Keep swimming

Welcome to National Poetry Month!

Thank you for celebrating poetry and the important place it occupies in our culture in April and all year long. As Chancellor Jane Hirshfield writes, “A poem makes clear without making simple. Poetry’s language carries what lives outside language.” We need the clarity poets provide. Here’s to a new year of poetry! 

In celebration of National Poetry Month, the following is a poem I wrote.  Enjoy!

MY POETRY

My imagination runs wild,
As I grab a pen and write away.
The emotions linger about,
Pushing me to set it free.
It shall be set free in the words that I write.
It shall be set free in the feelings that I express.
It shall be set free, just by knowing it is mine.
My own thoughts,
My own words,
My own feelings --
That in itself is poetry,
Whether it is liked by others or not;
I know this to be true,
That as long as it is dear to my heart,
It's as special as can be,
And no one can deny that it is poetry!
©mnrivera
Source:  Poets.org

Island Of Guam

Guam is my home

It’s my island and the place to be.

It’s where you can find

all sorts of nationalities.

We aren’t stingy with our island

Although how tiny it is to me.

But if you plan to come and ruin it

Then I suggest you pack and leave.

OUR island is here 

for as long as it can stand

So treasure and hold it

as if you’re a built man.

(c) ChelseaJenae

Dededo, Guam

INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE: Be proud of your island and treasure it!

UOG Presidential Lecture Features Marshallese Poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijner

University of Guam President Dr. Robert A. Underwood presents the first Presidential Lecture of 2015 featuring Marshallese poet and spoken word artist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner on Wednesday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences (CLASS) Lecture Hall on the UOG Campus. Her lecture is entitled: “Iep Jeltok: A Basket of Poetry and Activism.”

Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner is a Marshallese poet and spoken word artist whose work focuses on raising awareness surrounding the issues and threats faced by her people - militarism and the nuclear legacy, climate change and climate justice, and adaptation and racism in America are just a few topics her work touches upon.

She received her Master’s degree from the Center for Pacific Island Studies at University of Hawai'i Manoa, with a focus on the history of Marshallese oral traditions and the transition into textual productions from Marshallese authors.

This past September, she performed at the opening of the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, following the speeches of Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, and has since been thrust into global conversations on climate change. She currently teaches at the College of the Marshall Islands.

Source:  www.uog.edu

A Beautiful Heart

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart."

-Helen Keller

You are blessed

Poets and Writers Directory

Directory of Writers - Criteria for Listing

• Apply to Be Listed
• View the Directory of Writers
• Contact the Directory Administrator

P&W's Directory of Poets and Writers lists names, addresses, and publication credits for 10,005 contemporary authors. The Directory is a must for writers interested in connecting with their peers. It's also a great resource for editors, agents, and reading series coordinators.

Apply to be listed in the Directory of American Poets and Writers. Before applying, please read the Evaluation Criteria below to see if you are eligible for listing. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Directory Administrator.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Applications are evaluated on a point system. Poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and spoken word artists are invited to apply. You must have 12 points in a category to be listed; i.e. you must have 12 poetry credits to be listed as a poet.

The following count as points for listing:

• Each book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction (personal essays or memoirs) (12 points)
• Each chapbook (6 points)
• Each work of fiction or creative nonfiction (personal essays or memoirs) published in a literary journal, anthology, or edited Web publication (2 points)
• Each spoken word performance (not readings) (2 points)
• Each poem published in a literary journal, anthology, or edited Web publication (1 points)

The following do not count as points for listing:

• Journalism or scholarly texts (biography, history, how to, travel guides, book reviews)
• Publications from vanity presses such as International Library of Poetry, Poetry.com, Noble House Publishers or from other presses or publications that ask authors to pay all or some of the publishing costs
• Self-published work, or work from presses such as Publish America that do not offer authors standard book contracts, including, but not limited to, online entities like iUniverse.com, lulu.com, and AuthorHouse.com
• Writing for children under the age of 12
• Credits from publications that do not regularly publish poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction
• Work published by a journal, anthology, or press for which you make editorial decisions
• Plays or dramatic treatments
• Translations

Source:  http://www.pw.org/directory/criteria