Tag: poetry

If My Books Shall Die – Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge

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Hello there love bugs. So, today’s Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writer’s Challenge as hosted by Colleen and Ronovan, is on the topic of OBSESSION (*imagines drum sound in head*). But, here’s the thing guys, I couldn’t really find, or think, of a quote on obsession I really liked. Soooo… instead I wrote a poem.

If My Books Shall Die

If my books shall die

I have labored in vain

I have swam through centuries

And ran years in someone else shoes

I have climbed mountains

And crawled under valley’s

only to bleed death

I have carved my obsession

Into paper using invisible ink

If my books shall die

 

I do not wish to live

on the tops of your shelves

Or faced down on kitchen counters

Or underneath your children’s beds

I do not wish to live

In the palms of your hands

Or standing next to Grandmother’s old picture

In the living room

Grandmother is dead

And I do not wish to die

I want my books to live

Not on top coffee tables

But inside of you

 

When I am dead

No longer among the living

Crack open a book written by me

And feel my breath on your skin

Hear my voice resurrect from inside an ancient pen

Watch my tongue dance

See my lips move

And witness passion soar from beyond the grave

 

I read James Baldwin today

And realized I was carrying his bones

In the crooks of my arms

 

If my books shall die

Then my words did not really contain life

But if my books shall live

What are you waiting for?

Go to your bookshelf

Resurrect me

And carry

My bones

 

******

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EC Quote Friday – MayChallengeDay6

Yayy, I made it through the first week of the May Challenge! Is anyone else playing? Because I feel like the only one lol. I rest on Saturdays so unfortunately I will not participate in this challenge on Saturdays so I will see you all Sunday. I plan to incorporate some flash fiction and poetry into Week Two, time permitting. In the meantime, below is your EC Quote Friday:

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Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge – Poetic Justice

Today I’m using one of my own quotes for Colleen and Ronovans weekly Writer’s Quote Wednesday Challenge. Today’s theme is Art or Artist:

I've always loved the look of wings on a pagethe way the wind blowswhen they flap against the airthe way they soartaking my mind with themThe wings are symbolic of freedom. To me writing is the most important kind of art because words live. To me, ink meets paper to create something spiritual. Not only can we see the beauty of words, but we can feel it. I would define my style of writing, poetry or otherwise, as poetic justice because I am always seeking to free people, to include myself, from the limited ways we tend to think and to feel. This is not always an easy task and so as I write, the keystrokes are heavy with the responsibility my purpose carries. The weight of the kinds of things that I write always looms in the background of the page as if daring me to go on. And this is always the moment when I know that I must.

*******

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Ink Pen

Writing-freelancer

Dear Ink Pen,

No, just listen.

I want your lips

nestled

against the collar bone

Of this page

I don’t care that people do not hand-write anymore

I need you

nibbling at history

and touching passions

I desire your soul

pressed hard against my fingers

I need you

touching minds

and resurrecting souls

In private places

Let your hands roam their computer screens

Kissing the interior of their hearts

Freeing the thoughts of men

Leave us naked with hope

Vulnerable

And open with the desire

For your nose against the nape of our necks

Let us drink of the truth dripping from your mouth

The taste of light lingering on your breath

But first I need you

Your lips

Nestled

Ball pointed

Against the collar bone

Of this page.

Yes, that’s it.

Now

touch them.

#Book #Review – “We Could Be Heroes” by Justin T. McCain

 

I don’t usually review poetry. There is something unique about an individual’s voice and how it comes out on the page. For this reason, I find it unsettling to critique someone’s feelings, someone’s voice, someone’s experiences and thought processes in the form of poetry. Each is so very unique. So again, I do not typically review poetry.

I met Justin through Twitter maybe about a year ago when I started re-tweeting a lot of his posts, which I found inspiring. When I saw the promotion of his new book, “We Could Be Heroes” the title intrigued me. I thought to myself, “Yea we could”. Then I went on about my business. It wasn’t until later that I noticed that it was a mixture of short fiction and poetry, which was different. Different in a good way. Different in that it’s something I have not seen much of. Different in that I’ve never read a combination of poetry and short fiction before.  After mentioning how I’d love to get my hands on this book, I was excited to see a private message from Justin that he’d love it if I can review the book for him. Below is the review I posted to his amazon page:

Title: We Could Be Heroes

Author: Justin T. McCain

Paperback: 167 pages

Publisher: M3 Publishing Company LLC

Edition: First Edition

Published: February 27, 2016

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0692564160

ISBN-13: 978-0692564165

**I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

We Could Be Heroes is the inspiring work of Justin T. McCain and includes both poetry as well as short fiction. Let me start with the fiction. The story is about a young man named Bard and the legend of a Money Tree considered to be an object of good fortune to those who believe in such superstitions. Bard is preparing for graduation at the University when the sky darkens and he sees the legendary money tree. Shortly afterwards, he is witness to an accident in which he miraculously saves a young woman’s life. The woman’s name is Spirit and she and Bard begin a romantic relationship. However, when Bard finds the opportunity to possess some of the money from the money tree, although it makes him a rich man, things start to fall apart in his personal life. The financial value of the money didn’t make Bard’s life any easier than he’d anticipated. For a short story this book has a really good message.

“If you could heal the world, or have the world, which would you choose?”

Justin’s poetry is most excellent. I love how the poems were relatable to the title of the book and correlates well also with the story line. Speaking of the story, I anticipated short miniature stories to be sprinkled throughout the book and intermingled with poetry. What I got is something much more organized. Instead of having too much going on, Justin stuck to one story and divided this story into three parts and sprinkled the poems in-between. I loved this layout because the book came out to be very organized. The inspiration and the passion of Justin’s poetry is evident. My favorite poem has to be the books namesake “We Could Be Heroes”. The work is beautiful.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

We Could Be Heroes is Available now Online

in Paperback and Amazon Kindle

Click The Book Cover to Purchase

51ZfL3AhcrL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_Visit Justin Online at:

http://www.justintmccain.com/

Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge – The Light

For this weeks episode of Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge, as hosted by Ronovan of Ronovan Writes and Colleen of Silver Threading, I am inspired by the wisdom of Jimi Hendricks. I have decided (obviously) to use today’s theme “Wisdom” and have written also a poem to accompany today’s quote titled, “The Light”.

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“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens”

― Jimi Hendrix

 

 

The Light

Ain’t nobody got time
For the sun
Got no time to be spendin
Burning hands
And fingertips
Reaching for the light
Everybody got an opinion
Tongues itch in the dark
And unfold like ancient paper
Because everybody knows
And yet no one listens
For the language of the sun
Everyone thirsts
But no one drinks
Everyone speaks
But no one thinks
Cause ain’t nobody got time
For the sun
Got no time to be spending
Burning hands
And fingertips
And tongues
On the sun
On the truth
On the light

************

Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge

We Can Move Mountains

Huge mountains
and great hills
they tower above our heads
like father’s to sons
the intimidating weight
of experience
to our youth
like a mother’s instruction
heavy with discipline
is the carved stone
the frightening rock
but it is true
we can move mountains
if we tried
if we faith-ed
one pebble at a time
one pen to a rhyme
one stuttering syllable
and leaking ink
we scatter mustard seeds
and stumbling blocks
like children at play
except
there are no toys
no plastic dolls
or wind up cars
just similes
and metaphors
passing pebbles
and conquering mountains