2015 April PAD Challenge: Day 14
It’s Tuesday, so I guess it’s appropriate that I have two things to discuss this morning. First, it was pointed out that there is a person copying and pasting other…
It's Tuesday, so I guess it's appropriate that I have two things to discuss this morning. First, it was pointed out that there is a person copying and pasting other people's work in the comments of this blog, which is probably the laziest form of plagiarism I've ever seen--but we're working to get this person booted off the site and want to remind people that I'm only an e-mail away at robert.brewer@fwcommunity.com. Second, the search tool was not working for some after Day 6, but I think that issue is now fixed. If not, try re-booting your computer to see if that helps.
Today is our second "Two for Tuesday" prompt(s), and here are your options:
- Write an honest poem. Or...
- Write a dishonest poem.
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Get your poetry published.
Writing poetry is one thing; getting it published is something else. Take advantage of the best print resource for publishing your poetry today with the 2015 Poet’s Market, edited by Robert Lee Brewer.
This annual reference includes new articles on the craft, business, and promotion of poetry, explanations of poetic forms, poet interviews, new poems, and hundreds of listings for book and chapbook publishers, print and online publications, contests and awards, and so much more–all for poets!
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Here's my attempt at an Honest and/or Dishonest Poem:
"honestly"
it's easier some days
than on other days
to notice the shape
clouds make in the morning
or the smell of fresh rain
puddled in the grass
as birds dart from one
branch to the next
always with glorious
songs thundering
the world awake
as if today is the day
that everything will
in fact get much
easier & i am thankful
on the days when
it is more difficult
that something
eventually
snaps me back into it.
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Today's guest judge is...
Annie Finch
Author of 18 books of poetry and poetics, Annie Finch has devoted most of her life to the art of poetry. Her most recent books are Spells: New and Selected Poems (Wesleyan University Press); Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters (Random House/Everymans Library); and A Poet's Craft: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Sharing Your Poetry (University of Michigan Press).
Finch's poems have appeared in Poetry, Harvard Review, The Paris Review, and many other journals and in anthologies including The Norton Anthology of World Poetry, The Penguin Book of the Sonnet, and The Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century American Poetry. She reads, lectures, and teaches poetry widely across the U.S. and abroad.
Learn more at AnnieFinch.com.
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Poem Your Heart Out again!
The prompts from last year’s challenge along with the winning poem from each day ended up in an inspired little anthology titled Poem Your Heart Out. It was part prompt book, part poetry anthology, and part workbook, because each day includes a few pages for you to make your own contributions.
Anyway, the anthology worked out so well that we’re doing it again this year, and you can take advantage of a 20% discount from Words Dance by pre-ordering before May 1, 2015.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
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More poetic posts here:

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.