Phillis Wheatley - A Guiding Influence Week #4

Yesterday, I went once again to my Poet Tarot Card Deck - shuffled
the cards,  fanned them out and selected one.

I'm amazed that once again a Poet card came forward as opposed to a suits card since the odds are much greater for a suits card. The card that emerged was that of Phillis Wheatley for whom I was totally unfamiliar with.

Since then I've learned a little about her. Arriving in  this country in 1761 from West Africa. The family that purchased her as a slave and saw it to it that she had a classical education. They  also supported her talent for poetry. A excellent example of persevering through adversity.

DENISE LEVERTOV Writes the Secret She Doesn't Know

Two girls discover
the secret of life
in a sudden line of
poetry.

I who don't the
secret wrote
the line.



[from Levertov's poem The Secret]

Poet Tarot Card Week #3

I drew Denise Levertov from my Poet Tarot Card Deck today. This is the card I will rely on for guidance this week. I will continue to turn to Anne Bradstreet where my manuscript is concerned. I'm entering a new phase with it at this time.

I'm seeing the need embrace all the efforts put into my work and where work has been completed to celebrate each completion as an accomplishment.

Levertrov's work was broad - touching on nature, the nuances of love, politics, society, theology and spirituality.  She put her total self into her work - not withholding  in this area or that. Think about an approach to writing that brings your wholeness to your art.

Milestone

Today is marked by a milestone for a project I'm working on.  Getting over the hump, I turned to the wisdom of Anne Bradstreet - trusting my instinct - not needing validation from anyone else I arrived at a point that I believe in my manuscript.

There will be fine tuning, but I had to get to this point... where I can say this is it!  Now I know what I have to work with. It's not a concept any longer. 

A Special Card Drawn For A Writing Project.

A special writing project might call for a special Poet Tarot card. And so
I drew one yesterday for the soul purpose of guidance on a particular writing project that  I in the latter stages of.  I drew from the entire deck and got Anne Bradstreet.

While Anne comes from a very different time, she is especially strong minded and fiercely independent. Very much so for a woman of her times.

We'll see over the next few days what this all has to do with my project.

You must have chaos within you to give birth

 to a dancing star.   - Friedrich Nietzsche

Two Poems in Spring 2014 Boston Literary Magazine

Two of my poems are appearing in the Spring issue of Boston Literary Magazine.  You can find them online here. I believe the print version will be available in about a week.

My Poems are:

I Stole Your Voice  &   I Listen to My Cereal

CLICK HERE TO SEE THEM


My Thanks to the Editors of Boston Literary Magazine for inclusion in this issue.

A New Tarot Card for Week #2

Today I have drawn the Two of Quills for this week.

I am the envelope and the Two of Quills is going to push me as far as she can this week.

To tell you the truth, this is rather exciting as opposed to scary. Of course I say that now and I may feel different come Wednesday or Thursday when I find myself completely out of my comfort zone. And why shouldn't it feel scary?

I don't know how this is all going to manifest itself, but I trust I will be lead to stretch my boundaries. To let go of the established norms. To go maybe even where I've never gone before.

Disruption - be ready for it and make the most of it. Embrace it  and where it takes you. I may find better times or places for writing and I may not. Perhaps what I'm doing is best, but I can't be certain of this if I do not step away and into who paradigm.

• disrupt
• challenge
• discover

Be open this week to discovery.

Let No One Define Me But Myself by My Own Work

Submission Saturday March 15

Started the day early leaving the house at 6AM for the Community Blood Center where I gave a double donation of platelets.

Return home and spent some time this morning working on some new poetry material and now I am settling in with the  Poet Tarot Card Robert Frost, King of Muses to aid me as I select work to seed out with careful attention to where it is going. My first Submission Saturday under the watchful eyes of  Frost... who is nurturing and calm

Listening as writer and reader....

The ear is the only true writer and the only true reader. 

~ Robert Frost

Poet Tarot Cards of Your Own

Four days have come and passed since my deck of Poet Tarot cards arrived. I remain amazed by what appears to be a special level of awareness that I have a various times during the day. Mystical powers of dead poets? Who knows... maybe I'm just more focused, but I remain excited at the crazy deck of cards that  sets beside me on my deck as I write and rewrite this week as well as make application for a residency.
If I am accepted for the residency I can assure you I'm bring my cards along.

Two Sylvia Press is planning to produce more Poet Tarot cards in the months ahead. You can obtain a deck of your own and help this small press make a big impact. They have a Kickstarter Program that is just days old and clearly there are a lot of people wanting their own deck and help Two Sylvias at the same time.

You can find a great review of the cards by going here!

But when you are ready to Support Two Sylvias Press and order Your Own Deck of Cards click on the Kickstarter Link Below...

Two Sylvias Press Kickstarter Project

Robert Frost Is First Up

And so a package of Poet Tarot Cards arrived today by mail. I opened them and carefully  inspected them. There were 30 poets - fifteen male and fifteen female.  In addition there were 4 sets of suits. Letterpresses, Muses, Mentors and Quills. Understand I've never held any kind of Tarot cards in my hand. I never participated in a Tarot card reading. Yes, today I was a Tarot card virgin.

The cards are quite impressive. Clearly a lot of work has gone into them. Not only the cards but the accompanying Poet Tarot Guidebook.

I've had a keen interest in them since I first learned of them. Perhaps because I have over the past few years turned to my dead poet mentor Anne Sexton on occasion when stuck or just seeking  different direction in a specific poetry project of individual piece of work. The idea therefor did not  seem so outlandish. I'm a firm believer that poets can learn from other poets both alive and dead.

After reading through the guidebook, I shuffled the cards quite a few times. They felt crisp and new, but of course they were.The deck seemed heavy for the size. This sort of reinforced the thought that  there was something of substance in these cards.

I decided to to draw a card to stay with be through the rest of the week. I could draw daily but I wanted to start  with a card that I world give plenty of opportunity to speak to me.

When I drew, I drew a poet card (there are fewer of them in the deck then suits) and held in my had Robert Frost, the Kind of Muses. It's not a card I would have selected on my own, but that's the beauty of this, you can learn to accept inspiration from places you would not  choose on your own. If we always do what we want, if we don't move beyond our own choices, how can we expect our creativity to grow. Our work can become stale.

I figure to start with  Frost is going to teach me a lesson in  discipline and patience since we will be chums till I draw a new card on Sunday.

From the guidebook I begin to see Frost as balanced between intellect and emotion. A calm and nurturing soul. I ask myself do I write more with my head or whit my heart? Is one better? Can I combine and these and what would that look like? What about writing with form? I don't do this often. I feel Frost nudging me to try forms again. I don't  have to abandon free verse, but it  won't  hurt to push myself into it  again and see what  I think.

Okay Robert, I'm listening  now.


Note: the Poet Tarot Cards are produced by Two Sylvias Press