writing - Arlene Bice

Guest poet Deanie Carter -If I Can, with Love

December 6, 2013 Arlene

Today is a day for a guest to have her poetry featured on my blog. Deanie Carter was born in Skippers, Virginia. She is a double jointed contortionist that at 61 years old, performed on television. She has won gymnast competitions and is a cancer survivor who has been writing poetry since she was eight. When she won the Golden Poet Award in 1987, she traveled to Las Vegas to receive it.

Her poetry has been published in Quail Books, Coming Home Magazine, other publications and lately featured in Listen Up! a chapbook that is the result of writing sessions at the Warren County Senior Center, sponsored by the Warren Artist’s Market (WAM). We’re talking North Carolina here.

If I Can, with Love

If I can touch your life with love on this day
Maybe I can be blessed in another way
If I can bring a smile to you
Maybe you’ll be forever blessed, too
If I can bring joy in reaching out to others
Then I will give a message to my
Sisters and brothers
If I can bring words to relax the mind
Maybe you will be glad to see me most anytime
If I can give words of inspiration this day
I know God would want it no other way
If I can do a favor without pay
Maybe I can rest in heaven someday
© Deanie Carter

art, books, Poetry, writing

Writers & Poets Anthology

November 1, 2013 Arlene

Writers need writers. Though we ply our craft alone, in between writing sessions, we need other writers. Today, when we cannot gather on sidewalk cafes or in coffee houses, we can come together via the internet. No need to go totally alone in the still-new century.

One recent gathering of writers & poets has pooled talents to present, Sitting with a Drunken Sorceress, Poems & Prose to invite you, excite you, & delight you. This anthology is a collection of poetry & prose from writers across the country; a simmering pot of races, ethnic heritage, age, gender, and seasoning.

You’ll see a smattering of ART, feel the emotions of LIFE, the PASSION roiling around inside us, why we do the WRITING, and the dreams & nightmares of THE UNDER 30 CROWD.

COMING SOON ….VERY SOON, FOR YOUR PLEASURE. SITTING WITH A DRUNKEN SORCERESS $14.95 PLUS $2.00 SHIPPING FOR EACH BOOK ORDERED.

PS: The photo is NOT the Sorceress, it’s my psychic, sleepy cat Lizzie who loves it when I read poetry to her.

general, Poetry, writing

Fortune Cookies for Writers & Poets

September 4, 2013 Arlene

As the quote you get out of the fortune cookie after a meal in an Oriental restaurant seems to be just the right saying for you at the moment, so does the quote you choose blindly out of a basket full of fortune cookie sayings, is the perfect thought for you to be writing about at the very moment you read it.
This is a very good writing prompt to use when ideas dry up or you are having a blank day. Copy a bunch of the quotes on line, put them in a basket & let them sit for a day when your muse has gone out wandering.
We recently did this in my writing group.

This is my result:

Much More Grows in the Garden Than What is Planted There.
(Fortune cookie saying)

When I take photos of my garden at dusk or dawn
I catch the fairies dancing, playing,
caring for the herbs & flowers
planted there
adding more of their own design

the beautiful moon flowers must be a favorite
for they, too rest when the sun goes down
by closing up their petals as large,
as white as the silvery moon that shines
the fairies seemingly disappear at night, too

but I know that is when they add
to the beauty of my garden
by kissing the seeds to help them bloom
after the rain plumps them up
& the soil wraps them in a loving hug

the sun follows up with a brilliant beam
to encourage their growth
thanks go to them daily
for the colors of the season
as I sit to reflect in my garden of joy

art, general, Poetry, reflection, writing

The Eyes of Writers & Artists

August 28, 2013 Arlene

Finding a subject to write about comes from the many different things that we look at. It is the seeing what we look at and putting it into words that that makes us writers; like an artist sees objects differently than those who are not artists. They see the greens, yellows, pinks, and blues in a tree trunk where the average person may see only a brown tree trunk.

During a recent writing group session Maggie Chalifoux brought in a couple of her abstract paintings and we all wrote very different responses to them. Our various responses came from seeing the same painting but bringing our own experiences and inner thoughts to the writing piece. This is the poem I wrote to explain what I saw.

Life Magic Through My Eyes
(inspired by a Maggie Chalifoux abstract painting)

As the mist rises up
droplets float down
the world responds
with motion and life
as seasons change

one feeding the other
waters lap the shore
birthing trees and greenery
creating movement
of days into night

*** I recently received notice of the new website listed here of a long-time friend, Jyoti Wind, who is an experienced astrologer, shaman, published writing leader and homeopathic consultant. Please check out her website if any of these subjects appeals to you. www.jyotiwindastrology.com