Melissa Eleftherion's Blog, page 3
September 3, 2023
Petaluma Poetry Walk reading
I’m looking forward to reading at Artaluma for the Petaluma Poetry Walk on Sunday, Sept. 17th! It feels a bit full circle as the first time I visited Petaluma was in 2004-5 for a special one-day writing workshop Diane (diPrima) was teaching at Geri DiGiorno’s house. Geri DiGiorno (Sonoma County poet laureate emerita) founded the Walk in 1996, and curated the series until she passed away in 2019. Bill Vartnaw (current PPW Curator & Sonoma County poet laureate emerita) was also a longtime student of Diane’s, along with Jack Crimmins, who will also be reading at the Walk, and is a master storyteller who weaves bop prosody & mysticism in clear & compelling insights about consciousness. He’ll be reading from his new book The Edge of Rain, and I will read a selection of poems from field guide to autobiography, gutter rainbows, and the new book, Tarot Biota: A Map of Belonging. Hope to see you there!
November 1, 2022
October 11, 2022
June 13, 2022
sunflower spell
Gratitude to Robert Hansen aka the mastermind behind Poems-For-All for inviting me to write a poem for Ukraine. It was an honor to accept the invitation to be part of this important series of works, and a learning opportunity to do a deep study of both Ukraine & the sunflower. Many thanks for these little books that sing & delight in their form & rigor. How they remind me of a child’s game we once played on the sidewalks of Bensonhurst, telling fortunes, & cackling secrets.
Learn more about poems-for-all & the great work they do.
June 2, 2022
May 9, 2022
The Hierophant as Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Image credit: Unknown c/o The HopperPublishing poems is such an odd business. So much time & energy & correspondence, so many waiting games. And then, once the poem is finally accepted for publication, it can take months or even years to appear in that lit journal or book. So, it was atypical, but not wholly surprising that my poems appeared in three different journals this week, despite all having been accepted months ago. Naturally, I also had a slew of rejections along with the publications, which is how it all goes.
Nevertheless, I’m proud of this poem that I wrote during one of our weekly women’s writing & tarot workshops on Zoom that I started facilitating during the early stages of COVID. It’s been a balm to learn tarot during this destabilizing time, and even more grounding to use tarot as a daily practice; as a thermometer to gauge expectations, and to feel the weather shift.
This poem, “The Hierophant as Brown Marmorated Stink-Bug” chronicles a true story about toxic workplaces & the teachings of a stinkbug under capitalism.
May 4, 2022
Self-Esteem
Shore Leave by Abigail FrankfurtMy poem about losing yourself in a first love that doesn’t honor you is up at The Hunger. Self-Esteem has a long history – this poem has been declined over 30 times by numerous journals; this poem has been plagiarized by a former friend & classmate who betrayed, lied, & gaslit me about it, even after their publisher sided with me; this poem has finally found a home in a journal among beautiful, brave, strong work who honor one another in proximity & solidarity.
May 1, 2022
a triad of tarot poems
Three new tarot poems about trauma, insects, and the fens (Two of Cups reversed, Knight of Wands, & Justice) are up at Hot Pink Magazine today. Grateful to the editors for understanding these strange beings that chose me.
February 15, 2022
fool reversed / let go
A new poem from Witch Biota is up at On the Seawall today
February 2, 2022
cut & paste
Excited to have two collages in this upcoming show at MEDIUM! It’s my first time showing mixed-media work, and ten years since I last showed my photography.
Maybe this will motivate me to finally finish some of the random wip projects on my art table. There’s something about the fear of getting lost in art that keeps me away, but I suppose there’s no rational sense in fearing being swallowed by art when I am swallowed by work & capitalism & my phone otherwise. Art always spits me up, anyway.
