These local and community publications have been an interesting topic of conversation in recent times. While many people are very excited about them, they have garnered a little bit of criticism as well.

“A Poetry Anthology from Astoria, Oregon, whose going to read that?” one might ask.

It might be true that of the many poetry anthologies out there of various topical and interesting themes such as autism, breast cancer, politics, romance, comedy and many others, a publication based on region is not going to have much appeal—at least outside of the…well, region. (Although, there are some exceptions here.)

But what someone who might ask this question doesn’t understand is just what a powerful effect this publication might have on that region and the poets within it. Each anthology, review, magazine that comprises poets on a local level is a shared experience, a community effort that enriches all of those involved in it. There are countless readings and workshops and contests. Poets love all of these, they love to read their work in front of an audience, many of them love to get critiques of their works in progress and helpful ideas on where they might go with their pieces. And for some poets, this is good enough. But many of them want to be doing it for SOMETHING. Some kind of tangible goal that they can reach to let them know they have achieved something for their efforts.

One of the interesting things about the creative arts or sports is how many people stop being heavily involved with them once they are out of high school or college. For many of them, it’s not because they lack a continued interest in the activity at hand—and in some cases it’s not even lack of time, but lack of a next step. The gap between school sports and the professional leagues for example is quite large, luckily in some places they have community leagues and teams so that those with a real interest can keep playing.

Quite a few young poets would start out with hope and promise as they got their poetry accepted in their school publications in high school and then maybe college---but like high school and college athletes normally find out when trying to reach the major leagues, poets would find that after those high school and college lit journals, there were usually no more publications out there within reach for them---the fancy elite journals having such a high rejection rate that unless you knew someone who worked there it almost didn’t even pay to bother trying.

The sad side effect of this wide gap between the elite journals and the art and lit magazines of the local colleges and high schools was that many of those poets without a next step to strive for, would simply stop writing---put their poetry in a cabinet somewhere and move in to something else with more apparent and obvious outlets for growth.

“How will this local publication advance my poetry career?” some poets might ask of a local publication—and those people are missing the point of them entirely.

Local poetry publications, like local sports leagues, fill the gap of the post-school activity.
They are not designed to make the poets inside them famous on a national or international level, but instead  are intended to inspire and invigorate the craft in a specific region—stand as proof of the work a poet has already accomplished, and provide avenues for them to encounter and interact with the work of others that they might not have seen otherwise.

But most importantly, these publications nurture and benefit the institution and tradition of poetry that has existed for thousands of years. Without poetry alive and fresh at the local level, we wouldn’t have any at the national level---and this generation’s future famous poets might be left in the dust along with the many athletes whose careers were cut short by lack of opportunity.

So love poetry at the local level, give out copies of the books as gifts to your family and friends, and enjoy being a part of the ever-growing history of poetry!

LG: When did you start writing? 

 RM:   Seven 7 years ago I began with a short story about the death of my second
 guide dog, Henry. "The Visit" tells the story why I started to write - to remember the
animals that saved me. My transition from prose to poetry happened when I joined         Taproot Workshop in Port Washington, under the guidance of Maxwell Wheat, Jr, the   first poet laureate of Nassau County.

LG: Do you consider yourself a poet first? 

RM: First I am a human being, then an artist.  I try to understand the world now by writing poetry which has taken the place of my painting. Now I paint with words. ("In the Sun".)

LG: Tell us a little bit about the inspiration for "Someday a Sunrise?" 

RM:  Through writing poetry, I have discovered that I have a lot more to give and to live for. The phrase, "someday a sunrise", came to me when working on the poem "Wind's Door". Through this poem, I learned there is hope no matter tough life is.

LG:  What do you consider to be the main function of a poet? 

RM:  I need to write what I'm feeling. I live alone with animals and am alone with my thoughts in the dark every day. I feel my function as a poet is to make sense of my life, sighted and non-sighted, that is understandable to any human experience.

LG: How do you think a poet’s job has changed for better or worse in 21st century?

RM: I really can't speak to that. I am new to the world of poetry.  I feel grateful to have found it.

LG: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process? 

RM:  I tape my thoughts, I type them on a computer. Then listen to the computer read it back. I rewrite, I relisten, I rewrite, I relisten many times until ready to have my editor read it in a human voice where feelings come through. We often polish again and again from there until we are satisfied.

LG: Can you tell us a few ways that being a poet has enriched your life?

RM:  Through my poetry, I have found a whole new creative world to be a part of - met new people, shared feelings and it has allowed others to better know me.

LG: Your poetry is very inspiring and you clearly put a lot of thought and emotions into your writing. Is writing in your opinion a form of therapy?

RM:  Absolutely!

LG: What are your writing goals for the future? 

RM:  To learn more and become better at this craft.

LG: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers out there? 

RM:  "Write it down - write it down!"

It's over. The last day of Poetry Month is here. It has been quite a ride. 

Write a poem that begins with or contains the following phrase. Fill in the blanks as necessary:


April ________ bring(or brings) May ________

Today's prompt is inspired, in part, by the Dear Me project and in part by the following video.

Write a letter poem to your past or future self. What would you say to yourself? What advice or wisdom would you share?

The classic love poem is the most tired old trope associated with poetry. Today's prompt seeks to challenge the love-stricken poet stereotype in a way that has probably been done before (many times), but that we'll pretend hasn't.

Write a poem that reads like a traditional love poem about someone you despise. Be sure tho make the poem as caustic and non-loving as possible.

An acrostic poem is a poem in which the beginning letters of each line spell out a word that has significance in the poem.

Write an acrostic poem about a subject of your choice. 

As you probably already know, April is National Poetry Writing Month and National Autism Awareness Month. It's also National Jazz Appreciation Month.

Write a poem inspired by or about Jazz music.

Some words get far more attention than others. Today's prompt will address some of those words.

Write a poem containing each of the following words.

Some people believe that you're not a real poet until you write at least one poem containing a reference to Bob Dylan. We respectfully disagree, but this idea did inspire us to post a bonus prompt.

Write a poem which refers to a song written by Bob Dylan. The reference can be a subtle(or not) as you like.