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Eye on Life Magazine is a Lifestyle and Literary Magazine. Enjoy articles on gardening, kitchen cooking, poetry, vintage decor, and more.
“Produced by WGBH Boston and David Grubin Productions, in association with the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, the project offers 32 short poetry films during unannounced moments in the public television broadcast schedule. Through television and the Internet, viewers are granted an exclusive, front-row seat to the world’s greatest poetry festival.”
Check this out!
You are judged by the words you choose and how you pronounce them. People judge you as bright or dull, intellectual or simple by the sounds coming out of your mouth. Employers decide whether to exploit or promote, authority chooses whom to persecute, and teachers decide whom to pay attention to because of the words used and how. The right word can get you promoted, enriched, published, noticed, or laid whereas the wrong word can get you fired, fined, rejected, dismissed or, well, rejected.
The chosen word depends on factors such as upbringing, childhood, DNA, interests, education, level of curiosity – the list goes on. How fair is it, therefore, to be judged by one’s ability to choose words?
I have said before that words are poor vessels in which to carry thoughts. At best words only poorly represent the depth of feeling, the layers of meaning and the connotations implied. So easily they are misconstrued. So many meanings can be derived from every word. How can one even know what another person is trying to say, really?
This is why there is poetry: because words alone are too weak to carry the full burden of meaning.
Mickey Hager considers himself to be a lucky man, as he is the father of Hannah and the husband of Kiki. The designer, painter, musician and writer explores themes of time, emotion and energy in his work. His works include the novella “Cruelty”, as well as the poetry chapbooks, “Someone Has Lost A Heart” and “In Passing”, and the series of short stories entitled “Neither Here Nor There and Other Stories”. The short story “Neither Here Nor There” is available in the Summer 2009 issue of Janus Head Journal. All works are available on Lulu.com under his name. He lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri.
Read Mickey’s Poems:
From the Poetry Foundation’s monthly newsletter. Not for those afraid of numbers. There are a lot of poets out there.
Kelly is a native of Columbus, OH and received a BA from Ohio State University where she majored in English/Creative Writing. Her poems have appeared in Mosaic, Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k) and as the winner of the 2010 Eye On Life Poetry Contest. Kelly continues to reside in the Columbus area and works in the insurance industry. In addition to writing, Kelly enjoys spending time with her son Cole and their mildly obese cat, Bob.
Poems by Kelly Cahill:
EOL 2009-2010 Poetry Contest winner: And We Clean
First Prize: $100 and Featured Poet for the first week in March: Kelly Cahill, for her poem, “And We Clean”
Second Prize: Special gift from Zhi Tea and publication as featured poet for the first week in April: H. E. Mantel, for his poem, “Aquarium Age“
Third Prize winners will be pubished in successive months as follows:
Trisha J. Wooldridge, “To Me, You Are Holy” will be published the first week in May
Amanda Tilton, “What The World’s Come To” will be published the first week in June
Kimberly A. Phan, “Fish-eye Lens” will be published the first week in July
Read “And We Clean”, the Eye On Life Poetry Contest 2009 Winning Poem by Kelly Cahill
“Sheila Peltz Weinberg is a rabbi who teaches Torah through meditation and yoga. She is one of the founders and Outreach Director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. A life-long advocate for peace and justice, she is active in Rabbis for Human Rights.”
Sheila is author of a new book, “Surprisingly Happy: An Atypical Religious Memoir”, White River Press, 2010, and “Preparing the Heart: Meditations for Jewish Spiritual Practice, (audio) Institute for Jewish Spirituality, 2005.
Click here to read Sheila’s poem, That’s The Way It Is
“Dali’s Clock, Schrodinger’s Cat, and a Set of Dice” is from a collection of poems titled Quantum Chaos that Tony is writing based on his fascination with, but ignorance of Quantum theory and cosmology.
Tony’s poems, fiction, and essays have appeared in more than a hundred print and online journals and newspapers. He has two poems coming out in the spring: “Missing in Action,” Mayo Review. (May 2010) and “Old Ba and Seven Billion Universes,” Ardent (April 2010). He recently has published the following poetry: “The Eclipse.” New Verse News. 10 January 2010; “The Man Who Would Be Me.” OASIS Journal. 2009.
“Quantum Chaos.” Mobius, The Poetry Magazine 24 (November 2009): 17. “Inauguration poem.” The November 3rd Club Journal. Spring 2009 and in the North Texas Progressive Newsletter. 26 January 2009 & North Texas Progressive Blog. 23 January 2009; “Poet’s Bio.” DiVerseCity Anthology. Austin: Austin Poets International Inc, 2009.
His book of poems about China, The Mind Dancing, Art by Vivian Lu, was published in 2009 by Plain View Press.
It was my pleasure once again to attend the poetry hat trick in the basement of the Cantab Lounge in the Peoples Republic of Cambridge last night: open mic followed by featured poet followed by poetry slam. I arrived too late to read for open mic, but enjoyed those who read. I’ll be sure and let you know when I’m going to be there next time. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by.
The featured poet was David Winter, once a regular at the Cantab. His unique, focused delivery was mesmerizing. He has a presence that commands your attention. I highly recommend coming out to see him if he is reading in your area. I’m hoping he sends a work or two our way, here at Eye On Life.
Later, I was one of three judges for the slam. It was a pleasure to hear such talented poets. Runner up in the competition, Angel Aviles, is a very animated, focused and moving poet. We’ll be looking to hear more from him in the future. Sam Teitel, the winner, will advance to the World Qualifier Finals next week at the Cantab, when nine poets will compete to represent the Cantab at the Individual World Poetry Slam this October. More on that later :)
Sam Teitel has an incredible knack for combining deeply touching storytelling with hilarious humor. I am eager to see what he does next week.
