bat

Fall is upon us, which means baseball and their "boys of summer" are into conference league series ultimately leading to the World Series. Being an ex-Chicagoan (a Southsider, for the record), I have been watching the Chicago Cubs beining annihilated by the New York Mets, it reminded me of the classic poem " Casey at the Bat" by Ernst Lawerance Thayer. This poem was first published June 3, 1888, issue of San Francisco's The Daily Examiner.
Thayer said he chose the name Casey after an Irishman he once knew, but it has been speculated that he modeled "Casey"  after National League star Mike "King" Kelly who became famous when Boston paid
Chicago ten dollars for him. Kelly had  a charismatic personality which the fans cheered/jeered. After the 1887 season, Kelly went on to play for San Franciso and Thayer wrote, "Casey in 1888 as a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner.

As for the "Mudville," both Stockton, California and Holliston Massachusetts claim to be the original city that Thayer modeled for his poem.

And after 125 years, the mystery still lingers and the poem is still read. The "boys of summer" play in lush baseball stadiums, fans cheer, and jeer, and Casey still strikes out.