PUBLISHED POEM
Another ancient effort published by New Worlds Unlimited in 1978.
The title of the anthology, Tracings of the Valiant Soul.
A RAINDROP FALLS
A raindrop falls
its birth uncertain,
Its death
a roadside pond,
The center ripples
and long after the raindrop expires
long after its fate is done
gentle waves are felt
along the shore.
PUBLISHED POEM
My reluctant readers,
Here is another poem from my distant past. It was published by New Worlds Unlimited in an anthology entitled, Whispers of the Unchained Heart, in 1977. God, I love their titles.
Enjoy.
CITY DEATH
Gone-
Murdered by concrete
and polluted air,
Witness to city’s growth.
Yielding shade to sultry summers,
Forming crystalline sculptures in winter,
Morning droned with saws
A barren stump your marker
Death your reward.
UPDATE
My reluctant readers,
I recently signed a contract for my novella, Elmo’s Sojourn, to be published by Mélange Books in an anthology sometime this coming July.
Once you have read my novel, and your reluctance disappears, I hope you purchase this effort.
Your constant friend,
Walt
PUBLISHED POEMS
My reluctant readers,
Another ‘blast from the past’.
Published by New Worlds Unlimited in 1976. The title of the anthology was, and still is, Reflections of the Inward Silence. They could pick good titles.
JUNKYARD
Lying amongst mud and decay
Spent heaps discarded,
Side by side the mean and misused
Elegant and cherished share the same epitaph,
Pampered and treasured rot alike
In the end measure equal,
Parts torn and corrupted,
Scavengers pick clean
That others survive.
PUBLISHED POEMS
My reluctant readers,
Here is another poem from my past. It was published by New Worlds Unlimited out of Saddle Brook, New Jersey in their anthology entitled, Shadows of the Elusive Dreams, in 1975.
I must tell you, although the urge is great, none of these poems have been altered after publication. As every writer knows, a work is never done, but you have to walk away.
PARK RESIDENT
Winding thru city parks,
Stumbling from a park-bench sleep,
In the uncertain light of dawn
He wanders;
Eyes brimmed with despair-
Blessed with yet another day
His mind recalls vague dreams,
The dreams of his youth
Gone to mist;
Less often now come dreams
Unknown to park-bench beds,
Night brings only cold,
Thoughts void of future.
NEW MOON RISING
My reluctant readers,
Soon your reluctance will change; I hope.
My novel, New Moon Rising, will appear early next year. It was selected for publication by Midnight Showcase which will soon morph into Mélange Books.
I thought I’d share with you the book cover.
READERS AND WRITERS FORUM
READERS AND WRITERS CORNER
FINDING AN AGENT
UPDATE
I have just finished the final draft of my novel, The Beast Awaits, and have once again started looking for an agent who would accept this book.
The reason for this update is that I find that the approach one must take has changed. In the past, you were able to search the website for The Association of Authors Representatives
http://www.aaronline.org/
for an agent. That is no longer the case.
I now find that the best site to search is Agent Query.
http://www.agentquery.com/This is where I recommend that you go first.
As always, do your homework! After you’ve settled on an agent to contact, go to Absolute Water Cooler and Predators and Editors.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/
Good luck, and wish me the same.
PUBLISHED POEMS
My reluctant readers,
As promised, here is another published poem.
For fifteen years a small press in Saddle Brook, New Jersey selected one or two of my poems to be published in their annual anthology. This poem was the first, published in 1974 in the anthology, Echoes of the Unlocked Odyssey
The Distant Jewel
Shimmering diamonds in the distance,
Gleaming pearls on an ebony sea,
The city lies ahead
Made lovely by the night and the span of miles,
Those who know her close
Have seen her decay,
Known her avenues littered
The debris of progress
The broken spirit of man.
Distance lends to a hazy beauty,
Close inspection
Horror.
PUBLISHED POEMS
My reluctant readers,
As promised, here is the first of my ancient published poems. This piece was published in The Clover Collection of Verse, 1976.
This poem has the distinction of being the only work for which I earned money. Not here, but published in another poetry periodical, someone liked the poem and sent me a dollar. Somewhere in our attic storage area, along with over twenty years of accumulated ‘stuff’ that dollar resides. It keeps company with a mound of rejection letters.
I hope you enjoy this effort of my ‘relative youth’.
THE WHEAT FIELD REVIELED
Friendless you toiled with palette and brush,
Forlorn amidst wheat fields with only mad rush
Of flying crows to mark the day,
Crossed paths unite yet yield no safe way,
Fulfillment pursued beneath sorrowful skies
Painting with troubled soul that once cries
Out for love yet finds only torment,
Thus your life spent.
Tramping through fields of cypress and corn
With stars and suns swirled in a morn,
Hatband-held candles yield flickering light
Sustaining your soul one last starry night,
Rooks swirled in violet a soul hungers still,
Standing alone – the wheat field revielded.
UPDATE
My reluctant readers,
Here is what I am up to and what you might expect in the future.
I have quit my part-time job and am now a full-time writer. Hopefully, that means you will have more to read on this site.
My novel, New Moon Rising, was due to be published by Midnight Showcase in January. Midnight Showcase is closing this December, and morphing into Mélange Books. I have signed a new contract so my book should still be published. I will keep you updated.
What I am really excited about is other novel that has now been edited and rewritten; The Beast Awaits is the title. Once I get what is necessary together, query letter, synopsis, stuff like that I will start trying to find a publisher.
To keep you occupied while this is in the works, I shall entertain you with some poetry. What the vast majority of the world does not know, and with good reason, is that I spent more than thirty years thinking I was a poet. During that time, I published poems in extremely insignificant anthologies. I am boldly going to share those poems with you.
Look for the heading, Published Poems. I can feel the anticipation.
Take care my friends,
Walt
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