d. ellis phelps's Blog, page 15

A Solstice Blessing

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May All that is Good and Pure and True and Whole move to & heal you.

May the Light Returning illuminate & guide you.

& may you know Deep Peace.

With Big Love,

d

Somewhere South, by Emily Madapusi Pera

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…She found her exhale, …

This is the line that captivated me.  Being one who has spent her life learning to respire, a supposedly natural kinesthetic ability we should easily master from birth.  But no.  Like the voice in this poem, by habit, I am a breath holder, a body holder, a holder of many things that do not belong to me.  It is by conscious thought and years of practice that I have come to the exquisite pleasure of the experience known as a full breath.

Meet poet, Emily Madapusi Pera.  In her poem Somewhere South, Ms. Pera speaks eloquently of journeying, of letting go & starting over.  This work is seated in the physicality of experience, in the breath, in the body, in the ways landscapes and locales shape us:  disenchanting, interesting, binding or expanding us:

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…the train approached a stretch of water

So blue and vast that her muscles sighed

and settled,…

The poet’s litany of images, of the

…America that met the edges

of railroad tracks:

Forgotten toys at the way-backs of yards,…

is Whitman-esque in its ability to conjure by naming a montage of the ordinary, leaving the reader riding the train alongside the poet, images clipping by, window by window.

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Like many, the voice in the poem is looking

To be transported to another place,

another time…

The poem can be read to mean that the poet is physically traveling, taking a geographical cure, relocating from the Northern to the Southern United States.  She tells us she is headed southward to

…Destinations filled with the miraculous certainty

Of a train timetable,…

Ah! To find “miraculous certainty” anywhere may be an impossibility, but the poet holds on to her hope.

Or, the poem can take us deeper than geography:   showing us that life can be traveled, like a train, along any track one chooses and that finding place is less a matter of landscapes and locales and more a matter of finding a home for the heart.

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Read Somewhere South  in its entirety here.

Emily Madapusi Pera is a writer based in Providence, Rhode Island. Her poems and stories have been published by Tuck Magazine, Litro, Dissident Voice, Storgy Magazine, A3 Review, and Scout & Birdie, among others. She is a native of Chicago. You can follow her at www.actinkindness.com.

 

images:  used by permission of the artist and via Creative Commons unless otherwise noted.  Some Rights reserved.  #1)  self portrait by Chris Burke #2) still water at dusk by Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho #3) Tracks by Karen Green #4) Hurt by Celeste Pascual
d. ellis phelps is the author of this blog and of the novel, Making Room for George (Moon Shadow Sanctuary Press, 2016).

 

Dead Rose at 5 Points Local, Harper & Okaji Collaborate

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The first three days of November are set aside in many cultures as days to remember and celebrate the lives of the dead.  We call it Dia de los muertos, a celebration that has its roots in Aztec tradition and is celebrated widely in Mexico.

Those days begin today and it just so happens that today, I decided to post a poem that’s been sitting in my inbox for weeks waiting for time, for inclination, for inspiration.  It wasn’t until I began reading the poem again, that I realized how it resonates with today’s celebrations.

Dead Rose at 5 Points Local  begins:

she waits

for the dead to speak

of last week’s sweetness—…

The poem, a collaboration between poets Stephanie L. Harper and Robert Okaji is a montage of nostalgic images that point to loss:  of love, of the way,

…and the faint honey

of unrealized hope….

Within its lines, delicious internal rhyme and mystery pull us close, close as a

…whisper,

touching her lips…

 

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Before I read, I lit candles and incense, set my mother’s and father’s images on my altar, wrote prayers and placed them in my burning bowl, spent time outside, sobbing for my own losses and the losses of others, the monarchs still hovering over the sage.

How often we taste

…the cool

tang of [some] demurring

ghosts…

&, no matter how sad or full our lives, our loves have been, we find

…the undiminished

river, its waters flowing

in every possible

direction, away.

Read  Dead Rose at 5 Points Local in its entirety here.

The most interesting thing about this poem is this:

First, it was written by two poets as a collaboration!  That two poets can do this so successfully is quite a phenomenon I think.  Kudos!!

Secondly, it was written in response to a found prompt:  the actual roses on the table at the San Antonio restaurant 5 Points Local where the three of us sat having coffee and delicious gluten free carrot cake this summer during the Gemini Ink writer’s conference.  When we noted that the roses had faded and dried, I said:  Dead roses at five points local.  There’s a prompt for you!

Robert snapped the shot you see at the top of this post and they agreed to write a poem.  How much fun is that?  AND, it’s not the first time these two have collaborated.

When Robert released his chapbook, From Every Moment A Second (Finishing Line Press, 2017), Stephanie created the cover art for the book!  Take a look:

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Both Pushcart Prize nominee’s, the poets are published widely, each with multiple chapbooks.  Both poets work is also forthcoming in The Larger Geometry:  poems for peace (forthcoming from peaceCENTERbooks, Nov. 2018)

Find more of Robert’s work on his blog, O At the Edges. 

Find more about Stephanie and read her chapbook, This Being Done (Finishing Line Press), here.

images:  1) Robert Okaji, 2) ofrenda, used with permission of the artist, David Leonardo Mendez via Creative Commons.  Some Rights reserved; 3) Stephanie Harper
d. ellis phelps is the author of this blog and of the novel, Making Room for George (Moon Shadow Sanctuary Press, 2016).

 

 

the last monarch: poem & soundtrack by d. ellis phelps

I’m not a movie maker nor do I play the piano.  I am a maker, though and I’ve been playing today…my grandmother’s piano:  a Kimball upright, maybe a hundred years old.

But first, the monarch stopped me and had to write:

 washing my breakfast cup

i sponge lipstick      lip prints

from its clear rim      warm

water and soap      soothing my skin

i gaze

out the kitchen window      admiring

the plants i’ve potted on the porch

periwinkle

bougainvillea

rosemary

sage

~

consider seasons:

how soon these blooms will fade

but before nostalgia overtakes

–monarch perches

upon the petal of the sage

–orange and black      stained glass

~

she folds

unfolds

folds again

bow and dip

bow and dip

i cannot help myself

i stop      to watch

~

this straggler      marching south

well behind the snout-nosed

butterflies that flew through my garden

only days ago:  twenty-two to be exact

the last time      in fact

that i picked up this pen

and sat here      on this porch:

called to worship

by wings

& later in this beautiful October day, the blue sky so clear, so uninterrupted…i sat again, but this time at the  piano, the Monarch’s beauty, her formidable endurance, her leaving…an indie film playing in my mind.  Here are the sounds that came:

the last monarch: original poem with soundtrack

I’m not a movie maker nor do I play the piano.  I am a maker, though and I’ve been playing today…my grandmother’s piano:  a Kimball upright, maybe a hundred years old.

But first, the monarch stopped me and had to write:

 washing my breakfast cup

i sponge lipstick      lip prints

from its clear rim      warm

water and soap      soothing my skin

i gaze

out the kitchen window      admiring

the plants i’ve potted on the porch

periwinkle

bougainvillea

rosemary

sage

~

consider seasons:

how soon these blooms will fade

but before nostalgia overtakes

–monarch perches

upon the petal of the sage

–orange and black      stained glass

~

she folds

unfolds

folds again

bow and dip

bow and dip

i cannot help myself

i stop      to watch

~

this straggler      marching south

well behind the snout-nosed

butterflies that flew through my garden

only days ago:  twenty-two to be exact

the last time      in fact

that i picked up this pen

and sat here      on this porch:

called to worship

by wings

& later in this beautiful October day, the blue sky so clear, so uninterrupted…i sat again, but this time at the  piano, the Monarch’s beauty, her formidable endurance, her leaving…an indie film playing in my mind.  Here are the sounds that came:

Mine: a poem by Kelly Spence

Please welcome poet Kelly Spence to formidableWoman. 

With the immediately intimate opening lines of her poem, Mine, we are drawn in, our curiosity arises alongside foreboding:

I keep this thought/ inside a matchbox/ a slow burn

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We are at once, familiar commiserates with

the keeper’s cry

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We know this:  lover’s kiss; the deep ache of longing; how we keep our losses

pressed and dried/ among musk pages

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These verses are prayers,

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oh, rising tide/ bathe me holy

glimpses into the Deep Feminine, into the ritual yin burial within where, to the Mother’s womb we carry our wounds, not to hide but to heal, to integrate, to transmute, to become who we are now, and now, and now, making and remaking ourselves:  our own.

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Read the poem in it’s entirety here:  Mine by Kelly Spence

Kelly Spence is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Gainesville, FL. She is a devoted mother to a two year old daughter and a passionate advocate for women. Kelly currently facilitates a support group called ‘Military Moms’ for female Veterans with children. Kelly hopes her work will allow readers to become delightfully distracted from the demands of daily life.  Find her on Instagram as Mitchellpants

Images:  All are used with permission via Creative Commons unless otherwise noted.  Rights reserved.  1) closed matchbox by JE Theriot; 2) Leaf 2.0 by Patrick aka Herjolf   3) Book Heart by Gabriela Pinto   4)water droplet by {deepapraveen   5) Ammonite fossil by James St. John
(c) d. ellis phelps is the author of this blog and of the novel, Making Room for George.  Find more of her published work here.

 

poets for peace reading series: Nov 3, 2018

much better now with videos n such!…

formidable woman sanctuary

This salon style venue marks the two year anniversary of this gathering of poets, musicians and listeners who come together for one evening each quarter to listen, laugh, love, hug and remember: All Is Well.

Nov. 3, 2018 features the current Texas State Poet Laureate, Carol Coffee Reposa

and poets Martha K. Grant:

and d. ellis phelps:

Phelps, Grant and (hopefully) Ms. Reposa will be reading from The Larger Geometry: poems for peace (forthcoming, Fall 2018).  The anthology is due out any minute and will be available via peaceCenter Books and Amazon.

Our musical guest is the ever charming and delightful Covita Moroney of San Antonio Vocal Ensemble. Covita is standing center stage in this video:

We gather at 7PM, hang out, eat a bit, drink a bit, listen for a while, take an intermission, eat more, drink more, listen more and hang out ’til we want to go, usually…

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poets for peace, San Antonio reading series: Nov 3, 2018

This salon style venue marks the two year anniversary of this gathering of poets, musicians and listeners who come together for one evening each quarter to listen, laugh, love, hug and remember: All Is Well.

Nov. 3, 2018 features the current Texas State Poet Laureate, Carol Coffee Reposa

and poets Martha K. Grant:

and d. ellis phelps:

Phelps, Grant and (hopefully) Ms. Reposa will be reading from The Larger Geometry: poems for peace (forthcoming, Fall 2018).  The anthology is due out any minute and will be available via peaceCenter Books and Amazon.

Our musical guest is the ever charming and delightful Covita Moroney of San Antonio Vocal Ensemble. Covita is standing center stage in this video:

We gather at 7PM, hang out, eat a bit, drink a bit, listen for a while, take an intermission, eat more, drink more, listen more and hang out ’til we want to go, usually a little later than 9PM.

Casual dress. Adults only. Bring a light snack and a drink to share. RSVP to me here,  but hurry. Seating is limited. Location address will be provided to “yes” RSVP’s.

www.facebook.com/events/2090796997900564/

image: Carol Coffee Reposa, San Antonio Woman’s Magazine

poets for peace reading series: Nov 3, 2018

This salon style venue marks the two year anniversary of this gathering of poets, musicians and listeners who come together for one evening each quarter to listen, laugh, love, hug and remember: All Is Well.

Nov. 3, 2018 features the current Texas State Poet Laureate, Carol Coffee Reposa

and poets Martha K. Grant:

and d. ellis phelps:

Phelps, Grant and (hopefully) Ms. Reposa will be reading from The Larger Geometry: poems for peace (forthcoming, Fall 2018).  The anthology is due out any minute and will be available via peaceCenter Books and Amazon.

Our musical guest is the ever charming and delightful Covita Moroney of San Antonio Vocal Ensemble. Covita is standing center stage in this video:

We gather at 7PM, hang out, eat a bit, drink a bit, listen for a while, take an intermission, eat more, drink more, listen more and hang out ’til we want to go, usually a little later than 9PM.

Casual dress. Adults only. Bring a light snack and a drink to share. RSVP to me here,  but hurry. Seating is limited. Location address will be provided to “yes” RSVP’s.

www.facebook.com/events/2090796997900564/

image: Carol Coffee Reposa, San Antonio Woman’s Magazine

three poems in Dreamers and Displaced, d. ellis phelps

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Dreamers and Displaced

I am very pleased to have new work appearing in the current issue of Poets and Dreamers Literary & Fine Arts Journal: Dreamers and Displaced

Three of my poems including naomi,

along the rio grande

among carnelian melons

& orange      groves

you can hear the coyotes

crooning       to a moon

wide and bright    as

the river         she loves

naomi crossed this borderland

for freedom      cradling her infant…

(read the entire poem here)

on a farm in brownsville

“In 2009, the Department of Homeland Security

informed landowners along the northern edge of the

Rio Grande that the new border fence would be cutting

through their properties.”



Texas Monthly, 2011

​rust colored steel

cuts through

melon & mesquite

chops this land in half

(read the entire poem here)

and only the ocotillo

they rode in silence

​

silence

across the great river

silence

across the canyons…

(read the entire poem here)

appear alongside the work of many poets and artists of note including:

Juan Felipe Herrerra,

…at times the shadow

i cannot tell i sleep the blankets folded and unfolded todavía

still here para ti for you         todavía…

Wendy Barker,

…Songbirds return to the same spot year after year. Travel in flocks, rely on their neighbors. Safety in numbers….

Marrian Haddad

…And we danced, under the freeway, wearing our chokers, handmade by native artisans, turquoise and silver and wood, there we were, and many, dancing…

and more.  I am deeply honored to be included.

Read Poets and Dreamers here…

 

image:  Rio Grande:  Texas-Mexico is used permission of the artist, Tom Driggers via Creative Commons.  Some rights reserved.