Category Archives: Poetry

Saying Goodbye to Thomas

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Weather in the Tries:
Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive! A week of sunshine is ahead of us. A tad cooler than yesterday, the temps will mostly be in the 80s until the weekend, when it will drop to the 70s. And the humidity, though higher in the morning and night, will be low enough that the heat will be heavenly.

Saying Goodbye to Thomas:
In case you missed the wee bit in last week’s post about my chapbook being accepted, Finishing Line Press has accepted my chapbook, Saying Goodbye to Thomas. These are the poems I wrote, mostly in the final months of his life, about his dying. No, they are not all doom and gloom, you know me better than that. At any rate I think I’ve calmed down a wee bit from the excitement. It will spike again, when I get the contract. Then it will be really real;-) 

Here is their acceptance. Well, a small portion thereof, I’m sure you don’t want to read the whole thing. This is the important part:

“Thank you for submitting to us. Your manuscript has been accepted for publication. We would love to publish your book.” Every time I read those three sentences I just get giddy all over again 😉

Please check Finishing Line Press out and consider buying a book. Small Press publishers are a mainstay for poets. Not sure which one to buy, get Finding Her by Kristie L. Williams. It’s a great book.

I’m a writer, I’m used to rejection. But sometimes, when enough come with no breaks, it’s hard to remember that editors aren’t rejecting me, they are rejecting my work. And they can reject it for a myriad of reasons. Maybe I used a word they don’t like, or I wrote about peace instead of war, or I wrote it in this form and they really love another form. Or, as so many rejection/pass letters state, my work just didn’t grab them. Any and all of those reasons are valid, plus the plethora I didn’t list.

It’s really nice when acceptance letters come in like rejections usually do. Within a month, I had something like 8 poems accepted/published. Huzzah! for editors 😉

Depending on your frame of mind, you may or may not want to download the WeCroak app. They will send you 5 messages a day to remind you, you are not a permanent fixture as a live person. It’s inspired by a Bhutanese folk saying: to be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times daily. I just went to the computer one, and they have “the final word on advice columns” you can ask Death for advice on current events, relationships, etc. and so forth. I’m enjoying it very much, but then, I’m weird. However, should you get it for your phone or ipad or watch or whatever, let me know what you think of it. They have both ios and android.

I keep hearing Johnny Mathis singing Chances Are. Yeah, I’m wearing that silly grin, but it’s not because I’m in love with some guy, it’s because my book about my Elder Brother of Choice is being published. Oh, happy dance, happy dance. Oh, wait. Yeah, I am in love with some guy. He’s a spoiled rescue dog!

Speaking of being a spoiled dog, he’s finally taking treats from my hand! That’s huge. I used to have to set them down and walk away, or gently toss them near him. Even the one that looks like a stick to him. Especially the stick one. Now he takes it from my hand. Sometimes it takes a bit. I’d sure like to know how badly he was abused. I think it’s worse than I imagine, which makes me want to hold him and cry and then go find the abuser and abuse him the same way he abused this poor puppy.

Photos of the Week:

Thomas loved watching the bunnies in the yard.

And he loved tossing peanuts out for the crows. One was fairly tame, Thomas called him Podjo, Old Friend.

This Rosemary plant is huge, and was right next to the outside door to Thomas’s area, and when the sun shone, and it was warm, we’d open the door and enjoy the perfume.

from the desk of the big chihuahua;
my human seems tremendously happy i am now taking treats from her hand. i wish i could tell her why it took so long, but she has been patient. sometimes, i still can’t do it, but she doesn’t seem upset when i want it tossed to me. 

Earworm of the week:
Need you wonder? One of my girl-hood heart throbs, Johnny Mathis sings Chances Are. 


Quote of the week, compliments of Good Housekeeping:

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” ~ Stephen Covey

Spring Cleaning of Poetry

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Weather in the Tries:
Well, it’s gonna be a bit cooler this week, hi 60w to low-mid 70s, with a chance 35% of us will get wet. Or is that a 35% chance it will rain? Or will we only get 35% of the raindrop? Sammy doesn’t know any better than I do. Oh well, it’s all gonna change anyhow.

Spring Cleaning of Poetry:
I decided to finally tackle the small mountain of papers stacked haphazardly on my desks. Yes, I have two. The one on which my computers sit and the one behind me that collects the overflow. I decided to deal with all those papers (really, it was an organized mess, I pretty much knew what was in each pile) yesterday. And then I became concerned when developers started calling me to inquire about the view property. So I now have no view property and a couple of well-organized piles of paper, most of which will be filed later today. 

All of which is to try to explain why I’m late.

I found a stack of poetry I need to go through and sort. A lot of it seems to deal with Thomas, I may have enough for a real book. Found a snarky one I totally forgot I’d written. Read it to my Sunday Group, and they loved it. 

This morning, I hit the deck running, as they say somewhere, got to my computer and first thing up, was I was asked by an editor to submit a poem! Well, that, obviously had priority. It went out before I’d had more than a couple sips of coffee, and then there was Word Jammin’ I had to connect with to get my tickets to tonight’s show.  Love this zoom program! It’s not an open mic, but four poets and the hostess, reading. High energy. Not the kind of poetry I write, but oh, do I love to watch. I’d say it’s like a Slam on Zoom, but I’ve never been to a poetry slam, so I can’t do that. And it may be way off base.

Another nice thing about Word Jammin’ is they’re on NYC time. Three hours ahead of us! I can watch them, then go to my writing meeting.

And then, just as I finished my first cuppa, my four-legged friend came in and asked for breakfast and a walk. So, we are back, and my second cuppa has been steadily emptying. 

Photos of the Week:
These are the honeysuckles outside my office window. I was going to put them up last week but am glad I didn’t. The lower blossoms, closer to the window I look through, have finished blooming. But, I have photos to look at whenever I want 😉

from the desk of the happy-dancing dog;
my human takes me walking in the sunshine, oh can you see my happy dance/ that’s supposed to be a question mark, but my paws can’t hold the shift key. my human says you can handle that. thank you. and dance your happy dance every day. after all, if you’re looking down at the grass, it’s a good day. besides, as my human says, it will make people wonder what you’ve been smoking, drinking, or eating.

Earworm of the Week:
Would you believe I’ve got Tevya worming his song, If I Were A Richman through my ears. Actually, it’s Topol singing. This clip is from the movie.

Quote of the Week comes from https://www.quotes.net/mquote/31597 and of course, it’s from Fiddler on the Roof:

Perchik:
In this world it is the wealthy who are criminals. 
Someday their wealth will be ours.

Tevye:
That would be nice. 
If they would agree, I would agree.

Hey! I’m Higher than Tennyson or Neruda or even Bukowski!

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Weather for the Tries: 

Beats me. I’m gonna be gone until December. Check your phone or computer 😉

Hey! I’m Higher than Tennyson or Neruda or even Bukowski!

Well, I’m on top of them, anyhow. See photo below. This is a status a friend of mine wrote about reading the Bride’s Gate. I did ask him what he does with the torn off pages—give to his wife? Fold into paper airplanes and fly out the attic window? Mail them to a friend? He ignored me. But he did give me permission to quote him, and use the photo.

“A bit more news based on my progress with your book? Bride’s Gate has become my favorite tear-off calendar. I jump around like a horny jackrabbit. It is not a book to occupy a vertical position on my bookshelf. Bride’s Gate is placed on its side atop a Pablo Neruda collection, a book of Tennyson’s poetry, partly covering Naked Lunch by Bill Burroughs. That about covers the length of your book. I wondered aloud to the Pittsburgh winds (howl, not how) Lenora likes her company on my bookshelves… I have taken a picture of your literary superiority on the shelf, as you can see. I view Bride’s Gate as a special kind of achievement, suitable for both writers and those who read, and hopefully BOTH. A piu tardí, Giulio (It just means—Later, Giulio”

Giulio is a poet of some renown, and I’m thrilled we’re friends. He has a marvelous book out, The Color of Dirt. 

And, now for the news. You probably noticed this is a more or less truncated post. I’ve been uber busy the last few days as I’m getting ready to head over to the Dark Side until December. I’ve been keeping my weather eye tuned to the Snoqualmie Pass, and think I’ll be just fine going over on Tuesday. (Famous last words?) I am going to visit my Poetry Mentor or if you prefer, my Elder Brother of Choice (EBOC). At any rate, I’m hoping to get some poetry written, and help him with some projects. Which means, I probably won’t get any blog posts written while gone.

Enjoy your vacation. Go play in the snow. Write a poem. Take an extra nap. Visit a friend. Bake some cookies. Lots of cookies. You’ll have the time, now.

PHOTO of the WEEKs

And look where he placed my humble little book on his book shelf;-)

Monday, today, I will finish packing, load the car, finish baking, and snuggle extra with Sammy, who will stay and keep Housemate company.

Blue Watermelon; Cheer for Freedom; Furs for a Vegetarian; and Green Eyes, by Mary Freericks

Mary has an M.F.A. in poetry from Columbia University. She has four volumes of poetry memoirs, “Blue Watermelon,” “Cheer for Freedom,” “Furs for a Vegetarian,” and “Green Eyes.”  The last two were published 2020. They are self-published and available on Amazon.

“Furs for a Vegetarian” focuses on her artist mother, Sonia Avakian, who studied with Kandinsky in Moscow. She escaped starvation and the communists through marriage and her move to Iran. After Papa’s unexpected death she took a Victory Ship with her two sons and daughter to the U.S.A. 

Furs for a Vegetarian, by Mary Freericks

Price:  $15 paper back plus shipping of $4.00 if ordered from Mary.

ISBN: 978169385512.

“Green Eyes” is a love story set on the East Coast joining together of an American-German heritage civil engineer with an Armenian-Russian graduate in the arts. They share love, raise sons, travel, till tragedy strikes. The poetry is joyful, sensual, heart rending.

Green Eyes, by Mary Freericks

Price: $15 paper back plus shipping of $4.00 if ordered from Mary.

ISBN: 9798649872775

If you would like a signed copy please contact Mary at maryfreericks@yahoo.com

Reflections; Intersections; Moments in Time, by Mark Fleisher

Mark Fleisher

Reflections: Soundings from the Deep

ISBN: 9781940769905

“Narratives weaving no-nonsense poetry and prose tales while at times throwing readers a stream-of-consciousness curveball.”

Intersections: Poems from the Crossroads 

ISBN: 9781940769547

“Hammers home the futility of war while tenderly exploring family and relationships with a lyrical, image-filled style.”

Moments of Time

ISBN: 9781940769295

“Recalling youthful years in New York City, the horrific inhumanity of Vietnam, a major personal loss, and finding new life in an unfamiliar place.”

Each book is $15 plus $3 for s/h if ordered directly from Mark (signed copies, of course). The books are also available from the giant behemoth retailer whose name is that of a very major South American river. Copies will not be signed — unless Jeff Bezos is available.

Mark’s emails are: markfleisher111@gmail.com & markflleisher333@gmail.com