Sparks

Wants In a World of Plenty

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Wants In a World of Plenty By DSBriggs I just want to…   Laugh aloud. Stay Alive. Keep learning. Keep mobile. Keep learning to let go. Keep loving.   I just want to…   Shout at the Government. Shout at prejudice. Shout at stupidity. Shout at injustice. Shout at the mess.   I just want to…   See Children playing. Hear laughing. Taste warm bread. Smell fresh rain in the forest. Touch my dog’s velvety ears.   I just want to …   Accept the pain that comes with death of loved ones. Accept that I do the best I know how. Accept help graciously as I age. Accept that my way is only one way of many. Accept forgiveness.  Accept that some things are unforgivable.   I just want to:   Continue to write, and be a…

Prompts

One of those times . . . Prompt #708

Remember back to your teenage years. Full of promise and full of hope for fun. Hope that special someone notices you. Looking forward to fun times. Hope you won’t get caught doing whatever you weren’t supposed to be doing. Because this was a time to take risks, to sneak past authority, to try new behavior. Prompt: Write about one of those times . . . that you got away with something you shouldn’t have been doing.

Prompts

Teens and Cars . . . Prompt #707

Write about your first car, or your friend’s first car. Make, Model, Year. Bench Seat? Stick shift? What was special about this car? Did you cruise Main Street? Or El Camino Real? Or The Boulevard? Did you drag race . . .  on The Great Highway or a lonesome stretch of road? Not your family drive-in movies . . . did you go on dates to the drive-in? Write about a car and car activities, especially the ones that took place during your teen years.

Book Reviews

Tangled by Blood

Reviewed by Marlene Cullen “Tangled by Blood, a Memoir in Verse” by Rebecca Evans opens with the powerful “I wanted to be your womb,” letting us know this is a manifesto of bold writing. Unveiling her truth in poetic form offers a lyrical quality to her candid and extremely personal stories, revealing a heart that will not be shattered, a voice that will not be shuttered, and a resilience to be admired. Strong writing, impressive abilities, and remarkable insights, Evans shares her journey with integrity, honesty, and unflinching intelligence. “Tangled by Blood” is a treatise to be read and re-read, picking up different nuances with each reading. Available on Amazon. Rebecca Evans’ work reflects, among many things, fractured relationships. This fracturing influences every subsequent relationship—carrying scars and wounds throughout one’s life. Evans weaves disability, domestic violence, and a fight for survival throughout her narratives, hoping to start conversations, create awareness,…

Places to submit

The RavensPerch

From the founder, Gretna Wilkinson, Ph.D.: The RavensPerch is an online international literary and visual arts magazine. We welcome established as well as emerging writers, tomorrow’s stars. TRP is unique in that the platform brings the literary world together across generations: a home for adults, young adults and children. We publish poetry, fiction, non-fiction and visual art. We are interested in writing that makes us react — all the way from calmly to boisterously. We even give you permission to break our hearts and make us ask for more. Thank you, Dave Seter, for letting me know about The RavensPerch. Dave has four poems in the February 9, 2023 issue.

Guest Bloggers

Why I Love Writing Ekphrastic Poetry

Why I Love Writing Ekphrastic Poetry by Guest Blogger, Robin Gabbert Yes, I do love writing ekphrastic poetry!  It’s poetry that never requires a prompt besides the piece of art you are viewing — be it a painting, a sculpture, a collage, digital rendering, or other artistic presentation such as dance, drama, and music (so hearing counts). You don’t have to search for writing prompts beyond your nearest museum or gallery (or their website) or a visit to WikiArt or Google Arts & Culture to search for your favorite artist or browse for something new that sparks your imagination. Ekphrastic poetry has been with us since at least the time of Homer and has been used by many of our best poets. An early example is John Keats “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” Rainer Maria Rilke was another advocate as shown in his beautifully descriptive poem “Archaic Torso of Apollo.”…

Book Reviews

The Clandestine Life of Paintings

“The Clandestine Life of Paintings, in Poems” by Robin Gabbert. Review by Marianne Lyon. Robin Gabbert’s Magical Ekphrastic book “The Clandestine Life of Paintings, in Poems” by Robin Gabbert is inventive, otherworldly, and intriguing. The poems muse duet verses with paintings. The marriage of these creative pieces invite contemplation. They invite the mystical to emerge. The twists and leaps of Robin’s imagination are made all the more meaningful by the deeper truth of human feeling that underlines each verse. They journey us into painted worlds with words as our guides. Her poems are written in sonorous fashion much like art songs. This partnering of poems and art invites the reader to recognize our shared humanity. They pulse with nature’s beauty. Universal meaning danced my eyes from poem to painting to poem. “A Collage of Questions” isa short-found poem fashioned from questions Robin asks in her amazing book. Let these queries…