The Story Behind the Poetry by Karma Pratt

I find myself drawn to poetry. Capturing the rhythm of a moment, finding the cadence and movement of words as they flow down a page, these are things that appeal to my artist's heart. I draw inspiration from events or experiences in my own life, or things that I have witnessed, or even dreamed. I also love listening to others read or perform their poetry. I think this is why I love music so much; it's basically poetry with instruments. 

It wasn't a surprise, then, that I found myself intrigued by the call for submissions for a sweet little book titled Short and Sweet Goes Fourth. This compilation, edited by Susan King and published by Grace Publishing, had one main criteria: "Choose something you're passionate about, then write about it in 250-550 words, using words of only one syllable." 

There were only six exceptions to the one syllable rule: 

1. Proper nouns were okay (California)
2. Polysyllabic words in 5 letters or fewer (only, about)
3. Contractions (wouldn't, couldn't)
4. Numbers (fifteen)
5. Direct quotes (including Bible verses)
6. Words for family members (daughter)

They were looking for non-fiction, fiction and poetry submissions. Aha! My creative brain got excited. I penciled the deadline in my calendar and made a mental note to prepare for this challenge. I love big words and long sentences, so the idea of writing out my ideas in one syllable increments both excited and terrified me. 

The trick with writing poetry is to allow inspiration to guide you. It's not something that can be contrived; it needs to be felt in the moment. When the time is right poetry will flow from the pen like water flowing from a stream. I kept the criteria for this submission in the back of my mind and waited for inspiration to light a fire in me. 

The poem I submitted for consideration is called Fight for Your Life. It's a reflection of where God was guiding me in that season of my life. I found myself dealing with some heavy things at that time, and God was showing me His Truth. He was peeling away many layers of lies and deception that I had believed for a long time. To say I was passionate about the subject matter is an understatement! I was on fire for the revelations God had for me! When the time came to write the words, they came out in a way that honestly spoke to where I was at in my journey. 

One of the things I do when writing is I read, then re-read (countless times!), the work. For this submission, I didn't just read the poem, I read it out loud at my kitchen table. It became a declaration of what I knew God was doing in my life. It became a prayer. And, by reading aloud, I was able to test the cadence and rhythm of the piece. 

I am excited to tell you that my poem was selected as one of the contributions to Short and Sweet Goes Fourth. The book was published in August 2018 and is available on Amazon. What an exciting journey for this poet's heart! 

My next poetry project is a book of original work titled Patchwork Soul. Stay tuned for details! I am putting the finishing touches on it and will be sourcing publication options soon. 

In the mean time, I continue to write as inspiration strikes. May it be the same for you also. 

***

When she's not traveling, Karma writes from the golden house in Northeastern BC. You can connect with her online at redraincoatcreations.com.

Gathering Stones - by Gloria Guest

My first venture into the writers world was at the ripe age of seven when I wrote my father a poem for father’s day. I recall it going something like,

Kisses, love and hugs

Two for you and two for me

And are lovely things to see

Complete with artistic drawing of course.

I took a bigger leap in grade three with a free verse poem called My Mother the House Wife. This one extoled my mother as a ‘pleasant young lady who always had a smile on her face.’

Obviously with talent like that, anything to do with creative writing continued to be my spot to shine in school ;) I do recall getting A’s and positive comments on stories that I turned in. However it was a grade 12 teacher who hounded me relentlessly until I agreed to enter an essay I ‘d written into a National Writing Contest that gave me my first real inclination that I was indeed a writer. I actually owe a lot to Mrs. Coy since it was with the money I won from that contest that I later attended college where I met my future husband. It does go to show how much we can affect one another’s lives with our encouragement (and relentless hounding!).

Sadly, I didn’t have the inner confidence to pursue my writing any further. I did take a couple of online writing courses and did well but I never carried through with submitting any pieces for publication.

It wasn’t until I started work as a reporter that my desire to write was actually ignited. Here I learned to step out of my comfort zone and write for deadlines.  Here I learned to love seeing my words in print. I eventually branched out into writing weekly columns for two different papers which gave me more confidence in my ability to share my inner thoughts with others.

I believe all of the above experiences are stones of remembrance along my rather rocky and winding path of writing. At times I have felt very lost in the writing world. It can be lonely and for me there has been a real battle with dealing with rejection, which is probably why I have not put my writing out there in the publishing world. But still I want to write.

Presently I blog at gloriaguest@wordpress.com and here on Inscribe. I have definitely found my involvement with Inscribe to be an important part of my journey as a writer.  I am also slowly but surely working on a memoir and have recently started taking a Creative Writing class through the University of Toronto.

 I still have no idea if I will ever see any of my writing in print but I all I can do is take it one step at a time, gathering stones of remembrance along the way and hopefully one day….

Having fun with poetry by Ruth L. Snyder

This month we're challenged to try a genre that we don't often write. Since I usually stick to prose, I thought it would be fun to learn about some poetry forms and try them out. I invite you to come along on my journey, exploring a few different styles.

Cinquain

This form was developed by Adelaide Crapsy. You can read the history here.

"Cinquains have five lines
Line 1: Title (noun) - 1 word
Line 2: Description - 2 words
Line 3: Action - 3 words
Line 4: Feeling (phrase) - 4 words
Line 5: Title (synonym for the title) - 1 word"

InScribe

Canadian writers

Encouraging, learning, challenging

Embracing Christ's individual call

Family

Diamante

These poems are similar to the cinquain, but form the shape of a diamond.

"Line 1: Noun or subject - one word
Line 2: Two Adjectives that describe line 1
Line 3: Three 'ing words that describe line 1
Line 4: Four nouns - the first two are connected with line 1; the last two are connected with line 7
Line 5: Three 'ing words that describe line 7
Line 6: Two adjectives that describe line 7
Line 7: Noun Synonym for the subject"

Conference

September opportunity

Learning, celebrating, networking

Workshops, worship, submissions, rejections

Crafting, editing, honing

Word warriors

Writers

I Wish Poem

"Each line of the poem begins with the words "I wish" and then you fill in your ideas. The poem should be 8-10 lines long."

I wish every Canadian grasped God's amazing love.

I wish every Canadian accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour.

I wish every Canadian Christian used his or her spiritual gifts.

I wish every Canadian Christian writer received the support and encouragement he or she needed.

I wish every Canadian Christian writer understood the benefits of belonging to InScribe.

I wish every InScribe member obeyed God's call to write.

I wish every InScribe member felt supported in his or her writing.

I wish every InScribe member attended our fall conference.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me. I hope you've enjoyed the ride as much as I have. Thanks for the challenge, Brenda :)

You can learn about some other forms of poetry and write your own samples by visiting Kathi Mitchell's post, Poetry for Kids.

You can connect with Ruth and learn more about her usual writing style at http://ruthlsnyder.com 

Conversations will Begin Again by Linda Aleta Tame

I’ve always loved writing poetry. For years I neglected the craft, and now the joy of returning to it is indescribable. It makes me so happy! Sometimes it makes me sad too, and that's okay.  It’s all good.

I’m currently working on a book of poetry, entitled Rim of the Visible World. The collection will include several sections, a few of which are entitled: “Here We Come A Ghazaling,” “Echoes,” “A Bit of Ham” and “Rim of the Visible World.”

The idea for this book came about during a poetry class I attended. For homework, my professor assigned the exercise of simply sitting in silence, doing nothing, for at least an hour a day. Admittedly, I didn’t always do my homework, but when I did, I felt tranquil and able to sift my thoughts. No small feat in my world!

I've tried to continue this process of quieting my spirit, during which bits and pieces of memory, beauty, humour, faith and so on surface and eventually find their place on the page. I think the goal of writing this particular book is primarily to indulge myself, take the liberty to explore a realm that seems mystical to me. Though somewhat selfish, I think it's a good place to start. I’d be delighted if others enjoy my explorations too, so another goal would be publication. I hope to have the manuscript completed by the end of this year.

The piece I’ve included here was written as I grieved the loss of two brothers and a sister to cancer.  The loss is beyond words, no matter how poetic, but in a measure the words bring comfort, and perhaps they'll unite other grieving hearts. 

There is Not Silence

after John Thompson’s Translations of René Char’s –

Eternity at Lourmarin Albert Camus

We have ceased to speak

with those we love,

but there is not silence.

And there will never be.

The rhythm has not changed,

of song and step,

or that simple smile

consisting of one sustained beat. 

A bond so close never falters.

The power of love 
transforms insolent darkness 
into glorious light. 

When that hovering menace

has once and for all,

victimized its last,

love will overwhelm

the perceived severance,

into harmony

with all the parts

of the whole, 
and the conversations will 
begin again.

In memory of three beautiful people who were incredibly loved:  

Clark McCrae, Terry McCrae, and Karen McCrae