|
|
|
So glad you have signed up to receive the For Random Learning Comes Newsletter! This is the ninety-ninth edition. People keep asking me, what's going to happen, when you get to 100?
|
|
I don't have the answer to that yet but stay tuned!
|
This newsletter has me still feeling a bit under the weather--which has been absolutely beautiful around here, not that I've had a chance to enjoy it. You will discover why in the first entry below, A Week Off: Flirtations With Covid.
|
I am most definitely on the mend, though nowhere near 100%, thanks for asking. I have regained my respect for Covid, which I must confess had dwindled a bit in the wonderful era of maskless gatherings and social celebrations that I have enjoyed in the past year. We tend to ignore things until they really affect us personally. And losing a week is pretty personal.
|
In other news, I have been delighted to be asked by Chris Bodor, who organizes the St Augustine PoetFest in April, to be part of a panel about Publishing at the event. You can subscribe at the link to get news about the event as it approaches.
|
My perspective is to be my experiences just running a website of my ongoing writings and participating on socials, and the pros and cons of sharing your work online to any extent. I am very interested in other people's experiences as well, and would love it if you would share your own impressions in the Comments area.
|
|
The panel is called "From Bookstaplers to SubStack: Publishing 101" and it will include several other poets who publish through zines or otherwise, to promote theirs and others' work.
|
The panel will take place on April 13th (Day Three of the PoetFest) at Flagler College in St Augustine Florida.
|
You should check out the event and the roster of poets attending!
|
Local Zine creator Johnny Masiulewicz, who first published my poem "August" in his anthology "Moss Gossamer: Poetry of NE Florida" will be on the panel. I am also looking forward to an open mic event he is putting on at Chamblin's bookstore in the heart of downtown Jax, on Valentine's Day. I will be pulling out my most lovelorn poems for the occasion, in the hopes of reading them, to the perpetual embarrassment of my husband, whom I am forcing to attend!
|
Coincidentally, I recently sent out a few Covid poems into the ether on Submittable, but have yet to hear anything. I also have a larger book-size submission of my poetry out there at a contest, where the odds of winning are probably similar to a lottery ticket. But I suppose sometimes you just have to roll the dice!
|
Hope all of you are well and thriving. Until next time!
|
|
|
|
|
|
So Close and Yet So Far
|
|
This essay discusses the Semiquincentennial celebration and compares it with Fourths of Years gone by.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Drawing
|
|
A poem on redistricting, the drawing of new districts to serve the ruling party's political purposes, with the blessing of the Supreme Court and with enthusiasm unchecked by either the people's will nor the State's Constitutional provisions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attempt
|
|
A poem describing the swirling emotions on and offline provoked by the attempted assassination of President Trump at the dinner for the press. Caveat: I do not doubt the attempt on his life was real. P.S. The photo is an attempt at beauty.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Approaching May 1st, 2026, Anniversary of The Great Fire, Jacksonville, FL
|
|
A poem about a very dry spring in Florida which calls to mind the terrible fire which consumed Jacksonville early in the 20th century.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Smiles
|
|
This poem analyzes the loss of reputation of the US in the eyes of its closest allies, and the attitude it projects, about that loss.
|
|
|
|
|
