Happy Holiday Greetings, 2010

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 Merry Christmas, Happy New year everybody,

…..best wishes for good health for all Alameda Island Poets, friends, families and significant others….2010 here at fameinalamedadotcom has been a remarkable year, a little magic goes a long, long way…with or without a one horse open sleigh… 

2010 started out with the Jack London Birthday celebration, monthly meetings-readings which fared well all year long, thanks to Borders Books under one roof…..prize winning AIP members did well at the annual Poet’s Dinner, the Site Write events were enthusiastically received both by participating authors and by the local business community, not a trivial fact to be overlooked in economic recessionary times…

Did you notice a little bit of magic sprinkling all over the SF Bay Area when we ran a small announcement about Alameda Sports Project, on Fame In Alameda this past summer,  did you catch that? 

To compliment the Special Alameda Sports project on display at the Alameda Museum (commemorating the great athletes that came from Alameda), we ran a little bitty story about the Alameda Island Poet’s very own long standing member, Betty Romero, the first ever Miss Candlestick Park. Lo and behold,the most remarkable and unprecedented thing happened after that; the San Francisco Giants came from behind out of nowhere and went on to win their first ever World Series Championship…

Coincidence? Maybe, ……

Magic? You betcha, ….show me a group of poets in the bay area that’s been more on the ball than the Alameda Island Poets in 2010, as far as being active in their respective communities, and helping their neighborhood, their region shine, and I’ll be the first to tell you as John Lennon said “we all shine on”...

AIP members in 2010 have also done Alameda proud at the Dancing Poetry Festival, the Webster Street Jamboree….with every ounce of sunshine a thimble full of shadow balances the scale, the hearthbreaking experience I’d like to tell you about, happened at a reopening of the local library dedication ceremony, where Alameda City officials congratulated each other and their associates, librarians and staffers, without acknowleding the City Poet Laureate in their midst, sitting right there in front of the Library, in front of what seemed like a hundred school kids and their teachers…

now I ask you will those young student minds be reading official minutes, committee reports, memorandums, invoices or poetry at school?   

Are our city officials so uncultured, lacking in social graces, grandstanding at photo-op events, enamored of their political ambitions that a doting grandmotherly Poet Laureate, the living embodiment of authors whose writings are housed under the Library roof, is invisible at a Great Depression era  library re-opening? 

The media, and the press, somewhat supportive of Site Write, is almost similarly aloof of the presence of real Poets in the City of Alameda.

Creating cultural events, a glossary of literary works, Alameda Island Poets are real on Main Street, fameinalameda is providing a quasi-magical opportunity for local creative writers to partake in a very accessible online literary tradition that will last.

Thanks for your support, visit fameinalamedadotcom for updates and events, check out the new blog site at word pressdotcom, just type alamedapoets in the search box…..

Kudos to Mary Rudge, Cathy Dana, Ken Peterson, for their tireless work in making a good thing happen.

Once again, wish you well, the best of health in 2011….ho, ho, ho…..

am

 webmaster/fameinalamedadotcom

 

  

         

  

  

  

         

  

 

Tanka Workshop Alameda Town Centre Borders 01/08/2011

“Will you still love me tomorrow?”  Remember the sock hop song from the golden age of rock and roll?  Well if you’re interested in exploring the origins of Tanka or “short song”  this  unrhymed verse form of thirty-one syllables, written in one continuous unpunctuated line travels back in time almost 1300 years. 

This poetic art form, a component of a larger Japanese literary aesthetic is rigidly adhered to, being a construct of 5 lines consisting of two separate divides each recitable in a single breath.  A “pivotal image.” somewhere in the third line relates or links to the upper two lines intended to be on one subject and the lower two lines written on another subject.  

Records of Japanese antiquity reveal originally Tanka was the practice of sending secretive messages written the morning after an affair, expressing gratitude to one’s beloved after having spent the previous night together in gardens of earthly delight.

Written in lines of 5 -7 – 5 – 7 – 7 syllabic poems expressing feelings .  and emotions were dispatched by servants in a variety of mediums: paper containers, on flaps of folding fans, knotted on stems of blossoms in a myriad of fashions limited only by coy boundaries of writers imagination.

Courtesans, both ladies and gentlemen were eager to improve the quality of their  works, reading and writing Tanka contests were held.  It became evident, there was a need to create a body of esteemed works to which one could refer (and seek inspiration) hence the emperors decreed a collection of anthologies commence around 700 AD

The Tanka became acceptable to literate royalty circles so much so, an anthology from the mid eighth century Man’yōshū (Collection of Myriad Leaves), survives to this day. It is an impressive compilation of thousands of poems on subjects both ephemeral and mundane, beauty of nature, love and longing, laments for the deceased, and affairs of ordinary people were written 700 years before Chaucer. 

Tanka also, but not always, includes nature in expression of thought or feeling, similar to haiku.  A characteristic of a Tanka (besides the traditional five lines of 5-7-5-7-7 — syllables) is a short depiction of nature linked to the author’s feeling or emotion.

By expressing emotions Tanka connects our feelings to the observable world enabling us to envision a picture in the mind which perfectly conjoins explicit expressions of age-old emotions permitting the reader to feel as if ancient poems were written about today, not a thousand years ago

How to write a Tanka in English?  be at the Alameda Island Poetry workshop and find out….Borders Bookstore second floor

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S 1789 THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION

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Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God ~~~ to obey His will~~~ to be grateful for His benefits ~~~ and humbly to implore His protection and favor: And whereas both Houses have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY of PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal faours of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peacebly to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWETY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the great and glorious Being, who is the beneficient Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be: That we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favourable interposition of His Providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; ~~~ for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed ; ~~~ for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish Constitutions of Government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; ~~~ for the civil and religious Liberty with wich we are blessed and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge ~~~ and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, That we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; ~~~ to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a government of wise, just , and constitutional laws, discretely and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations especially such as have shown kindness unto us; and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

 Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine

George Washington

The All American Symbol of Thanksgiving Day In a Natural Setting

The Maggi H Meier Memorial

       

Ever wonder about real life stories of a person behind the namesake of a literary contest?  One of the liveliest, hardest working, dedicated person, a pillar of the Bay Area Poets Coalition during the last quarter century of her life, here then, a brief saga of Maggi H Meier…..

The Indefatigable Maggi H Meier

 

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Margaret Eloise Hatcher born on February 1,1916 in Fargo, North Dakota leaving during the 1930s dustbowl days of the Great Depression. She remembered the Westerning ride to the Pacifict Coast as being a “bumpy” experience.

 

        

A Californian since 1931, arrived in Berkeley in 1946 when she became Maggi H. Meyer, residing in a farmhouse at 1527 Virginia Street for the past 52 years.

After getting a few things done with her life, including raising a son, she started writing poetry at the sprightly age of 60.

“A retired interior decorator feels awkward just sitting around without redecorating something,” (she once said) as she fancied poetry since her childhood, but never could find the time to do it, when retirement and the Spirit of Seventy Six arrived the Muse prompted her to take up Poetry.

A member of the Berkeley based Bay Area Poets Coalition, the driving force behind this not for profit nationwide poetry organization Maggi held every office of the BAPC except the Presidency (by choice) since its inception. She published 6 books and appeared in over 2 dozen BAPC anthologies, hundredes of Poetalk newsletters which she edited and published for decades.

Over the years she conducted numerous writing workshops for adults as well as Berkeley children. She supported, coordinated poetry contests, promoted, encouraged and aided numerous writers, Poetry groups including steadfastedly volunteering in the trenches of the Poetry Flash, the National Poetry Association, Alameda Island Poets.

By teaching well-loved poetry classes at Berkeley’s Malcolm X Elementary School, she inspired children to write and enjoy literature in public schools. Her honors include the AAUW’s Ruth Murray Jones Award and the Claire and Michael Sheinberg Award, presented for outstanding service to poetry and to Alameda Poets, of which she served as past president, and editor of AIP anthology.

In 1989 she served as chairwoman and contest director of the Poets’ Dinner, a longstanding California poetry institution. Best of all her qualities was her no-nonsense communication style rich with candor, humor, and compassion. A fine poet herself made her a widely acclaimed pleasent addition to any Poetry event she attended. She has been, and remains a tremendous, full-hearted gift to everyone that knew her in Berkeley.

She retained many traces of her teenage attitudes during her septuagerian and octagerian eras, she is also remembered by many as being one of the sharpest 90 year old Berkeley gals when she wanted to be. Truly deserving accolades and admiration of poets everywhere we salute the tireless effort and endless dedication of one fine lady in whose memory the Bay Area Poets Coalition dedicates its Annual Maggi H Meyer Memorial Poetry contest…10/01/2010 thru 11/15/2010 check out details at the www.bayareapoetscoalition.org

Limerick Workshop, Towne Centre, Alameda, CA

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The First Wednesday in November workshop at Borders will delve on ” Limericks.” 

 

  

 

Limericks are expected to be witty. The wittiness derives from the use of various aspects and elements of language used by poets to create poetry rather than prose. These are called “poetic devices” Two principle elements of Limericks are rhythm and rhyme.It is a rhyme pattern of a,a,b,b,a.  The rhythm consists of syllable patterns of

soft loud, soft, soft, loud, soft, soft, loud 

soft loud, soft, soft, loud, soft, soft, loud

soft loud, soft, soft, loud

soft loud, soft, soft, loud

soft loud, soft, soft, loud, soft, soft, loud.

For those interested in classic metric terminology, the lines are

iamb, anapest, anapest

iamb, anapest, anapest

iamb, anapest

iamb, anapest

iamb, anapest, anapest

A famous example by Edward Lear goes:  “There was an old man with a beard, Who said, “It is just as I feared! Two Owls and a Hen, Four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard!”

Some other “poetic devices” which are used for witty effect are puns, double meanings, metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, hyperbole and idioms.   Wry comments on people, places and things are examples of wit which may not be”poetic devices”.  Sometimes Limericks are just nonsense, not necessarily funny or witty.

 

Edward Lear is often credited with originating the Limerick. However, the form existed at least a century before he published  “The Book of Nonsense in 1846″. The term “Limerick“ was applied a few decades later. Whoever coined the term might have defined the form but whatever was intended remains unknown.

Lear’s rhymes started with:  “There was a..”  or “There was an ….” This is not required.  Lear had a practice of repeating the last word of the first line as the last word of the last line.  That seldom seems to be modern practice. 

As rhythm is key to Limericks, it is worthwhile to comment about metrics“the term referring to the rhythm patterns of poetry.  The terms and concepts of meter as it has been taught to students of poetry  the past several centuries, was taken from Ancient Greek. As Greek is a different language from English, and Greek speech patterns and cadence are not the same as those in English the usual concept of English verse metrics is incorrect.

The Greek rhythms based on patterns of long and short syllable sounds did not have soft and loud accent patterns of language. At least one of the classic Greek patterns, the “spondee” consists of a foot of two accented syllables which does  not to exist in English.  

There are other instances in which classic taught patterns do not work in English. The people who know how language actually works are experts in linguistics called philologists. They base their explanations by actually listening and measuring sound patterns rather than on dreams conjured out of ancient languages.

In poetry and related writing and language arts, it is the fiction which is taught. The science is practically never mentioned.  For students trying to understand poetry and poets trying to write metric form, the conflict between fact and fiction pose a serious problem.

Limericks have a tradition of being bawdy though there are many which are not.   I expect we will be polite in our workshop.

Ken Peterson

The rhyme pattern consists of end rhymes for lines one, two and five which rhyme with each other.  Different rhymes end on lines three and four, they rhyme with each other.

Octoberfested Haiku Workshoppe

READING October 6, 2010

First Wednesday reading and workshop October 6, 2010 at Borders Books in Towne Centre, Alameda will take place on a pleasant Indian Summer evening.. Readings to be conducted upstairs beside the snack bar by the elevators.

Workshop starts at 6:30. Reading at 7:00. Sandy Stilwell and Eileen Malone are featured readers.  These are two wonderful native American poets.

The September gathering was a great success, Amos White presented an interesting and stimulating workshop on internet publishing, promoting and marketing. I paid attention.  The feature event was a standing room only showstopper, with Adele and Jack Foley putting on a great show.  Fifteen additional poets at the open-mic session put on high quality performances. New readers and new faces showed up in the audience.

The workshop for August turned out to be a great success. Not because of the presentation or the presenter (myself), but due to the intrinsic interest on the topic by Alameda Island poets.  Participation in the writing resulted in the creation of good poetry.

This October the workshop will continue with some of the mechanics of haiku. Two of which were previously mentioned in the September announcement.

Asatoro Miyamori, the great scholar and expert on classic Japanese poetry, wrote “seventeen syllables and reference to the seasons are the two essential elements in haiku,”  characteristic of usual haiku.
However, they have not always been used. Even Basho, the first and greatest of the classic haiku masters, varied at times from the seventeen syllable structure; some of his haiku did not use a season-word.

As Japanese haiku developed about 1900, these departures increased. English (American) haiku often departs from both of these rules.

The season-word seems to have originated even before Basho, 350 years ago, and seems to emerge from a desire to have topics of general appeal and understanding. Mentioning weather seemed pretty commonplace.

Harold G. Henderson, the great haiku writer and expert, suggests that, from the haiku use of nature stemmed the idea that haiku is only about nature in general and not about human nature. Henderson says this is clearly not so. All great haiku writers have written superbly about human nature, personal feelings and experiences, the most often reappearing themes of haiku, especially so of haiku. considered classic.
The season-word is one of more than 600 words or phrases which have been established as denoting particular seasons of the year. The Japanese have five standard seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and New Year. Sometimes the names of the seasons are actually stated but most of the time other words are used.
Many of these associations have no meaning to poets in other languages. Some of the traditional Japanese season words, though they still may be used, are no longer understood even by Japanese.
This is among the reasons many poets, including Siensensui, one of the best known disciples of Shiki, last of the four great masters, has a following which abandoned the use of the season-word as obsolete (and also write in lines and phrases of irregular length).
Such practices were increasing in modern Japanese haiku in the first half of the Twentieth Century. None-the-less, it is well for American haikuists to be familiar with the concept and use.

Spring is denoted by cherry whcih always means cherry blossoms, butterflies; unmelted snow and frogs are also references.

Summer words include May rains, poppies, goldfish, peonies.

Fall includes Harvest moon, woodpeckers, wild geese, insects.

Winter includes frost, snow, Mandarin ducks, withered fields.

Various holidays and festivals are used as season-words.

English and other language poets and those in geographies other than Japan, have created season-words to fit their own locations and cultures.

In the workshop we will try to use and create if necessary, season-words.

The second mechanical matter which we will discuss is the question of titles or no titles for haiku.

Traditionally haiku are not titled. There is a good practical reason for that. Haiku are short.  When a title is added it changes the look and feel of the verse in print presentation or during its reading’ the regular addition of a title will look or sound awkward to many haikus.
Titles are sometimes required by publishers or contest operators and are handy for critics and scholar’s analyses. Titles are also useful to the poet in arranging and keeping track of the works. The use of titles might well be a matter of choice by the poet’s consideration of the particular situation.

Another haiku characteristic.

We have earlier discussed variations of form in English in attempts to capture some of the characteristics of Japanese haiku. Condensed thought, images and sound lead to English haiku of less than seventeen syllables, for example.

Another admirable quality of Japanese haiku is that of smooth and melodious language. This is seldom seen in English haiku but it is worth attempting.

See you next Wednesday at Borders,  Alameda Towne Centre.

Ken Peterson

Back to School Grapevine

With the skateboard generation trucking into school yards all over the nation, what’s a futuristic Poet to do?  Well, how does an Ipod app, the Poet’s Pad sound to you?  Designed for either texting or digital recording poetry on the go, the Poet’s Pad is an indication smartphone application developers are not leaving Poetry behind….the full story:  Old-Fashioned and New-Fangled Tools for Poets  at Bob and Margery’s Poetry Blog.  

At this time of the year, days begin to get shorter, harvest Moon lurks just beyond the horizon, Ronna Leon Poet Laureate of Benicia is trying to create a nice, cozy home for Poems, with an open invitation to AIP membership participation, think about settling your creations in the soon about to be home for Poetry: 

A Home is a Poem's Castle

Check out the 24th Emeryville Arts Exhibition,Oct.2-24, 2010 WWW.EmeryArts.org

A gala reception for this annual event will take place Friday, October 1, 6-9PM at 5815 Shellmound Way, Emeryville, CA.  If you don’t anticipate being there, visit the EmeryArts site, click —->Artwork —>Artists Q-G  H-O  P-Z.   Most artists listed have artwork displayed online, wonderful idea for at home shut ins, mobility handicapped, transportation challenged seniors etc., if the Muse moves you, write a few lines about the experience, artwork or just to foster an appreciation for the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts movement.  If you create a poem, send it to moderator, EmeryvillePoets Society at Yahoo groups. 

The Gallery is open daily, 11am – 6pm admission is free to the public