Another Season Done - Turn, Turn, Turn

Wow - it's been a long time since I posted a blog here. Life has had more than its share of downs this summer season - and some ups as well - and those are what I prefer to dwell on. As long as I can still see the light at the end of the tunnel, I know I can get there!

And speaking of getting there - yesterday was the day of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change events hosted all over the world - in over 90 countries - WOW!!! Here's the article from the local paper, the Sacramento Bee, on the event I participated in yesterday. Yes, you read that right, participated in. I actually got up and read one of my poems during the first open mic session of this event. And...I wasn't even nervous! Usually when I get up to speak in any type of public forum, I am quaking and shaking in my figurative boots - not this time - I said it loud and I said it strong - WOW again!!!

And that wasn't all I did writing-related yesterday, oh no was not all (BTW, yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the passing of Dr Seuss - the man who introduced me to poetry at my mother's knee in the 1960s).

I also entered NPR's Three-Minute Fiction contest - edited down one of my favorite short stories and sent it off on its merry way.

Back to the poetry reading yesterday - there were some awesome artists there sharing!

Mario Ellis Hill- WOW!

John Allen Cann - I will find a copy of the 24 Caprices he published in 1992 - they are as relevant today as they were there (and perhaps even more so!).

Sean King - again, WOW!

And Lawrence Dinkins - double, triple WOW!

And of course, Abe Sass (sorry, new website found with just info on him or an example of him reading...sigh...) - dude, Dr. Seuss may have drawn me into poetry, but it was Langston Hughes who touched my soul with back in 6th grade, when Miss Desmangles assigned him to me to research and write a report on. Awesomeness!

These were just a few from the first installment in Capitol Park - I was not able to follow to Fremont Park to hear the rest of the readings., which included Frances Kakugawa, a fellow NCPA member - although she did read a Thank You to Poets poem during the second open mic session at Capitol Park.