Hiatus

The site is going on temporary hiatus to be reworked in concept and design and shall return very soon improved and refocused. Until then, please check out my Star Wars Haiku and take the first of many polls to come: What's your favorite Star Wars movie?

Bill Knott video

Bill Knott reading his poetry online. 17 videos.

Online Resources for Writers

A new page on this site is dedicated to online resources for writers. The list will grow as I discover more sites of quality, and please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Gary Mex Glazner

One man's advice on how to make a living as a poet. Proof that it's possible -- not easy, but possible.

Bill Knott

http://billknottpoetry.blogspot.com/

The poetry of Bill Knott can be found here and downloaded for free. In my opinion, he is one of the world's greatest living poets and one of the most unsung, to say the least.

Poetica Violencia

Photo by Kimberly Lipsey

Poem by Julian Vorus -- watch it

Learning Forms of Poetry -- John Hollander

Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse Although the art of writing poetry in formal verse is almost entirely absent from the modern poetry scene (open up any literary magazine and see how many sonnets or villanelles you find), there are still some magazines and websites dedicated to formal poetry. Personally I feel that before one plays guitar, one should learn the notes first -- same with poetry, learning the forms will give a poet greater foundation for their free verse work. It may not be necessary to learn how to write an ode or sonnet before declaring oneself a poet, but it can only serve to help one become a stronger writer and more educated in the history of verse, not hinder. Whenever I can't remember the rules of writing a particular type of formal verse, I reach for Rhyme's Reason by the poet John Hollander. The book covers all the major types of formal poetry, and it does it in a way that is entertaining and not just educational. John Hollander teaches the rules to a form within the form itself, for instance he presents a villanelle that teaches the rules to the villanelle inside of the poem. When I forget the difference between the rhyme schemes of different types of sonnets, I simply read his examples and learn the rules of the sonnet by reading sonnets about writing sonnets, which are written in playful fashion. Rhyme's Reason is a great learning tool for poets of all ages, from the teenager just discovering poetry to the veteran published poet -- a must-have reference book for all professional and aspiring poets. A book worth keeping close by.

Online Word Game Recommendation -- Word Kingdom

There are many great websites online where one can play free games, and quite a few of those sites are focused solely on word games. One game that is highly addictive and easy to recommend is Word Kingdom, a game that involves creating words using tiles all while defending a castle. The letters are scored like in Scrabble, with the rarer letters being of more value, and you also get bonuses for creating longer words. Each letter is on a tile that represents one of four resources (meat, wood, stone, and gold) that you will need in order to build up your castle and army. The first two levels teach you how to play the game, so there aren't any attacking armies until the third level. Once the enemies begin to attack your castle, you will need to move fast, building words and soldiers in order to defend yourself. I recommend taking your time on the second level of the game, and building as much stuff as you want before building the barracks and blacksmithery that move you on to the next level -- since there are no enemies yet, you can get used to the game and build up your castle before moving on to the more difficult part of the game. Beware, this game is not only highly addictive, it can be quite challenging and time-consuming as well. Created by dictionary.com, Word Kingdom can also be found on wordgameworld.com, and on both websites you can find many more word games, from classics like Hangman to the newer ones like Word Kingdom.

Definition of Backronym & 5 Examples

A backronym [or bacronym] is a word turned into an acronym although the original word was not intended as such. This is bound to make one think of mnemonic devices used to teach children, and it is the same technique, just more often used for humorous than educational purposes. Here are 5 examples, and please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments:

DOG: Delightful Oblong Growler

RAP: Rhythmically Aggressive Poetry

WAR: World All Ruined

FART: Flatulence After Rectal Tension

SALE: Slashing All Labels Emphatically

A Quote from "The Life of John Berryman"

"One's ideas about poetry come from one's home and one's school, as well as from society as a whole, he [Berryman] told his audience, and such forces tended to tame poetry's awesome power. The truth was that poetry was 'too primitive and too realistic' for most Americans, who actually felt nervous before its nakedness. The best poetry made use of the basic rhythms of human life, so that it was a counterforce, a rebuke to those forces that threatened to dehumanize people. It cost everything to make a poem, which was a lot more than most people were willing to give to hear its true music." (339)

Mariani, Paul. The Life of John Berryman. New York: William Morrow & Company, 1990.

Sik [Sic] List of Bad Luck Superstitions -- Top 13

1) Breaking a mirror -- the classic tale of 7 years bad luck, buddy
2) Black cat crosses your path -- most of us have had this one happen dozens of times, which is why you should blame black cats for any bad luck in your life
3) Spilling salt -- never understood how throwing some more over your shoulder was supposed to help with this one because you're just spilling more salt when you throw it
4) Walking under a ladder -- probably not the best idea anyways, hence the superstition
5) Opening an umbrella inside a house -- probably started when someone opened a wet umbrella inside someone's house, causing the ire of the host, who also happened to be proficient at gypsy curses
6) Step on a crack, break your mother's back -- a childhood classic; who wanted to be the one kid that broke their mother's back?
7) Saying a blessing after someone sneezes -- this one is confusing because people are screwed when they're alone and they sneeze anyways, unless one is allowed to bless oneself after a sneeze
8) A bird flying into a house -- the definition of bad luck, but maybe not an omen of death as some believe
9) Seeing an owl in daylight -- a very old superstition; the book Philip K. Dick was writing when he died is called The Owl in Daylight
10) The groom seeing the wedding dress before the ceremony -- supposed to bad luck for the marriage, but this belief has lost its relevance lately
11) Hat on a bed -- don't put your hat on the bed because it is bad luck apparently; this one always makes me think of the movie Drugstore Cowboy
12) When driving through a red or yellow light, kiss your hand and touch the ceiling -- I'm a huge fan of modern myths like this, and there are a great number to do with cars; this one is particularly funny when a whole carload does it in tandem
13) The # 13

Limerick

There was a young lady named Brenda,
she was truly a great pretender.
But she did too many drugs,
then forgot who she was,
and now she thinks she's a blender.