California State Poetry Society informs its members and poetry lovers about a reading organized jointly with the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga. We are thrilled to present a wonderful anthology edited by Carole Boyce, Blue and the Blues on Sunday, August 22, 2021 at 4:30 pm via Zoom. The reading will also present poems published in the California Quarterly 47:2, Summer 2021 edited by Maja Trochimczyk. Email DMHSkiles@gmail.com or maja@moonrisepress.com to receive the Zoom link to the reading. Two segments of open mic poetry available. Typically we hear two poems from each poet.
Listen in to the Pisces Publishing anthology, Blue & The Blues on August 22 at 4:30.
You will experience BLUE in all its glory as poets explore the literal color blue, the emotion of feeling blue and the genre of blues music. Within each phase, each poet has a very different spin on the subject. This is a unique collection and after listening, you may have a new favorite color!
ABOUT THIS BOOK:
"What a Concept! Blue would be more than pleased about this tribute to her essence. This unique anthology brings poets together to glorify the color blue, to write about the emotion of feeling blue and to pay tribute to the genre of blues music. Hues, moods and music; this collection is as varied as poetry can be with a broad spectrum of interpretations, both literal and figurative on each section. The book demonstrates the range and complexity of the creative mind. The author of More Than A Color makes clear to the reader that the actual pigment is viewed as a safety net; a source of comfort and strength, available as needed. In Blue, she says “there’s a shade for every person” and lists some blue colors and emphasizes in the final lines: “I live blue. I speak blue. It’s a language you know. I love blue.”
From a review by Adrianne Lawson-Pope published in the Poetry Letter No. 1, 2021.
https://www.californiastatepoetrysociety.com/2021/02/poetry-letter-no-1-2021-reviews-of.html
More Than A Color
Can you see it?
Do you feel it?
Can you hear its call?
Listen, open up, welcome it
Blue is present
And it presents itself to you; for you
To use as needed
Let it envelop you
Blue song to soothe you
Blue walls to surround and protect you
Blue blanket to warm you
Blue skies to cheer and comfort you
If you find yourself at the brink of collapse
Grab onto Blue
It will bolster you and sustain you
Because Blue is not just a color
It’s music, a mood, a heartbeat
It offers an atmosphere that allows you to choose
Whatever sustenance you need
Its many hues can handle any request
No need to leave the spectrum
Blue satisfies it all
(c) 2021 by Lynn Brown
Mason Bees
by Maja Trochimczyk
I share my roses with the mason bees –
Iceberg leaves they like the best, cutting
circles and ellipses from the edge, inwards.
Iceberg roses, not iceberg lettuce, mind you,
that’s far too crunchy to make soft beds, wrapping
bee babies in green, white or pink silkiness,
smooth and pliable like we ought to be, smiling
under the merciless gale of time, raging river
flowing backwards, always backwards.
I used to get angry looking at my mutilated
roses – white blossoms, a defense against evil
guarding my front door like bee soldiers in the hive
ready to sacrifice their lives – just one sting
and the miniature fuzzy warrior’s gone – having
lived just to protect and serve us, the worker bees,
buzzing around our lives, cutting circles and
ellipses in white roses. Bees and humans, we are
all children of the Queen Bee, Gaia, our Mother.
We make honey of our kindness, virtues, character
wisdom, self-reliance. Attentive, focused on the next
perfect circle, semicircle or ellipsis – we breathe deeply,
delight in drinking nectar, carrying pollen of emotions,
sights, impressions – flying back home to make the sweetest
gold, translucent honey of our poems, of our dreams.
(c) 2021 by Maja Trochimczyk
Published in the California Quarterly vol. 47 no. 2, Summer 2021
