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Sol Magazine © 2000
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CONTENTS
Our topics are on a variety of subjects about nature and the nature
of humanity. Our purpose: to foster the reading and writing of short
poetry, and the education of poets.
To the spirit of shared dreams, we lift our pens. |
Welcome: Susan Barnhurst, Lynn Bradley, John Brooks, Jill Davis, Peggy Zuleika Lynch, Spirit Cloud, and Kate Stickland.
an editorial by Mary Margaret Carlisle, Managing Editor Woe is me, the millennium is still to come! According to the best
experts in the field, the 20th Century and the second millennium will not
be over until the last day of the year 2000. The 21st century will
begin on January 1, 2001. How can this be? It can be because
the first decade of the common era started with the year 1. There
was no year zero. Guess we don't know how to count to 100, because
most folks we know have already celebrated the start of the millennium.
Look at it this way: those of us who refused to panic last November
and didn't buy the stores empty can still do it this coming November.
All millennium silliness aside, we hope to see some monumental poetry from
all our Sol poets in this, the last year of the 20th Century!
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CONTEST ONE
FORM: BOUTS-RIMES
TOPIC: SHUI CHI (WATER ENERGY)
SPONSOR: Martha Capo. In her words, "Thanks to Sol Magazine
for making me (and other poets) work!!!"
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BGC from B&N = Book gift card from Barnes & Noble.
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BOUTS-RIMES: French for "rhymed ends," a Bouts-Rimes poem is
created by one person creating a list of rhymed words and giving it to
another person, who in turn writes lines that end with those rhymes, in
the same order in which they were given. The list of words given
this month: storm, ring, form, sing, center, mends, enter, ends.
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Waterfall
Powerful, descending like a storm
water spills over, circling like a ring.
Falls cascading about rocks, frothy in form.
Loud and thunderous its melody forever will sing.
Below a whirlpool traps water in its center
beyond the river slows, its peaceful spirit mends
its caressing, soothing soul does enter.
Tapering off in silence the river ends.
Susan Barnhurst, Sherman, TX
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Peaceful, powerful, water is well-described
in a few of its many moods.
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SECOND PLACE - winner of a $10.00 BGC from B&N
Healing Waters
Through the never ending storm
The waters shape a ring
Swirling pulsing frothing form
That with the winds will sing.
And in the very center
A broken heart mends.
The water begs you enter
And then your pain ends.
Judy Calheiros, Alagoas, Brazil
JUDGES' COMMENTS: Excellent rhythm. Much said in few lines.
Placing the healing power of water the the mended heart midway creates
a whole new aspect to this poem.
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THIRD PLACE - winner of a $5.00 BGC from B&N
Seven
Upon a fieldstone wall, enfolded by a storm,
I close my eyes and listen to the droplets ring
In contrapuntal timpani to form
A lyric streamlet that will sing
Me to the center
Of my seeing. An elemental canon mends
Me, blends me, and transcends me as I enter
Me again. How many kinds of rain must fall before I reach my
ends?
Martha Kirby Capo, Houston TX
JUDGES' COMMENTS: Personal, intimate. Wonderful phrasings
and internal rhymes.
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Fickle Salvation
It may start with clouds that tremble earth in storm.
Its hard wind, coming quickly to the horizon it will ring,
Around us simmering mist or boiling torrent, any form.
No need, and more comes too quickly, bone dry, its praise we sing,
It falls in tiny drops until it surrounds all but the grounds high
center
Taking all we own or giving salvation that mends.
Giving or taking life, ask only how it will enter,
Curious message ignored, then done, the storm ends.
Steve Carr, Houston, TX
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: "Simmering mist or boiling torrent" makes
an interesting comparison in one brief line. Shows how rain can be
both friend and enemy.
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Broken Drought
There is a reason, rain and storm.
Raindrops splashing make a ring.
Lakes and rivers soon will form.
Drought is broken. Birds will sing.
Windmills turning in the center.
Water flows and nature mends.
Summer is past. Let winter enter.
Water flows and never ends.
Spirit Cloud, Ft. Worth, TX
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Driving rhythm in short pounding sentences
bring this simply elegant poem to a flowing end.
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Awesome Water
Powering snow-avalanche, flood, deluging storm,
water’s also contemplative, tossed pebble’s widening ring.
It’s also frost, flake, fog, and even one more form,
(what locomotive’s chug, why happy teapots sing.)
Water’s what we mostly are, from surface to our center,
and raging thirst and dehydration are what it always mends.
There’s nothing it won’t wear away or fill or deeply enter.
Water means "survive" to us, cause need for it never ends.
Warner D. Conarton, Zephyrhills, FL
JUDGES' COMMENTS: The trivia question midway is a unique feature,
emphasizing the unique creativity of this poem.
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Flood Force
Millers look wary of this monster storm
Too much water to push the mill ring
Streams overflow and dams need to form
Prayers for rain congregations did sing
Water wheels flood past the center
Broken paddlewheels mean making mends
On the grain floor flood waters now enter
Lots of damage when storm finally ends
Shelley Crabtree, Enid, OK
JUDGES' COMMENTS: Interesting look at a bygone era's reliance
on water power.
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FIRST PLACE - winner of a $20.00 BGC from B&N
Fun in the TubJUDGES' COMMENTS: Clever use of the topic in an entertaining way. Humorous. Excellent use of pun.
Furious storms
a bath tub ring
a naked form
who likes to sing
a bathing center
which fixes and mends
all that will enter,
clean bellies and ends.
Diane M. Davis, Chelmsford, MA
The black waves crash upon the sea’s furious storm,
while the creature screams like a tower bell in full ring.
Swirling through the frenzy, desperately clinging to her form,
she saves me with her breath and begins to gently sing.
The sun drops into the ocean’s center,
the moon drapes the sea with mends.
As I brace myself to enter,
another wave erupts then ends.
Jill Davis, Beaverton, OR
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Powerful portrait painted in sound and sense.
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HONORABLE MENTION
River Riddle
Raging river of winter's storm
Oh, where will your truth ring?
Will you fall in everlasting form
Or fill your swells to sing?
Dimpled whirlpools in the center
Dance away, yet never mends
The floodgates from where you enter
Or the crest of sea tossing ends.
Roz Garay, Whittier, CA
JUDGES' COMMENTS: Successfully meets the challenge, fits into
the Bouts-Rimes form with a natural rhythm and clear images.
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Storm Water
Along the weeping edges of the storm,
The deluge paints a blackened, sombre ring,
And underneath its darkening, swirling form,
The black night birds of apocynthian sing,
Storm river of this never ending center,
My broken links of rain-washed dream now mends,
And as the vortex bids my soul to enter,
I join the downpouring that never ends.
Janet Hilton, Staffordshire, England.
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Strongly written, excellent word choice.
Each pounding word adds to the whole.
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Spiritual Rebirth
Like a stranded ship tossed in the storm,
Deaf to the urgent bells of the coast guard’s frantic ring,
There’s a powerful force inside of me slowly shaping form,
Drowning out the plaintive cries as herons mournfully sing.
Intoxicating waves draw attention front and center.
Oceanic fascination, my broken spirit mends.
Roaring surf, I’m hypnotized, no more doubts can enter.
My mind is clearly focused, my negativity ends.
Kathy Kehrli, Factoryville, PA
JUDGES' COMMENTS: Skillful use of simile with the comparison
of a stranded ship to human traits.
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Driving Crazy
It's a rage, a storm,
Strong enough so my ears ring,
It's force with a defined form,
I can hear it make the wind sing,
I'm caught in its center,
Its powerful soul mends,
As I move towards the "Do Not Enter,"
The pouring rain ends.
Jennifer Camille Manganello, Boca Raton, FL
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Strong writing, excellent use of energetic
words.
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HONORABLE MENTION
Drought-Breaker
They have ceased, the torrents of the storm
A breeze blows now, again the wind chimes ring
Crouched branches regain their regal form
Washed skies glow while happy swallows sing.
Squirrels and robins feast at the garden center
Creviced ground has swollen as it mends
Revived plant life allows moisture to enter
As a drought-struck rancher's fear of the desert ends.
Lena S. Norman, Saginaw, TX
JUDGES' COMMENTS: Vivid word pictures.
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Rainmaker
Face raised to the rising storm,
he traces intricate steps within the ring
of stones. Blurred by rain to an amorphous form,
he sings the songs he knew to sing
while he dances at the center
of The People's world. A smoothing, soothing swirl mends
dry wounds and closes crusty cracks. Seeds sprout. Roots
enter
the softened soil. A leaf tastes electric air as the song ends.
John E. Rice, Houston, TX
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Wonderful ending line.
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Concentric Swirls
Torrential energetic storm,
Swirling in tornado ring,
Funnels in warm watery form
Whistling rhythmic droplets sing,
Surrounds the wetted eye of center.
Flowing on parched earth, it mends,
Alluvial warmth of splendors enter,
Calmed now, its gentle water ends.
Corrine Schlessel, Woodbridge, CT
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Wonderful whirlwind ride, exuberantly explained.
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Indoor Storm
It resembles a circular storm
Leaving a light ring
It looses its oval form
It howls...it can sing
There is no perfect center
My skin, it quickly mends
It mysteriously can enter
the small hole-and then my bathtime ends.
Kate Strickland, Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Country Day School
JUDGES' COMMENTS: Good description used humorously. Parallels
indoor/outdoor storms, holding the comparison until the end.
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Kate is a high school student. We find
her poetry refreshing.
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Perpetual Motion
Sheets of rain and thunder roll the storm.
Trees standing in a ring
Repel liquid assault, trails of water form
Cascading, race downhill, as they sing
Spill in torrents to the straw parched center
Seep deep into the earth, the moisture mends.
It slips through sandy soil at last to enter
An ocean wide, now conjoined in swells, the journey never ends.
Patricia A. Tabella, Providence, RI
JUDGES' COMMENTS: Well stated end-to-end survey of water's cycle.
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#1 Disaster
Dark clouds announce the storm
Full moon encircled by a ring
Low hanging clouds ominously form
Wild winds through trees sing
Men working quickly at dam center
Stones filling deep crack mends
Rains from black sky into lake enter
Dam gives way small town ends
Bill Truax, Cedar Hill, TX
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: The last line says it all: "Dam gives
way, small town ends."
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Song Of Synergy
I watch choppy waters of the Bay with the close, approaching storm,
It's lightning which causes earth to shake, tremble and ring.
See the Cumulus roil in their ever changing form,
A conductor who points a strobed baton and makes the chorus sing!
I am lost within the magnetic personality of its center
What it may take away, I know it leaves even more that mends
Adding nutrients to and quenching the ground that it must enter
I sit amid the wild winded swirls of rain and hope it never ends.
Claiborne Schley Walsh, Montrose, AL
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Lovely phrase, "wild winded swirls of rain."
Want to see more from Craig Tigerman? Visit his website:
http://sol-magazine-projects.org/prodigy/craig_tigerman
Our poets had the task of including birds, water and January in one
poem. We chose two winners. The first was picked because of
its extraordinary development, in so very few words, of a clear snapshot
of a particular place. The second was included because of the way
the writer vividly brushed words onto the canvas of poetry. Wonderful
writing by our poets.
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FIRST PLACE - Winner of a signed copy of "Feeding the Crow," edited
by Susan Bright, and featuring, among others, the excellent poetry of Austin
poet Carlyn Reding.
Olympic PeninsulaComments from the staff: Strong poetical language using echoing sounds and vivid images. Excellent writing!
January dawn. Great blue herons--
exclamation points punctuating
unmarked surface of an estuary
before two river otters slip in to fish
dissolving stillness with triangular wakes.
SuzAnne C. Cole, Houston, TX
Blue JaysComments from the staff: sharp images, and good use of rhythm and rhyme.
In January's bright winter plumage,
Their raucous voices taking umbrage,
These birds of daring aerial deeds
Stop by for water and seeds;
Blue jays of brilliant visage.
Milton S. Earnest, Smyrna, GA
Are you an Alpha Poet? Send us Alpha contest topics for February. You may win a $5.00 BGC from B&N.
Sol Magazine's Poet of the month, Diane Davis I have been writing children's stories for a few years, but am not yet published. Recently, I joined an email group and met several poets who encouraged others to write. Last summer, I started experimenting, and found my poetry getting published in e-zines, even when my writing was not. Sol Magazine was listed by the group. I found it very useful in teaching me about poems. I find themed poetry easier to write. Being given a specific form to write in, and an example, helps as well. I have begun to learn more about poetry, or at least the sounds of it. I am presently beginning my first poetry course on the Internet. Now I am discovering the names of things I have been attempting to do. I use poetry as a way to wake up my mind for prose writing. I find it fun, and though I sometimes spend a lot of time on it, the time goes by very quickly and it is a challenge rather than a chore. My other writing consists of working on children's historical fiction and fantasy novels, and short fiction. Since I began submitting work to e-zines last summer, I have had several dozen things published. My first print poem, "Waiting," will be published next summer in SpellBound, a fantasy magazine for children. |
Three poems from Diane Davis:
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SCULPTED PERFECTION
Like Calder's mobiles,
the spiders balance
on their web.
Orbicular torsos
in baskets of symmetry,
their hinged appendages
dwindle
to precision points
of strength.
ICICLES
Frozen lollipops of winter
selected according to size and shape
rather than flavor.
December's confectionery.
HOLLYHOCK
Naked stalks thrust their necks higher
to sneak a peek in the dining room windows.
Where have all the blossoms gone?
They dance among the branches of the Christmas tree.
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Diane Davis lives in Chelmsford, MA, with her husband and two teenage children. When not writing, she is teaching middle-school art in Reading, MA. She writes primarily for children, and is presently working on editing several middle-grade novels. Her varied background as a professional puppeteer, a hands-on historical museum educator and a teacher have sparked many of the ideas she uses in her creative writing.Diane has a BFA in art education from University of MA in N. Dartmouth, and a M.Ed from Leslie College in Creative Arts in Learning. She is presently furthering her writing education by taking a course with the Institute of Children's Literature, and an online poetry course through Wordweaving. Diane - thank you so much for sharing your insights with us!
CALL FOR ENTRIES From: "Tom Padgett" tpadgett@sbuniv.edu
Members of MSPS and Other Poets: Missouri State Poetry Society's
Winter Contest's deadline is February 15, 2000 postmark. Enter
at least one of the five categories. Five excellent judges will consider
your work. If you have not yet joined MSPS for the year 2000, send
dues with your entries or enter as a non-member. Tom Padgett, President
Missouri State Poetry Society Winter Contests 2000
Limits: Poems may be 40 or fewer lines. They may be unpublished
or
Categories:
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So you want to be judge, guest editor, interviewee? Tell us.
We may have just the spot for you. Judges are asked to write a guest
editorial on a topic we set before being asked to judge a contest.
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All poetry remains the property of the poet, except Sol Magazine reserves
the right to publish all poems (once) at a future date, and/or to post
them to a web page. NONE may be reproduced without permission of
Sol Magazine. Electronic forwarding is permitted as long as no portion
of this magazine is changed and all credits are given.
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See our contest website or last contest for current guidelines.
We do not accept entries that make use of graphic language, touch on partisan
politics, or support particular religious views. Yes, we allow poems
about God and mythological gods or goddesses. No, we do not allow
mention of figures out of any holy book. Please do not expect us
to publish something that might upset a younger reader. We'd prefer
that everyone be comfortable here.
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19th Century words, such as "Tis," "Til," "Thine," and "Thou," belong
in another venue. Poems using these words will probably not appear
in Sol Magazine except in articles or essays.
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We correct grammar and spelling errors and sometimes change punctuation
without asking for permission or forgiveness.
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Sponsors in 2000: Lois Lay Castiglioni, Martha Capo, and James
Lay.
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Angels in 2000: Leo F. Waltz.
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Book donors in 2000: Sharon Goodwin, and Carlyn Reding.
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New sponsors and angels always welcomed. Thanks for your support.
Have a comment? Want to be added to our list? Want to be taken off our list?
Write to us at: Sol.Magazine@prodigy.net
Sol Magazine's Website: http://pages.prodigy.com/sol_magazine