<![CDATA[Local Gems Press - The Poets\' Epic]]>Sat, 06 Jun 2026 13:05:56 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[The Poets' Epic, Verses 8/7/14]]>Thu, 07 Aug 2014 06:05:06 GMThttps://www.localgemspoetrypress.com/the-poets-epic/the-poets-epic-verses-8714 Poet your words unlock minds and souls
                 Freeing others to discover
                 They can be poets 

~ Iris Levin

We cosset and cajole; carefully spoon-feed
our infant poem, 'til it takes wing and flies,
Hid here, a small new seed of wisdom lies--
by poet's hand it either lives--or dies.

~ Sharon Anderson

Poetry has a power to retouch a life
with pastel words that reduce strife.
Poetry can change the worst of times
into extraordinary ones using rhymes.

~ Denise Kolanovic 

We poets need to write
It's in our pulse, it keeps us alive
Walking, speaking, breathing metronomes
Keeping time to our lives

~ Michelle Gent

The Island of Poetica awaits your shipwreck
You will survive on a diet of insight and revelation
You will swim in the clear blue waters of your soul
You will leave your sandy footprints for the rising tides
When a white sailed schooner beacons from the horizon
You will wave it off…

~ Russel Hampell ]]><![CDATA[The Poets' Epic First Verses]]>Sat, 26 Jul 2014 19:24:35 GMThttps://www.localgemspoetrypress.com/the-poets-epic/the-poets-epic-first-versesThe Poet's Epic has received many submissions so far. These are the first ones in the poem. If you have submitted a verse and received no reply it doesn't mean your poem is not in yet, as we are trying to weave together verses that bounce off each other. 
Outside on the street those starving for faith
congregate, as heretics and apostates shout
out blasphemy, “Poetry is dead!“ while true
believers retort,  “There is resurrection!”
~ Peter V. Dugan

Keep your poetry pure
allow no intrusion 
of self, others or false piety
~ Larry Jaffe

When the poem is free to be what it is meant to be
it is part human and part divine
'though you sign your name on a line.
~ Maria Manobianco

What mystery doest my mind unwrap
in words to be spoken in syncopated rhyme?
With musings I have set for myself a metered trap,
a snare upon the poet's path through time.
~ Donald E. Allen

To use words to illuminate the path 
as the watcher in the night lit the candles
of the streetlamps of old
~ James P. Wagner (Ishwa)
]]><![CDATA[The Poets' Epic, 1000 Poets on Poetry]]>Fri, 04 Jul 2014 22:33:32 GMThttps://www.localgemspoetrypress.com/the-poets-epic/the-poets-epic-1000-poets-on-poetryPicture
Hello poets and poetry fans. This is going to be the blog for The Poets' Epic project. We've noticed from the hundreds of poets we've published that writers often like to write about writing, or why they write or the importance of writing. Poetry is no exception.

In fact, in the 21st century, poetry seems to be making a come back in the mainstream! Yet there are still some people who don't really understand the benefits of poetry. And there are no shortage of poets who love to write about the benefits of poetry. More than that, poetry is great at forming communities around the art--both online as well as in person. 

With all these things in mind, we came up with the Poets' Epic project. Our goal is to create a communal poem--with one small verse being contributed from 1000 poets about poetry--its importance, its meaning, its purpose, what its job is and why society needs poets and poetry. We know this will take awhile to complete, but as the verses come in,  little by little until we reach our goal. Let's see what we can do, how many different countries can we represent in this goal? 

We will kick it off with one verse by our publisher, James P. Wagner (Ishwa)


       To use words to illuminate the path 
       as the watcher in the night lit the candles
       of the streetlamps of old

              ~ James P. Wagner (Ishwa)

                Submission Guidelines:

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