Posted in Uncategorized, tagged #spokenword, encouragement, holly poem, Inspirational, mark phillips mandolin, mary cm phillips, poetry, rock n soul gospel, seasons poetry, WCWP, Winter poem, writing on January 25, 2023| 6 Comments »
Thankfully, the bite of winter has only appeared briefly here in Pennsylvania.
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).
(more…)Posted in Uncategorized on April 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »
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
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged mark phillips guitar, mary cm phillips, pennsylvania, poetry, poetry community, spoken word on March 21, 2022| 8 Comments »
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).
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged poetry, Walt Whitman, writing on December 13, 2021| 6 Comments »
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
Some links I like:
Jane Austen - Backstories (blog)
Mary C. M. Phillips 