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Thankfully, the bite of winter has only appeared briefly here in Pennsylvania. In fact, it feels like spring has already arrived.

This poem, Deep Winter, explores not only the literal winter but the spiritual one; the winter we might experience on any given day.

You can hear the spoken-word version of Deep Winter below. The written-word version appears in the upcoming Pennsylvania Bards Eastern PA Poetry Review (Local Gems Press).

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We’ve all made mistakes.

Some mistakes, unfortunately, are not easily forgotten.

As a way of dismissing my own dear mistakes, I’ve composed this poem. It appears in two new poetry anthologies: Bards Annual 2022 (Bards Initiative) and the upcoming Dear You, Poems Through the Heart (Red Penguin).

You can hear the spoken-word version of Dear Mistakes here:

As always thanks to Mark Phillips for adding some rather unique music. Special thanks to Chris MacIntosh a/ka/ Grandfather Rock of Rock ‘n’ Soul Gospel, WCWP radio (Fridays 9PM-11PM and Sundays 6PM-10PM) for playing new poetry.

Have a great day, remember to be kind to yourself, and please subscribe to this blog…if you’re so inclined. 💜 Mary

Where Flowers Bloom is a collection of poetry supporting the people of Ukraine. I’m happy to have my poem, Spring Prevails, included in this beautiful book.

This collection features the work of Angelo B. Ancheta, Lynne Bernfield, Vanessa Caraveo, Deborah Coy, Linda M. Crate, David Dephy, Steve deWolfe, Carol Edwards, Joseph A Farina, Clare Green, Alex Grehy, Maureen Hadzick, Sharon A. Harmon, Mark Andrew Heathcote, Kadambari Kaul, David Lange, Wayne Lee, Mary McKeel, Karen Melander-Magoon, Jill Ocone, Dorothy Oger, Mary C. M. Phillips, Sally Quon, Janet Ruth, Kathryn Sadakierski, Jasmine Tritten, J R Turek and Scott Wiggerman.

The publisher, Red Penguin Books, will be donating the proceeds received from the sale of this book to the humanitarian crisis facing Ukraine and will match all book sale proceeds as well in support of this cause.

Read more: Poems for Ukraine and spoken word #poetry

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To listen to me reciting Spring Prevails – along with Mark Phillips on guitar – click the PLAY button below.

Spring Prevails

So happy to be part of this poetry project. All the proceeds received from the sale of this book will be donated to the humanitarian crisis facing Ukraine. The publisher will match all book sale proceeds as well in support of this cause.

https://www.amazon.com/Where-Flowers-Bloom-Strength-Resilience/dp/1637772653/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=ID2KMJRAJ7Q9&keywords=where+flowers+bloom+poems&qid=1651974586&sprefix=%2Caps%2C52&sr=8-1

Today I received this beautiful coffee-table book full of poetry and photographs.

Paumanok Transitions, edited by Kathaleen Donnelly, is tribute to the unique and sublime nature of Long Island. Poems by Long Island native, Walt Whitman, also weave in and out of the pages.

The poem I wrote for the book, The Three Sisters, is a fable-like poem that explores the relationship between the three prominent vegetables grown by the Algonquin who dwelled in the county of Suffolk.

I’m excited to be part of such an artful project — alongside several Long Island Poet Laureates and award-winning photographers.

Oh, the wonder of poetry and art!

O the amazement of things-even the least particle! — Walt Whitman

The three sisters – corn, beans, squash- (and …my first published photograph)

In late 2020, after COVID had altered our lives — as it did for so many others — we decided to move from our home in Long Island to the bucolic hills of Pennsylvania.

TRANSPLANT is a spoken-word poem written just after we moved.

The poem asks a question. Does Nature herself hold memories as we do?

Hope you enjoy it.

Guitar work and production by Mark Phillips.

Transplant can be streamed on Spotify or downloaded from iTunes. The poem also appears, in written form, in the new anthology, The Pennsylvania Bards Eastern PA Poetry Review (available on amazon).

If you’re from Long Island or appreciate the nature of Long Island, you may very well enjoy Paumanok – Transition. A beautiful poetry — and photographic — anthology.

I’m happy to be a contributor alongside such poetic talent.

Paumanok~Transitions is a tour de force – an impressive performance by poets, photographers and the editor and co-editors! This year-long anthology of poems and photographs begins each month with Whitman’s words which transition the reader from the past to the present. The illuminating poems in this anthology lead the reader backward and forward at the same time – an oxymoron, a feat only possible with words. The poetic words in these pages document transitions of the personal, spiritual, social, sexual, emotional and political, akin to Whitman’s own journey – when he went forth as a child from his Birthplace into the world as a builder’s apprentice, journalist, essayist, newspaper founder, Civil War nurse, novelist, poet and Comerado. His fellow travelers in this volume vividly relate their transitions with spontaneous awareness or aching recall – involving a movement or shift that is transformative for both poet and reader. — Cynthia Shor, Executive Director, Walt Whitman Birthplace Association

https://www.amazon.com/PAUMANOK-Transition-Kathaleen-Donnelly-ebook/dp/B09NBBCQXL/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=paumanok+transition&qid=1639426088&sr=8-2

Excited to be part of this virtual poetry event celebrating the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay along with the Long Island Harp Society,

Join us if you’re able (via link below) and have happy, healthy, and poetic day,

Mary 🌿

https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/long-island-events/online-the-ballads-of-the-poem-weavers-a-blending-of-harp-and-poetry-1.50223669

Music of the Forest is available for downloading and streaming.

Below is the link.

Wishing you all a week filled with poetic inspiration, Mary 🌿

https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-of-the-forest-spoken-word-poetry/1548859418

If you’re not busy tonight, consider listening to WCWP.org (88.1 FM in Suffolk) at 8pm. Rock N Soul Gospel will be playing excerpts from my spoken-word CD, Music of the Forest.

Best wishes for a Healthy and Hopeful New Year, Mary 🌿

Thank you to everyone who joined us for an evening of poetry and music –and the CD release for Music of the Forest — hosted by The Walt Whitman Birthplace Association! 

Kudos and a depth of gratitude in particular to WWBA’s host Caitlyn Shea, poet/author, Linda Trott Dickman, singer/songwriter Paul Ammendola of Red Words, and guitarist/husband Mark Phillips for enhancing the event with their gift of words, voice, and music.

Most of the poems on the video are from my new spoken-word CD, Music of the Forest. 

For those who were unable to attend, here is a video of the event:

 

Stay safe,

stay strong,

and be encouraged,

Mary