M.L. Desir's Blog, page 27
May 23, 2019
Writers blocked: Even fantasy fiction is now offensive – The Spectator Online…
This topic is . . . complicated. Once upon a time (two years ago to be exact) I wrote a story centering on a bi-ethnic girl (half-Black and half-Japanese). I was told that because I wasn’t Japanese I would receive criticism (as an appetizer to the vitriolic shaming a la meat-tenderizing) to follow. I learned from the wonderful author, Linda Sue Park (A LONG WALK TO WATER) that writing outside of your ethnic group is okay so long as you do it intelligently, sensitively, and knowledgeable. Ther...
May 15, 2019
How to Market Your Self-Published Book to Independent Bookstores
This desire is justified: obviously, every one of us wants to go down in history as a person who wrote a bestseller or even a masterpiece that future generations will gladly read.
This seems like a wonderful dream that just comes true when you finish w...
May 14, 2019
News: Tupac’s Estate Creates Poetry Contest In Honor Of The Slain Rapper
News: Tupac’s Estate Creates Poetry Contest In Honor Of The Slain Rapper
The month of April is celebrated as National Poetry Month, and the arbiters of the Tupac Shakur’s estateare calling for all poets to submit their work for a contest. While the lyricism, style, and wit of the slain rapper has beenadmired since he was gunned down on the streets of Las Vegas in 1996, at the heart of his artistry, Shakur was a poet.
Pac was often criticized forhis “Thug Life” exteriorand vul...
May 1, 2019
On Hiatus!
Summer is coming! Final report card grades will be due, and before that midterms must be sent home!
Testing, testing, testing, testing is now a ritualistic . . . thing. 
April 30, 2019
Second-Hand Fear
I am sure most of you have heard ofsecond-hand smoke (SHS), which is when nonsmokers are exposed to smoke exhaled by a smoker. Here are some alarming facts about SHS.
(1) Non-smokers who breathe inSHStake in nicotine and toxic chemicals the same way smokers do; (2) There’s no safe level of exposure for second-hand smoke (SHS); (3) Second-hand smoke is known to cause cancer; (4) SHS is linked to the following in children: lymphoma, leukemia, liver cancer, and brain tumors.
While it...
A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 30
April 29, 2019
A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 29
Let the Light Enter Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, 1825 – 1911 The dying words of Goethe. “Light! more light! the shadows deepen, And my life is ebbing low, Throw the windows widely open: Light! more light! before I go.” “Softly let the balmy sunshine Play around my dying bed, E’er the dimly lighted valley I with lonely feet must tread.” “Light! more light! for Death is weaving Shadows ‘round my waning sight, And I fain would gaze upon him Through a stream...
April 28, 2019
A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 28
April 27, 2019
A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 27
I saw her once—her eye’s deep light
Fell on my spirit’s deeper night,
The only beam that e’er illumed
Its shadows drear. The glance was slight,
But oh, what softness it assumed!
I saw her twice—her glance again
Lit up its fire within my brain;
My thoughts leaped up, like lightning warm,
And felt a sweetness mixed with pain,
While gath’ring wildly round her form.
I saw her thrice—she was alone,
And her deep glance more deeply shone
Upon my...
April 26, 2019
A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 26
National Arbor Day is celebrated every year on the last Friday in April; it is a civic holiday in Nebraska.
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Winter Branches Margaret Widdemer When winter-time grows weary, I lift my eyes on high And see the black trees standing, stripped clear against the sky; They stand there very silent, with the cold flushed sky behind, The little twigs flare beautiful and restful and kind; Clear-cut and certain they rise, with summer past, For all that trees can ever learn they know now, a...
