TJMF Publishing

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June 2007  Newsletter

 Calling Card Poetry Contest  

Deadline September 3 ....... $250.00 first place .... $50.00 for 2,3,4   MORE

My Fellow Americans

Deadline September 30 - First Prize $100.00 and publication in the upcoming book Democrans and Republicats

Pieces of a Poem, Part One   The Opener  By Patty Zion, Staff Editor

 

Patty Zion's Editor's Desk   Articles and Poem Reviews  -   Don't miss this great section

 

First Light  by Marion A. Poirier 

 

Take my hand Edward;

walk with me. 

I will be your eyes.

 

I'll drift on black clouds,

through white corridors with you.

 

We'll sleep on wooden benches

like twin moons, and

 

my face will be the first

you see at dawn.

 

I ask for nothing more.

 

 

First Light relates the friendship and romance of a woman and a blind man, using a minimum of words and maximum of emotion. 

 

Strengths:

Marion takes the reader on a brief but meaningful journey.  Even with few lines, there is a strong sense of movement, as we walk, sleep on benches, and watch the dawn.  We feel a heady romance, which seems grounded in long term love and the blending of souls.  While she never actually tells us that Edward is blind, we know it when we read five simple words:  I will be your eyes.  What follows gives an even more intense glance into the relationship between two people.

 

The title leads the reader into the idea of something reborn or looked at in a new way.  First light denotes the moment when the sun comes up, but it also connotes the opening of a mind to a new idea.  Marion takes advantage of this dual meaning.

(continued)

 

Marion's Poem will also appear in winning writers June newsletter supplement.

 

Our Winning Entry for May's Word contest

 

FIRST PLACE  A Time to Grieve by Sarah Louise Yagi

SECOND PLACE  Letters by mcronk

THIRD PLACE Dreams by joanmarie

 

Congratulations to all of you!

 

A Time to Grieve by Sarah Louise Yagi

Great plot, excellent mature rhymes, great meter, excellent line breaks, tone is sad throughout, pacing is superb.  It takes talent to write a metered poem using designated words, and she has definitely mastered it.

 

A Time to Grieve

 

Faded letters and diamond ring -

he'd found them in the hay that spring,

returning from a midnight ride.

 

A glitter in the moonlight, spied

despite exhaustion and sad frown,

for he'd just put his stallion down -

leg broken from a fall on rocks

when frightened by a wayward fox

as he turned on a country road -

and wisdom shot through tears that flowed.

 

He’d hold  forever dear his gaze,'

his fearless dashes,  stubborn ways. 

A day replete with misery,

he had no time for mystery

or thoughts of rings and letters penned.

 

Tonight he'd mourn his faithful friend.

 

 

Check out the second and third place finishers

 

Clearly for fun, we had some very nice entries and we had a great time just reading them.  If yours wasn't chosen as a winner - check to see you used all the words correctly. Also make sure you didn't go over the 100 word maximum.

We'll have another contest in June ..... watch for it!

 

 copyright TJMF Publishing 2007