Facebook Page at 500 Likes!

     It has not been a year, and I have reached this milestone. Although I started it for the book, I use ti for other things, and will likely keep it whenever the second book comes out; but that is at least a year away.

     What pleases me the most is the contact with people. Some of you are old friends, some newer ones. some of you are fellow writers, some of you are artists of anot

her kind, or appreciate art in its many forms. Stay in touch and feel free to introduce me to new friends.

     And while you are at it, also follow/like/whatever this page, also! Every so often I think I should delete some older posts, but I notice that many people like to dig deep, so there must be something worth keeping!

https://www.facebook.com/Arthur-Turfa-Poems-of-Times-and-Places-Reflected-293732337470677/

Exquisite Mare

Exquisite Mare

for R.M.

Undaunted, she plays along

With the pretense

That she has been tamed.

Raising her head high,

Stretching the slender neck,

She gazes over the fence

That she could leap

Effortlessly and flawlessly.

That she deigns to stay

Speaks of volition

And nothing else.

In a flash, she springs,

Clearing the corral,

And strides over hills, seeking leafy trails

Along the distant ridges.

Arthur Turfa, copyright 2015

    Since I have been on Google+, it has been my pleasure and joy to have maintained connections with some talented and amazing people. Rebecca Mandeville is one of them. Hopefully, our paths will cross one day. She writes Cowgirl Haiku ranches, has many interests, and can always be counted on for intriguing writes and posts. 

    Recently she posted a picture of her around the time that I showed my Mythology classes Bernini's ApolloDaphne and Daphne. Right away I wondered what Bernini could have done with Rebecca as a model. His statue is superb, and so is the picture that inspired me. 

     When I wrote the poem, I shared it privately with Rebecca, was had some very nice things to say about it. She graciously allowed me to post it, for which I am grateful. I intend to add it to my Some Poetry Collection on Google

      Many thanks, Rebecca! I am glad to have you as a friend and a fellow poet!

Poetry on Bus Wheels, all over Columbia, SC

     Several of my friends were involved in this project, and I wanted to share the story with you. Ed Madden is on the faculty at the University of South Carolina and is also Columbia's Poet Laureate. A few other friends were involved: Al Black, Len Lawson, and HR Hook

   The intention was to bring poetry to a very public place. I believe that they succeeded.

http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article42160218.html

Nice one from Poem-a-Day Today

   Thanks to Amy Lowell for the poem about those mornings when you know the seasons are turning. No frost of any kind here in South Carolina, but it was cool and rainy, Because of the rain, the migrating birds were grounded.

    If you have not subscribed to Poem-a-day, the site tells you how to do it. Most of them are fine, and seeing a poem each day in my inbox expands what I would normally read.

    Lowell was a well-connected New Englander; one of her brothers was president of Harvard. She never married, was thought to be a lesbian, smoked cigars, was a friend of Ezra Pound's, and championed vers libre. Quite a lot for barely more than a half-century on this earth.

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem-day

Signed Five copies of "Places and Times"

     Tonight I signed five copies for the winners of the Goodreads giveaway, and included a card/bookmark. Later this week I will take them to a mailing place I know and off they go!
In a few minutes I will work on a sonnet; I had one to submit someplace, and it's time to listen to the muse.

     For those how think that a poet needs to wait for the muse, and answer when she calls, I wold say that they have been watching too many movies, only I do not know of many movies about poets, except this one, which does not really fit:  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084591/

   Decades ago I saw it on Cinemax and really should look for it on Netflix.

    I agree with Wordsworth that "Poetry is emotion reflected in tranquility.." Since he was the only English Romantic to die at an old age, I figure he knew something. The German Romantics generally lived long lives also; I have studied them more.

Goodreads Giveaway Ended!

     496 people participated, which I think is outstanding! This week I will mail five signed copies of Places and Times to them. Will I repeat this in six months or so? I am inclined to think so.

Now on to Newberry, SC, next Saturday for a signing at Books on Main!

Coming up to All Saints Day

     This year All Saints Day and All Saints Sunday converge. My thought on this time of the Church Year began to be formed during sermon preparation, and have also been impacted by some deaths of people I know locally.

     Carrie Newcomer handles the topic as deftly and more lyrically than anyone whom I know. I post her song "All Saints Day", and also post

the lyrics even though they are on the video. Whatever your religion/spirituality/Welanschauung, there are times when you wonder about things. I know that I do, and at this time of year I have a sense of being closer to the veil.

   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQefafxbS9E   - video

http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Carrie_Newcomer:All_Saints'_Day   - lyrics