A Great Post on How to Read and Enjoy a Poem

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I am still devoting most of my writing time to finishing the revision of my poetry manuscript (hence my continued lack of posts), but today I ran across a very interesting post that I thought anyone interested in poetry might appreciate.  As one of my readers, I am hoping you are interested in poetry; I realize it is a bit much to ask you to be as enthusiastic about it as I am.  In the spirit of promoting a wider audience for poetry, I share the following.

Ann Kroeker posted one of her poems in support of a friend who is participating in a poetry dare: a crash course in poetry appreciation over at the poetry site Tweetspeak.  While reading about the poetry dare (what a great idea!), I found this post written by Tania Runyan about how to read a poem.  She suggests starting with advice from former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins: Hold it up to the Light.  Runyan then proceeds to show you how, using a short poem full of images.

If you are not sure you “get poetry,” go read Runyan’s post.  It will help you “get it,” I promise!  And, it will fire you up to share poetry with others.  Seriously, if it doesn’t, you could always check back here for my upcoming posts about teaching poetry to my children.

In the spirit of sharing poetry, you can read excerpts from my poetry chapbook Entre la claridad, here.  Go ahead and try the Collins/Runyan reading method outlined in the link above on my poems.  I dare you.

If you only started reading this blog in the past year, here is a little information: Entre la claridad is a short book of poetry, written by me, mostly in English, with some Spanish phrases to more accurately reflect the dialog of South Texas.  The title can be translated as “Moving into Clarity.”  

You can purchase the book directly from the publisher, Mouthfeel Press.  (FCC notice: I do not receive income from book purchases, but I greatly appreciate your interest in my writing.)

Also, please update your subscription to this blog if you have been using Google Reader and have not done so already.  You can subscribe to this blog via e-mail using the form in the upper right sidebar, or via bloglovin’ by clicking on the button in the upper left sidebar.  Or, simply subscribe using any other feed reader.  Thank you for your readership.   

As of today, I am still seeing blog posts in my dashboard at Blogger; lately (like the past month) these notices have been coming and going, so I have moved all of my subscriptions to bloglovin’.  More on that in another post. 

In 2014, I am linking with: Funniest Post  

In 2013 I linked with: Catholic Bloggers Link up Blitz, Motivational Monday, The Better Mom

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Blogaversary

This blog is one year old today.  What a year it has been!  I started with a couple of introductory posts and then dove right into a topic that I have been researching for several years, the cancer preventative diet.  I spent the summer blogging about healthy eating, healthy living, growing and preserving food, how my children spend their time, my poetry and the writing process, and advocating for some of my favorite causes.  In October, I agreed to participate in a series of Catholic Liturgical Calendar Link ups and then wrote about the faith more often.  A year later, I am still blogging about all these topics, and I’m hosting a link up that is part of the Liturgical series mentioned above.

Thank you for reading, especially if you have been with me since the beginning.  Welcome to my newer readers.  I hope all of you will continue to enjoy this blog in the year to come!  I plan to soon write about many of the topics mentioned above, particularly healthy eating, healthy living, and Catholicism.  That is the mothering and teaching part of Tercets (see my blog title and description above).

As for the writing part of Tercets, I will continue to update you my writing projects and news.  Click on the picture of my book in the right sidebar or the My Publications tab above for more about my writing.   On that note, if you go to the BorderSenses website, you will see three pictures of me in their rotating slideshow.  These pictures were taken during the AWP Conference at the BorderSenses table; my fellow panelists and I were conferring about our presentation, signing books, and meeting people.  Also, my friend and our panel moderator Katie Hoerth is the featured author on their page right now.  You can read about her new book in the box on the lower left of the BorderSenses website.

I have mentioned before how refreshing it is to have readers, which can be an elusive and fickle thing for a poet.  While I am aware that many blogs are read more often than mine, I am thrilled to see in my stats that I get about thirty hits a day, sometimes many more.  This equates to about 1200 page reads a month, more per month than I received the entire first three months of blogging.  Many of these visits occur because I have linked to another blog or another blog has linked to me.  You can therefore expect me to link up as much as I can over the summer, and to join networks of other bloggers with the hope of bringing new readers to the blog.

If you are one of those readers who has found me through the link ups, I hope you will follow this blog (left sidebar) or subscribe via e-mail (right sidebar) if you have not done so already.  Also, please share this blog with friends who may be interested in any of the topics I write about (see the label cloud on the right for more information about my subject matter).  You can easily share this post or the whole blog by using the social media or e-mail icons at the end of every post, in the right sidebar, and at the very bottom of the blog.

If you have suggestions or comments about the topics I write about or you think I should write about, I look forward to reading them.  If you also blog, consider participating in a blog roll exchange with me.  I’ll list your blog in my blog roll if you list mine in yours (see the left sidebar).

Wordless Wednesday

National Poetry Month

During this month long celebration of poetry, I am taking the opportunity to once again promote my latest book of poetry, Entre la claridad, published four months ago.  If you have been reading this blog since the fall, you have read about this book several times (indulge me, please), but some of you are more recent followers and may not have seen much about it.

Entre la claridad is a chapbook, or short book of poetry, written by me, mostly in English, with some Spanish phrases to more accurately reflect the dialog of South Texas.  The title can be translated as “Moving into Clarity.”  The first poem in the collection, “Border Sonnet” actually discusses the South Texas way of speaking, known as Spanglish, that is distinctive to the communities where my parents were raised.  Read an excerpt from this poem here.

National Poetry Month is the perfect time to acquaint yourself with poetry, and to support poets and poetry publishers by buying and reading a book, specifically my chapbook, of poetry.  If you already have a copy of Entre la claridad, please share your thoughts about the book with a friend or family member, or consider buying another as a gift.  For only $7.00, you can purchase a poetic reading experience for yourself or someone else!

If you would like to know more about the book, you can read several excerpts, as well as information about the book editing and publishing process at these posts.  You can also listen to radio broadcasts featuring these poems at the links on my Audio page.

As I mentioned earlier this month, you can buy Entre la claridad and my first chapbook, Familia, for a limited time at Brazos Bookstore in Houston.  Last week at the Local Poets Event, several copies of each book sold.  With your help, the store may decide to keep stocking my books.  Or, you can purchase directly from the publisher, Mouthfeel Press.  Maria, the press’s founder, editor, and publisher, reports that my book has been selling slowly, so I decided to write this post to speed up sales.  

Self promotion is not something I have ever been good at, so please excuse the awkwardness of this post.  However, in the electronic publishing age, self promotion is a necessary marketing strategy for physically published books, especially for poetry, the least read genre of literature.  After all, we must have a whole month dedicated to poetry on a national scale for a reason.  

Just for fun, you can read a tongue-in-cheek (sort of) critique of National Poetry Month by the poet Charles Bernstein here.  He asserts, among other claims, that National Poetry Month is meant to save poetry from extinction due to lack of interest among Americans, despite the clear connections between poetry and contemporary culture, such as popular music.  More awkwardness: Bernstein suggests that National Poetry Month activities actually hurt poetry more than they develop interest for it by championing “safe” and understandable poems over innovative and more aesthetic work.  Unfortunately, most people know more about National Poetry Month than they know about contemporary poetry or poets . . .

If the last statement applies to you, the easy solution for you is to read my book.  In addition to poems about my parents’ courtship and the unfortunate end to their marriage, you will find spiritual poems, others about Tex Mex culture, about a young woman (a younger me) searching for her vocation, and much more!  I promise that my poems are not obscure or overly difficult to understand; many of them are narrative, which means they tell a story, and the book as a whole tells its own story poem by poem.  

Even so, I don't think Bernstein would categorize them as "safe" (meaning unaesthetic or lacking craft).  I am interested in your opinion about my poems, my book, or poetry and it's national month efforts.  Is there an audience for literary poetry?  Leave your thoughts in the comments, or send me an e-mail.

Have you liked the Entre la claridad page on Facebook?  I post notices about writing, readings, publications, and literary events there, including things that I don’t have the chance to blog about.  Do go like the page if you are interested in those topics, or if you just like my book!

Link Up for Our Lady of Guadalupe

As part of the ongoing Liturgical Calendar Link up Party I’ve been participating in, Silvia at Homeschooling Católico is hosting a link up for the upcoming feast day for Our Lady of Guadalupe.  She is opening the link up on December 1; everyone is invited to join the fun, so if you blog about Nuestra Señora, go attach your link.  Click on the button on the left sidebar, or at the end of this post for more information.  Silvia blogs in Spanish, but includes the Google Translator on her page for those who don’t read Spanish.  My post will be in English, as will others, so be sure to go and check out the links.

I recently added The Google Translator to the left sidebar of my blog; you should also see a bar at the top of the page if your language is not listed as English for the computer you are using.  If you use the translator, please tell me how well it works for you.  And, welcome!  My participation in the Liturgical Calendar Link ups has brought many Spanish language readers to this blog.  I also have readers from Russia, Germany, Italy, France, and many other countries.  I hope the translation feature makes this blog more enjoyable for all my international readers.

If you don’t already know, Our Lady of Guadalupe is an incarnation of Mary, also known as the Patroness of the Americas.  She appeared to an Aztec Indian, now known as Saint Juan Diego, asking him to deliver a message to the local bishop to build a shrine in her honor on the holy site for the native goddess Tonantzin, on the summit of Tepayec.  The miracles she performed to convince the bishop to comply with her wishes were also instrumental in convincing many native Mexicans to embrace Catholicism while maintaining their native identity.  Her image, given to us as one of her miracles, is so revered that it is duplicated in many ways: as photographs, as murals, on shirts, as figurines, on banners, and even as tattoos, car dashboard ornaments and night lights.

My blog post for this feast will explain how to make a plaque as a family from items you already have at home.  This is a great way to teach children about the importance of Nuestra Señora as well as provide a(nother) visible reminder about Mary’s holiness in your home.  You can read it here.

You can see more information about this and the other link ups for the Liturgical Calendar, or volunteer to host one yourself, by clicking on the buttons below.

November Writing News

Here’s a list of my news.  Announcements about writing competitions follow.

• My poem “Bat Bridge” is scheduled for publication in the anthology Improbable Worlds from Mutabilis Press.  The launch party for the book is December 2.
• My chapbook, scheduled for publication later this month, is going through the editing process.
• I have recently updated nearly all of my Pages (blue tabs above), and I’ve included two new pages.  See “My Publications” for more information about the two bullets above.  See “Upcoming Events” for details about my reading in Chicago next February.  I hope you will check back later for updated information about these publications and my event.
• The new “Audio” page contains the links for two radio programs I recorded this year.  Go listen.
• The new “Previous Events” page contains a record of the poetry readings I have participated in recently: who, when, and where.  Each event contains links to the sponsoring organizations, all of which are worth reading about.
• A new poem that I have mentioned in previous blog entries, “My Hurricane Ike Story,” was very well received at my most recent reading.  This poem is not quite finished, and I am considering a change to the title.  Look for more details in a later post.
• My recent decision to participate in religious link ups has brought me lots of new readers, including many whose primary language is Spanish.  ¡Bienvenidos!  Welcome, new readers.  November may be the month with the most hits ever.  Thank you for your interest and support.  Keep those comments coming.
• I will continue to post about healthy eating and living, especially over the semester break, so if this is your main interest, keep reading.  And, let me know what you are interested in seeing.

Announcements

You will notice a common theme below that I find particularly inspiring: art influenced by other art.  I often use other writing, art, music ,or dance to jump start my creative process.  If you have never tried this, here is  your chance.

• The Rice Gallery is sponsoring an ekphrastic writing event titled “Words & Art.”  Ekphrastic writings are inspired by a work of art.  The Rice Gallery invites you to visit their current exhibit (no charge), write something inspired by the art, and read at their event on November 30.  More information here (scroll down), and on the Words & Art Facebook page.  If you miss the deadline to be a featured reader, you can still perform at the open mic.
• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Public Poetry are sponsoring ARTlines, an Ekphrastic Poetry Competition open to Texas residents.  View the participating artworks online and submit your poem by December 30.  Winners will be featured during a program in April and in print and recorded exhibits at the museum.  Details here.
• Submit to the Texas Poetry Calendar 2013.  Deadline February 21.  Details here.

Summer Writing News

Summer is almost over, which means soon I will have less writing time because I’ll be busy teaching.  I plan to continue the blog, but I may post less often, or write shorter posts.  This blog has been my writing success of the summer.  To date, the blog has had 800 page views in the last eleven weeks.  I know that’s not much compared to some professional and popular blogs, but I’m proud of that achievement and grateful all of you have kept reading.  For a poet, having an audience of 800 is unheard of, even if I had given twenty readings (the number of blog posts I’ve done).  That’s an average of forty page views per post; while I have given a few poetry readings with an audience that large, those usually included other performers in the program.  Most poetry readings, especially for a single poet, have smaller audiences.  I appreciate having readers, so thanks for your interest.

I had several writing goals this summer, including integrating writing into my daily life more often, and the blog has helped me achieve that.  While I am training myself to be creative and in a writerly state of mind for ten to fifteen minute intervals during my day, it hasn’t been easy to finish writing anything when someone is always asking for a snack or needs help finding a toy (read more here).  I’m hoping this recent writing momentum will continue; last semester, I revised and wrote poetry and an essay once per week fairly regularly.  Maybe I’ll get to twice per week on occasion this coming semester.  

I’m also glad that I’ve been able to write posts that educate and encourage conversation about healthy living, since it’s something I’m so passionate about.  One of my friends recently told me how much the blog has helped her have confidence in her efforts to provide a healthy living environment and healthy food for her family in the midst of criticism from others.  I hope this blog is also helping you, readers, and I hope you’ll leave some comments about that.

Of course, I had hoped to write some poetry this summer, too.  I did complete a draft of my second chapbook at the end of May, which I promptly sent off to my publisher for review. Since then, I have worked on a few poems, but I have not yet returned to the revising and reorganization of my full length manuscript; that shall have to wait until I have finished reorganizing my class syllabus (my current urgent project).  I did draft a couple of new poems, and thinking about them has given me the urge to go look at them now.  Be right back!

Back.  Yes, I just revised two poems; yeah!  A teaser: one of them is about my family’s experience during hurricane Ike (it’s not what you think) and the other is about why poets are not impossible (even if an Italian-American literary critic says they are).  Maybe you’ll hear me read them at my next poetry event; see my Upcoming Events page for more details.  On that page, you’ll also see my latest bit of writing good news: a reading panel I am a part of has been accepted by the Associated Writing Programs 2012 Conference, the pre-eminent annual literary gathering in North America.  Nearly everyone who writes, translates, or publishes literature in this country will be there.  I haven’t attended this conference in ten years, and I’ve never presented there, so this is an important sign that my writing career is moving again.

In fact, this has been a good year for my writing career, especially compared to the last eight years or so.  When I married, I put my writing career on hold to start my family, so I haven’t done many readings, written many poems, or published much in that time.  But, this year alone, I have revised and read my essay about raising bilingual children at a local conference that was themed “Borders Revisited,” I read poems for a monthly poetry reading series sponsored by the Houston Public Library, I read poems live on the air for a local radio program, I recorded my poems for Houston Taping for the Blind (see the My Publications page for a link to listen to this program), and as mentioned earlier, I completed a chapbook manuscript and starting writing this blog.  

A few months ago, I reflected on all this activity and I realized that even though I decided to put family first, my writing career is still going to advance, and I am confident that I made the right decision.  I feel fortunate that I have made some important connections during my years as a writer; even though I have not nurtured my career much lately, these connections continue to provide me with opportunities and for that I am grateful.

Just to give you a realistic picture, I have experienced some disappointments this year too.  As I mentioned earlier, I have not worked on my full length manuscript.  I was not accepted to write a proposed essay for an anthology on motherhood and literacy, I did not receive a grant for writers with families that I applied for, and I have not sent out any of my poems to journals for publication consideration.  But, since the year is not yet over, I can still aim to work on the manuscript and send poems to journals.  And, I am waiting to hear about my submission to another anthology as well as news about my chapbook manuscript from my publisher.  I’ll update you on my writing news again in a few months, hopefully with more good news.

Reminder: you can enter a raffle to win a signed copy of my chapbook until August 31; see my last post for details.

World Breastfeeding Week and a Giveaway

The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), whose mission is “to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding,” holds World Breastfeeding Week every year in August.  This year’s theme is “Talk to me! Breastfeeding - a 3D Experience,” and refers to new ways of communicating globally, to “spread breastfeeding information beyond our immediate time and place to activate important dialogue.”  In other words, they ask advocates to encourage dialogue beyond our own communities, with others in addition to pregnant and lactating women, and across generations, cultures, and genders.  A blog is a perfect forum for this type of discussion!

In order to encourage you to contribute to the conversation, I will host a raffle for a signed copy of my chapbook Familia.  [FYI: this raffle took place in 2011.]  You will receive one entry in the raffle if you leave a comment on this post, follow this blog using the blue “Join this site” button on the left (current followers are automatically entered), or follow by e-mail using the subscription form on the top right.  If you have been thinking about following this blog, subscribing via e-mail or leaving a comment, now is the time!  I am aware that some of you follow or subscribe via Google reader, bloglovin’ or other reader services; I appreciate your readership, but since I can’t view subscriber lists for these services, I can’t put you in the raffle.  So, if you’d like to enter, please contribute to the conversation.

You can learn more about Familia (and my other publications) by clicking on the My Publications tab above.  If you already have a signed copy of my chapbook, you can always give another as a gift if you happen to win this raffle.  I must thank my friend Sylvia for the raffle idea and disclose that she is already a follower, so she is automatically entered in the raffle.  

In my post Natural Mom TV, I briefly mentioned my breastfeeding story, and my friend Karen encouraged me to tell more.  Writing about my difficulties may help other women understand how to overcome breastfeeding problems, so I think it’s a good way to start a conversation during World Breastfeeding Week.  By the way, the Texas Department of State Health Services is celebrating World Breastfeeding Month with the theme “Every Ounce Counts”, so feel free to join this conversation through August 31; I’ll close the raffle that day.

My difficulties with breastfeeding were multiple, some physical, and some due to societal pressures and attitudes.  I have two physical issues, both of which made it difficult for my babies to latch on, but which are possible to work around.  The problem is, since my mother, other relatives, and close friends did not breastfeed, I had no one to talk to about this.  Also, my family, and even the night-shift nurse at the hospital, due to prevailing cultural attitudes, felt that it was more important for my first baby to eat something, than it was for she and I to spend time learning how to breastfeed.

I was using a nipple shield to substitute for my flat nipples, but I sometimes let her try to latch on directly to my breast.  Because she was also drinking formula from a bottle, she learned that a bottle would give her food much faster than my body would, so she didn’t put much effort into learning to nurse.  I tried for two months, while using a supplemental nurser with formula, and I also pumped my milk for her to drink from a bottle.

Another problem we had was my fear of asking for help.  I did meet with lactation consultants at the hospital, I talked to them on the phone, and I hired one for a home visit, but we needed more help.  I knew about La Leche League, an organization that “help[s] mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education,” but I didn’t attend their local meeting, partly because I was ashamed that we couldn’t get it right, and partly because I didn’t know how much talking to other women could help.  I desperately wanted to breastfeed, so I was devastated and frustrated that we couldn’t seem to work it out.  I cried about this every day.

After two months, my baby had learned to drink from the tube of the supplemental nurser better than from my breast.  I gave up nursing her and pumped my milk, but didn’t have enough and continued to supplement with formula.  After nine months, my supply ran out.  Plus, my daughter was very active by that age, and I could no longer take the time to pump.

I did successfully nurse my second child, after similar difficulties, but I’ll write about that another time.  My story highlights the need for women to talk to other women about breastfeeding in order to learn, to help, and to encourage each other.  Once a woman has decided to breastfeed, the support of her family, friends, and community can help her succeed, especially if she encounters difficulties.  In a culture that sees bottle feeding as the norm, breastfeeding is a counter-cultural act.  The support of others is essential when women who want to breastfeed face pressure to bottle feed, whether due to difficulties, societal attitudes about nursing in public, or insufficient pumping breaks at work.

So, now it’s time for your part of the conversation.  In the comments, I encourage you to briefly tell your breastfeeding story, to discuss how you have supported or helped lactating women, or to share your thoughts on societal attitudes toward infant feeding.  I can’t wait to read your comments, and to see who wins the raffle!

In 2013 I am linking with:  Breastfeeding Support & Tips

Building an Active Audience

Thanks to those of you who have been visiting regularly; your readership is appreciated.  I started blogging for several reasons, but one of them was to have readers for what I write.  One of the sad facts about being a poet is that very few people read poetry and while I am accepting of this as a poet, I thought I could try blogging to build an audience who may someday also read my poetry.  (Look at My Publications in the tabs above for information about my poetry and academic essays.)

I’d like to extend a special welcome to my international readers.  I’ve had readers from Germany almost from the beginning, my friend Lauran in the U.K. has been visiting regularly, and some of my newest readers are from Poland and France.  I know much of what I write applies to Americans more than Europeans (who generally eat healthier and can buy safer cosmetic products, for example), but I hope you are enjoying what you find here. 

I have a few suggestions for how to be more involved as readers of this blog.  I run an active learning classroom, where students have to get involved in the conversation, and they learn more in the process.   I encourage my students to share their ideas, assuring them that their observations and experiences make valuable contributions to our discussions of contemporary society.  In this classroom environment, they develop mutual respect for others as they realize that when they speak, others are learning from them, and when they listen, they are learning from others.  These are key elements of both feminist pedagogy and cooperative learning, two important influences on my teaching style.

I actually don’t think of this blog as a classroom, but some of the reasons people read and write blogs are to learn, to share ideas, and to converse with like-minded people.  So, here are some suggestions toward that end:

1.   When you have questions, comments, or suggestions, write them in the comment section.  I’ve seen blogs with long conversation threads in the comments area.  Maybe we can learn from each other by conversing this way.  You can also send comments directly to me if you’d rather not have a public conversation.

2.   If you like a post, please share the blog address with others who you think will like it too.  You can click on icons at the bottom of each post and in the right sidebar that enable you to share the post via e-mail, facebook, twitter, etc.  Of course, you can also share this blog address when you are already in your e-mail, on facebook, etc.  If you have conversations about this blog or my blog topics, please post these in the comments, or let me know about them.

3.   Follow this blog by clicking on the “Follow” button on the left sidebar.  If you already use the Google Reader, you can start following and see updates in the reader with a few clicks.  I know some of my readers use the reader bloglovin’; I don’t know much about it, but I assume it works the same way.  I really like seeing the most recent updates to the blogs I follow in the reader; I know immediately if there is a new post to view.

4.   You can also subscribe to this blog via e-mail; you will find an icon at the top of the right sidebar and another at the very bottom of the blog.

5.   Check back often to see what I’ve posted, especially if you have suggested an idea or made comments.  I always reply to comments, and maybe there will be a conversation to contribute to.

6.    If you also blog, link to my blog in yours.  I promise to return the favor.  My friend and co-worker Sylvia linked to my blog last week, so now I’m linking to hers as an example of how to do this.  Thanks, Sylvia!  She blogs about feminism, teaching, her dissertation topic (Spanish Literature) and related ideas at Sylvie’s Passegen-Werk.

In addition to getting you more involved as an audience member, these suggestions may also build the readership of this blog.  The more readers I have, the more we can converse, share ideas, and learn from each other.  Thanks for your efforts in this area.