Women Who Submit! (trust me, it's actually cool)

https://womenwhosubmitlit.wordpress.com/

Women Who Submit is a blog and facebook presence that discusses women submitting for publication as a form of activism. They describe their mission on their website as follows:

"Women Who Submit seeks to empower women writers by creating physical and virtual spaces for sharing information, supporting and encouraging literary submissions, and clarifying the submission and publication process."

I have blogged in the past about the disproportional representation of male authors in literary journals and other types of mainstream publishing. VIDA, Women in the Literary Arts (http://www.vidaweb.org/) regularly does a count of the publication stats at major publications by gender. In recent years they have added a count to specifically address the representation of women of color. their findings can be found here: http://www.vidaweb.org/2014-larger-literary-landscape-vida-count/. It's always good to keep an eye on these things.

If you are a female author and you happen to see this post before September 12, 2015, you can take part in the online submission party held by Women Submit. As they say, time to shake up those slush piles!  https://www.facebook.com/events/412966862228094/

creative self esteem

I was at the Belfast Maine Poetry Festival this weekend to attend a couple workshops. It was very fun. In the second workshop, a woman I had never seen before was taking her turn reading out loud from an exercise we had just done. She prefaced her work with, "this isn't very good." We all burst into a cacophany of encouragement and praised her for her work, as well as for sharing. It got me to thinking about creative self esteem.

It is so hard for those of us who create any kind of art to feel assured in our work. We usually work in isolation. If anyone knows about our work, they may discourage us. They may feel threatened by the amount of time and effort we put into creatvity, or they may not "get" our work. They may also feel defensive because they themselves would like to be creative, but are afraid.

I was really happy to be part of a group of people who encouraged that particular woman. I hope that happens in creative communities more and more. We may not "get" each other's stuff, but we "get" what it is like to live a creative life.

poem: autumn dance

just felt like celebrating the Fall. :0)

Autumn Dance—

 

In autumn the maple leaves blush

at one another, then jump their traces

leaving the trees to dance and skip

they disappear discretely when the sun fades

to dusk, to accept the quiet caresses

of the wind.

 

The apple trees, also laid bare of

their leaves, will not be outdone.

 

They sigh and coquet, waving willowy

branches to reveal

a brace of jewels—

ruby apples drip from fingertip

so abundant that some

may be thrown to the supplicant

squirrels.

 

A light buffet

of buttercups

is sampled by the deer

who delicately pirouette

on ballerina feet.

 

A pair of fat raccoons

promenade slowly through

the trees, like an old couple

hard of hearing, loudly

complaining about what

has been laid out

to eat.

 

The music of the crickets and

the frogs goes on til dawn

for the revelers know

that the seasons will change

in the turn of a moon

and all will be laid to rest

in blankets of snow.

 

As if on cue, to remind all revelers

of the season’s brevity

a swirling cloak of black crows

descends upon the fete

calling one another to the feast.

 

Imbibing broken apples’ juice

collecting fruit and seed

finding fallen butterflies

with broken wings

and cold cadaverous

caterpillars

shrouded in cobwebs like lace.

 

The corvid coven rises

remembering the fallen ones

to the angels

lifting them aloft on sable wings

in celebration, in no way stygian

as the dance goes on

and day embraces night.

Ode to Freedom

This is a beautiful uTube sponsored by PETA2 (the youth activist branch of PETA). They also put out a tee shirt on the "Ode to Freedom" theme. Inspired by the concept, I made my own Ode. It is not a classical ode but it is done in metric verse.

An Ode to Freedom

 

Soft grass upon the hillside grows,

it blooms in gold and green

 

The worms below will till the soil,

all life on earth to feed

 

The mother cow takes sweetness in,

to meet her baby’s need

 

No grasping hand to steal her milk,

no predatory deed

 

From worm to cow to calf to me,

all creatures may be free

 

When we who take so heedlessly

allow all life to be

 

In concert and, by divine right,

exist in Liberty.

 

 

Sunrise Trail - Poem

Sunny sky

Crystals of blue ocean water

Low tide

Sulfur smell lingers with salt

 

Rugosa Roses

White and pink with garters of morning glories

Their smell

Mixed with the tidal stink

 

They complement each other-salt and sweet.

 

The growth

A tangle of primrose, dock, vetch

Valerian

It’s smell a calming haze

 

A turtle

Shovels through a tidal stream

Her shell

The same brown color as the beach

 

Six crows

Rise slowly from a billowing elm tree

They float-wings still

Suspended

By nothing but belief

 

Winter

A distant memory

Summer

At its peak

 

The memory of one makes the other more sweet.

I am a writer

Such audacious words. I have always felt uncomfortable saying them out loud, and I know so many other women have been, as well. My participation in women's writing communities like the International Women's Writing Guild (IWWG) and the A Room of her Own (AROHO) foundation has shown me that I definitely am not alone.

If there is one thing to learn from the IWWG or AROHO communities it is that women ned to write. It is an important gift to ourselves and the world. It doesn't matter what the topic is. The important thing is to engage, reflect, and reciprocate.

So many women writers seem to share common insecurities. We don't feel confident to call ourselves writers, sometimes even after publication. And heaven forbid we have lacked the time, finances, resources, & blind luck to find ourselves in the pages of professionally done books or magazines.

We feel clumsy in our efforts. We absorb every fleck of criticism and repell encouragement as polite or insincere. We negatively compare ourselves to other writers-especially other women writers. We question and negate our own voices.

But, as I read on a fellow woman writer's blog once, (I'm paraphrasing and I'm afraid I can't recall the origin)

"We can't stop writing out of fear of failure. The only way to fail is to not write."

Our voices can only strengthen and purify through the work and the time spent writing. We all have a perspective, and they all have value. They are contributions to the present and to the future. For our strong voices will inspire the girls of the future.

We have to keep going. We can make the world better for ourselves, our sisters/mothers/grandmothers/daughters, our non-human relations, and the world.

That is why-say it with me-

I AM A WRITER.


IWWG:  http://iwwg.org/
AROHO: http://www.aroho.org/

My Article "Finding our Balance" in Circle Sanctuary Magazine

It shows my blogging muscles desperately need to be flexing that I never thought to post here that I was published in the Spring 2011 Issue of Circle Sanctuary Magazine. The article was about finding the time for spiritual practice in a busy day. Digital downloads are still available at:

http://www.circlesanctuary.org/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=44

Circle may also be printing my article on Vegan Pagans in the upcoming issue. Fingers crossed, we'll see.

Summer in Maine

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged here. Part of this is due to a new blog my bestie Gwen and I have been doing. But I still love to go back through this blog and remember the past. It truly is a digital diary and something I enjoy sharing with friends. It also holds some fun old stories that I wrote and I enjoy looking at from time to time. I have been writing more lately and I really am more committed than ever to being a writer, no matter what. It doesn't matter what interests me or what directions I am being pulled in at any given moment. Writing is my perspective. More on that later. For now, though, I wanted to share some pics of my recent wanderings along the Downeast Maine Coast that I am lucky enough to call home. And feel free to check out our other blog at: http://veganwiccan.blogspot.com/

The Sunrise Trail View in Downtown Machias

A view of Machias

Sunrise Trail, Machias

Hazy Low Tide in Blue Hill Bay

Jasper Beach, Machiasport

                                             Jasper Beach

Blue Hill Bay

Riverdance

Mom and I went to see Riverdance at the Bangor Auditorium last nite. It was great to finally see it. I listened to the soundtrack a lot when it was new and I still pretty much know it by heart but to see it live was something I didn't want to miss. The show was great tho the old auditorium is being phased out and the ammenities weren't very nice. We were packed in like cattle and the driveway was partially blocked due to construction so flow of traffic was a bit cataclysmic. Anyhoo it was worth doing. Once.

Before the show we went to Miguel's and I had my fave...enchiladas mole with gimme lean filling, vegan sour cream and cheese, stirfried local veg on the side. And the warm chips with fresh salsa....gurgle. Good thing I didn't try to get to sleep until about midnight cause I was stuffed! :0)

http://www.riverdance.com/

http://miguelsbangor.com/