Category: Poetry

Poetry

LADY LIBERTY & THE IMMIGRANTS

Arlene

Sometimes a poem gets written and the times flow into it instead of the other way around.
LADY LIBERTY/IMMIGRANTS
arlene sandra bice
Lady Liberty, head tilted to the earth
concern shadows her face
a small child struggles to hold her up
can we let her down

people of other origins built our country
are still supporting it
planters, growers, workers
behind the scenes
out of camera’s eye

confused, yet knowing who they are
willing to carry the weight
many Americans shrug off

they carry the flag with hope, purpose
not as an accessory
a rung on the ladder of success

this is the passion of today

First Friday Poetry Night, Poetry, Warren Artists' Market, warren county nc, Warren FoodWorks, women writers, women's stories, writing

KEEPING WORDS ALIVE @ FIRST FRIDAY POETRY OPEN MIC NIGHT

Arlene


That’s what we at WAM (Warren Artists Market) do and have been doing it since our first gathering in 2012. In February 2013, we sponsored an Art & Poetry reception where we poets wrote poems about the art exhibited by hometown artists and read the poetry while standing next to the artwork. It was great! The art and related-framed poems remained in the library (by request) for 2 months!
The artists were the late Jay Person, Wheeler Smith, and Ronnie Williams. The poets were Thomas Park, Sherman Johnson, and me. And so it began.
We hosted FFP open mic nights at the Warren Food Works, moved a few times when they were closed, and came back again. Their crew was always helpful and encouraging, supplying us with food and great liquid refreshments. Special nights were held, sometimes honoring particular holidays, sometimes featuring live music, sometimes dancers performed. Singers performed a cappela. Other special nights were held sponsoring Book Release Parties & Signings. Sterling Cheston added music selections to our events. Guest readers were featured. Often it was standing room only!
We facilitated a writing group at the Senior Center resulting in Chapbooks published; hosted play readings, and held workshops.
WAM began publishing an annual anthology in 2013 with SITTING WITH A DRUNKEN SORCERESS Poems and Prose to invite you, to incite you, to delight you, followed by Life Preserved: Memories An Anthology and INSPIRATIONS, an anthology on Warren County, and THIS I KNOW an anthology. Presently we are accepting submissions for HOME an anthology.
WAM is a writer’s collective and offers after school creative writing-arts programs. It was founded by writer, teacher Thomas Haywood Park.
We continue to grow and improve, to draw participants from greater distances, letting artists and writers know that our door is open and the mic is on.

Poetry, women's stories

POETRY OF WORDS IN SIMPLY PUT FOR A GIFT FOR YOURSELF OR . . .? Arlene Sandra Bice

Arlene

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

I find myself calling on a word that
is lovely to say as it rolls around my tongue
tingles in my ear and bursts into the universe
on paper it turns the page into a bit of happiness
that I share with others that they may enjoy it, too
but I wonder

do other ears tire of hearing
the same old, same old words expected from me
when I open my mouth to speak, to astonish another
with a new idea, using the same old, same old words
excited as I am that I cannot call upon a word unused
often by me

so many words that I love to say;
delighted, sensuous, passionate, positive, synchronicity
words of a musical bent that sing in my head in the kitchen
fettucine, proscuitto, zuppa inglese, freschi, funghi, castagne
words that sound more promising on the Italian menu than
at the cafe

foreign words slipped into our language
may need practice; yet once you learn, say them
they become fun to form in your mouth even for one
who prefers to write than to talk, to listen to the rhythm
in the voice of someone else, to hear if they are using their
same old, same old words

Words written are for you to enjoy over and over and over. Share them with others; place yourself in the poet’s pocket by visualizing the picture the poet paints. . .with words. Try it Mikey, you’ll like it!
Order your personally signed copy or copies at : [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Christmas season, Poetry, snow, women's stories

SIMPLY PUT MAKES A LOVELY EXCHANGE GIFT

Arlene


Folks who are in the know realize that poetry makes one’s life better and healthier. Reading poetry is known to lower blood pressure without chemicals or drugs. SIMPLY PUT is poetry for the every day; poetry that you can understand even at the first reading. No symbols or puzzling phrases to work out. It’s the right size for slipping into your bag or pocket to take with you to any waiting room or line you need to stand in. It reduces stress to zero.
IT’S WINTER

the bear warms in his cave
woodchuck snuggles away
with other forest creatures
beaver submerges under
his sticks and logs

new fallen snow is ground cover
keeps it warm for winter
the creek trickles along
slipping its way thru lacy ice
moving on to bigger places

snuggled in my reading chair
I wrap the afghan tighter
around my body for warmth

all creatures of habit

For a signed or inscribed copy, send email to: arlenebice1633@gmail.com $10 plus $2. Shipping.

books, Poetry

SIGNED BOOKS MAKE GREAT GIFTS!

Arlene


Books signed by the author and inscribed to your friend make a thoughtful, personal gift. This kind of present will be read and kept forever. When that person passes away, the book and the inscription will be read by someone who cares about such things. . . and wonders who this person was, so loved and special to someone of an earlier time. Your thoughtfulness will be carried on, re-read and treasured.
I’m happy to inscribe and/or sign a book/books for you. Email me at: arlenebice1633@gmail.com with your information and order.  The books are $15 + $3 shipping for one, combined amount for more.  Poetry book is $10+ shipping. Enjoy.

coffee, espresso, First Friday, First Friday Poetry Night, Poetry, writing

FIRST FRIDAY OPEN MIC NIGHT SEPT. 1 AT 7 PM

Arlene

FIRST FRIDAY OPEN MIC NIGHT! AT 108 S. MAIN ST. WARRENTON NC
Join us in an evening of readings and who knows what or who, may appear to perform! Gabe is preparing some foods especially for us! plus lattes, etc. coffee, teas & cold drinks. Come out to read or just listen! A NEW TRADITION-WE’RE STARTING AT 7 PM! Sterling will present selected music for added ambiance.

New book release, poetic narrative, Poetry, reflection, wormen writing

NEW RELEASE: SIMPLY PUT, a collection of poetry

Arlene

Announcing my newest book: SIMPLY PUT, a collection of poetry. It’s a slender volume of a hundred pages, filled with poems selected from those written in the last ten years. They are not divided by those years, but by subject: Seasons Change, About Words, Past Lives & More, and Other Places. My intention is to stir your own memories by sharing mine with you. As the seasons and years change, so do we. New experiences become old memories as we move along in this life we have created. Words sometimes harm us and sometimes encourage us to keep on going in the direction we are moving. Past lives, whether you believe in reincarnation or not, is meant to give you thoughts to ponder. Places leave imprints on us that we carry long after we have left them behind. Enjoy the words I have written for you and for me to revisit time and again.

books, Christmas season, coffee, cookbooks, fiction, hauntings, living with ghosts, Memoir, paranormal, Poetry, wormen writing, writing

SPECIAL EVENT TAKING PLACE, 2 DEC. 2016!

Arlene

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Announcing a special event happening along the border of North Carolina and Virginia. December 2, 2016 from 1 until 3 pm+ at Backyard Birds and Coffee, Hwy 903, Bracey, Virginia (entrance driveway is next to the Sunoco Gas Station) Five local authors of various genres are gathering together for an afternoon of excitement. Bring your questions and comments. Come, join us. Remember that books inscribed by the author make great, unique Christmas gifts! Refreshments served.

Sandra Martin – memoir ~ Snapshots ~ Memories and Recipes
These stories are from Bracey farm girl, to suburban mother and finally to the life of a NYC literary agent. Ms Martin represented clients in the emerging mainstream genres of deep spirituality, ESP and the paranormal, alternative health and then there were the conspiracy books.

Arlene S. Bice – memoir~ A Nosegay of Violets- A Writer’s Memoir of Psychic Awakening
An ordinary girl grows into womanhood while experiencing extraordinary psychic moments. A very personal story unwraps to reveal secrets held for many years.
Ms. Bice is also the author of Ghosts of Warren County, NC & Beyond and other books on true stories of ghosts and hauntings.

Thomas Park – poetry ~ Looking for ‘Cuda Brown
Looking for ‘Cuda Brown tells the stories of many extraordinary characters Thomas has met over the years.
Mr. Park, founder of Warren Artists’ Market, lives and teaches in Warrenton, NC. He has an M.A. in English from Wayne State University and an MFA from Goddard College in Vermont. He was published in Best New Poets of North Carolina.

Merriwether Shipley -fiction ~ Cassandra and the GI P.I.: A Dupont Circle Mystery
Cassandra and the GI P.I., a DuPont Circle Mystery, follow the events that lead to a college student’s chance meeting with a P.I. named Harry Shields in October of 1969. He suffers from shell shock which has followed him for 15 years. An unseen foe is trying to kill him. They work as a team to uncover the terrors, both internal and external, as they pursue life together.
Meriwether Shipley has been an actor, model, producer and director of stage and screen. She now applies her story telling skills to this seven-volume series of books. Ms. Shipley lives in Clarksville, Virginia.

Patricia Bortz, – fiction ~ Hard Truth: Secret of the Back Row
Megan Montgomery isn’t out to save the world, but her best friend, Nadia, is. America is no more. Christians who refuse the “”mark”” are arrested for high treason. Megan trusts Sixtus, the antichrist and President of the New World Order, until his true perverse nature is revealed.
In 1996 Patricia led the theater group at her church in Armonk, New York. She wrote and directed many short dramas and plays for her powerful ministry in prisons, nursing homes and homeless shelters. She was then led to write a full-length play based on the battle of Armageddon. “Hard Truth” was the result. The final performance played to a sold-out, standing room only theater. Mrs. Bortz lives in Bracey, Virginia.