Since the Release of "Places and Times on 7 April 2015, I have given two solo readings locally and regionally, and participated in two Open mics, one in connection with a poetry workshop. I have also registered for two arts fairs to sell books, and connected with one large branch of a local library. There will be more details on all of this forthcoming, but I want to make a point.
Going out like this is necessary for any artist, especially a poet. Emily Dickinson would not have done well at all doing so, for obvious reasons. However, it is a wonderful experience to do so. I now know several people when I come into something, and most are friends now. Additionally, I make new friends, and I get my poetry out.
I post a link to the Facebook page of the White Rose here: https://www.facebook.com/whiterosesc?fref=ts
If you live in the Midlands or are passing through, it is worth a visit. It is not far at all from downtown Columbia.
And I post one of the two poems that I read from my book:
The
Island
No islander am I, but all the same
I wander green fields that go forever,
Rolling on towards a distant tree line
Or extending along to a sheltered cove.
At times I am invited, encouraged
Even, to stay for longer duration,
Taking my place alongside the others,
Savoring the stillness of hallowed space,
Watching colors brightening with the sun
And listening to wafting songs of praise
Resounding over and over again.
Contentment I find there from distant waves
And storms that come clashing onto the coast,
Until the stinging subtle reminder
That I am sojourner, not citizen.
Then turns my gaze once again to the strand
And beyond to the mainland, hovering
As it were above the waves, beckoning
Me to return and remain there.
On the mainland I indeed have a place
High on a hill. From its wooded crest my
Gaze penetrates the mists which are covering
The island. I have memories of the
Green pleasant hills but now I turn inland
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