National Poetry Month Challenge - Day 7

Today's challenge was to write a self-portrait poem.  On any given day, I have many selves ~ I am multi-faceted.  This is just a glimpse on the day I wrote this poem.  See if you can figure out which poet my title is inspired by.

Today I Am Emily

Who Are You?

Living many lives

in many countries

can lead to a certain

Transcendental Homelessness.

My accent is neutral,

but I can put on a pretty good

South London inflection –

and don’t get me started on

my former, Long Island accent.

Where I am from

is the here and now.

Cast no spells –

I will not transform into

frog or princess.

You don’t know who I am.

Chameleon poet –

I wander in and out of words,

weaving stones with nylon thread.

I slip through fingers

like a fish out of water,

which I always seem to be –

neither here nor there,

I try to be everywhere.

Always observing –

always the people watcher

at the café table

sipping wine –

wondering what

life I could create

for the young woman in green tights

or the man in the sweater with holes,

weaving from side to side

down the street.

This is who I am.

I am nobody –

I am known.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2014

National Poetry Month Challenge - Day 6

Today's poetry writing prompt was to write a night poem.  It could be anything related to things that happen at night.  The first thing that came to my mind was the musical by Hugh Wheeler, "A Little night Music," so I just grabbed that title and followed the poem down the rabbit hole.  The poem doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the songs from that musical, but my brain likes to jump  and play with words, so I let my imagination wander a little here.  I thought about our house at night, as my little ones are getting ready for bed.

A Little Night Music

The notes of your voices echo,

as teeth are brushed

and faces washed.

The last dove stakes its claim

on the roof –

letting out one, last, soulful tune.

The basement pipes rumble

with rushing water,

as yesterday’s showers and dishes

are forgotten.

Bare feet on hard wood floors

scurry up

after one last glass of milk.

Books are read silently,

in unison.

A laugh of recognition here –

an “Oh” of surprise in chapter two.

These melodies of night converge

as heads rest on pillows,

and the house sings

its solitary song of sleep.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2014

National Poetry Month Challenge - Day 5

Today's writing prompt for the poem-a-day challenge was to write a poem of discovery.

To Be the White Orchid

Your newly polished self –

it shines in light

and in dark.

It rises above.

Your newly polished self

knows no boundaries,

because you have come

full circle

to the lightness of Being

that is you.

You surge

like the streamlined, silver power lines

of the city –

all jet stream

and mercury.

You wander into the self

with eyes wide to truth –

knowing that

this sometimes isn’t pretty –

this sometimes tastes stale.

Your newly polished self

wants to tango –

wants to leave town –

wants to be the white orchid –

exquisite

and

rare.

You are true blue –

newly polished. 

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2014

National Poetry Month Challenge - Day 4

Today's poem-a-day challenge was to write a "Since ______" poem.  Write the word Since, fill in the blank, and then use that as your title.  This one stretched my poet muscles a bit.  I had a title in mind, but I needed to make it fit.  Part of me felt like I was writing a Mad Libs poem, at least for the title, but it all worked out in the end, as they say. 

Since Your Blindness to Speaking Stars

The truth of you

comes in small doses.

The lavender moments of calm acceptance,

as well as the blue clarity

just above cloud cover

and human weakness.

We are frail.

We fall.

We trust too much.

We don’t trust enough.

This hand of yours that shakes

for human touch.

Your heart walks through

the noise of doubt –

finds solace

in the many, common beats.

We hold them close –

fear and longing.

The clutch of papers

to chest –

the blindness to speaking stars.

This is the truth of you.

You shout.

You weep.

You jump.

You stand still –

but most of the time,

you love.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2014

National Poetry Month Challenge - Day 3

Today's challenge was to write a message poem.  It could be an e-mail or letter to someone, a poster, a sticky note, a postcard ...

I chose to share one of my recent poetry postcard designs using this theme.  In honor of National Poetry Month, I will be sending out over 30 of these postcards as gifts to people, to help generate excitement about poetry!

Reaching Every Realm

From root

to speckled petal,

you will never fully know

the beauty of your every detail.

Your essence spreads out –

blue flames

reaching every realm.

Oh, to know

how you flower and connect.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2014

National Poetry Month Challenge Day 2

Today's challenge was to write a poem about a journey or a voyage.  I chose to journey to the center of memory and family history.

Read on ...

Island of Souls

I journey to the center of you –
the island queen
with nimble fingers
creating Saban Lace.
I seek the hidden mysteries
of your smile –
your blue-black hair
coiffed just so –
the way you read
The Daily Word
in your speckled, red wool chair.

I travel to the source of ancestors –
to this island home
you left for a bigger island at age 11.
Not knowing how to swim,
you left by boat –
forging ahead
with only your embroidery skills
and strength of intent.

At 18, you left for a new land.

One-by-one, you brought them –
brothers and sisters
carried across the vast sea.
Your hands –
instruments of freedom.

I journey back to that day
you left all that was known
to you –
Saba spice,
sweet Malta,
the top of the volcano,
and the village at the bottom.

It is at the crossroads
of leavings and beginnings,
that I find my source.
I would like to think
it is you.

You are my black stone courage –
my onyx strength –
my Saba Rose pride.

Cristina M. R. Norcross
Copyright 2014

National Poetry Month 2014: Poem-a-Day Challenge with Writer's Digest and Words Dance Publishing DAY 1

Happy National Poetry Month!

I am a little behind in posting these poems from the National Poetry Month challenge with Writer's Digest.  Better late than never!  I have completed day 8 today.  I will create a post for each day's poem.  If you are subscriber ~ warning ~ you may get 8 e-mails from me today, but I promise that after that, it will only be one-per-day for the month of April.  By April 30th, you will have had you fill, I'm sure, and this writer will need a vacation!

The truth is ~ I probably write at least a poem each day, if not several.  The difference is that maybe 2 poems per week are worth saving and/or submitting somewhere.  These poems will be written and edited in just one day, which is not my style, but I am up for the challenge this month.

Here we go!  I hope you enjoy this journey with me.  Not every poem is going to be an opus.  I am prepared for this.  So be gentle, kind readers.  I will do my best to offer up some gems here and there.

Interested in joining in the poetic fun?  Follow this link to the Writer's Digest poem-a-day challenge.


DAY ONE: Today's writing prompt was to write a poem about beginnings and/or endings.

Echoes of You

The very beginning of you

is the furtive sun

not yet knowing how to hold your hand.

It is the stretching of muscles

when your tender feet meet the floor.

The very beginning of you

is storm cloud

and Big Bang.

It is the dancing dust whirl –

a tornado of life and light.

There is no end of you.

Your walk carries on –

your voice echoes

in the throat of a son

or granddaughter –

your cocoa butter skin,

the rich timbre of your voice,

the delicate way your fingers

embrace a pen.

Each new step

and each end of the road

leads to more of you –

the captured flutterings

of forget-me-not

and –

I am still here.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2014

Cristina M. R. Norcross - Featured Author at the 2014 Fox Cities Book Festival

Poet Cristina M. R. Norcross will be one of the featured speakers at the Fox Cities Book Festival on April 13, 2014 in Appleton, WI.

Come meet the author from 1-2:30pm at the Atlas Coffee Mill Cafe, Boutique and Gallery, where she will be one of three guest authors speaking about the topic of art and poetry.  Cristina will be signing copies of her latest book, Living Nature's Moments (co-authored by photographer Patricia Bashford), as well as copies of her books, Unsung Love Songs and The Red Drum.

Atlas Coffee Mill
425 W Water Street #100
Appleton, WI 54911
Contact Info
Phone: 920-734-6871
Web site: http://www.atlascoffeemill.com/

Cristina M. R. Norcross is the author of Land & Sea: Poetry Inspired by Art (2007), The Red Drum (2008, 2013), Unsung Love Songs (2010) and The Lava Storyteller (2013).  Her works appear in North American and international journals, such as The Toronto Quarterly, Red Cedar, Your Daily Poem and The Nervous Breakdown.  Featured in the BVAG show, ARTiculate (2011, 2012), Cristina's work also appears in the anthologies, Contemporary Women’s Literature (2007), Verse & Vision (2011, 2012) and Sounds of Solace (2013).  She was the co-editor for the project One Vision: A Fusion of Art & Poetry in Lake Country (2009-11) and is currently one of the co-organizers of Random Acts of Poetry & Art Day.  Cristina is a contributing member for the Art Ambush Project.  Cristina is also the founding editor of the online poetry journal, Blue Heron Review.  Find out more about this author at: www.FirkinFiction.com. 

NEW book! Living Nature's Moments by Cristina M. R. Norcross and Patricia Bashford (pub date April, 2014)

(forthcoming, April 2014 / Vox Novus Press)

In Living Nature’s Moments, Cristina M. R. Norcross and Patricia Bashford celebrate the theatre of nature’s display, as well as pay tribute to how moments of awe-inspiring beauty can nourish and nurture the soul.  Contemplative verse, hidden narratives and innovative visuals invite the reader to create a new story, one that honors our relationship with the natural world.

Cristina M. R. Norcross is the author of Land & Sea: Poetry Inspired by Art (2007), The Red Drum (2008, 2013), Unsung Love Songs (2010) and The Lava Storyteller (2013).  Her works appear in North American and international journals, such as The Toronto Quarterly, Red Cedar, Your Daily Poem and The Nervous Breakdown.  Featured in the BVAG show, ARTiculate (2011, 2012), Cristina's work also appears in the anthologies, Contemporary Women’s Literature (2007), Verse & Vision (2011, 2012) and Sounds of Solace (2013).  She was the co-editor for the project One Vision: A Fusion of Art & Poetry in Lake Country (2009-11) and is currently one of the co-organizers of Random Acts of Poetry & Art Day.  Cristina is a contributing member for the Art Ambush Project.  Cristina is also the founding editor of the online poetry journal, Blue Heron Review.  Find out more about this author at: www.firkinfiction.com

Patricia Bashford is an award winning photographer and a retired professor of photography, theatre, film, and communications.  A world traveler, her trespasser's eyes connect the revealed image with the rhythms that underpin the landscapes of daily living.  In countries as diverse as Russia, Turkey, Cambodia, China, Greece, Ireland and the United Kingdom, she has captured images that reflect both documentary and personal visions.  Pat works almost exclusively in digital formats, though her background includes the traditional darkroom.  She has exhibited extensively in the Northeast in numerous solo and group shows, and sells her work to private collectors.  She is listed in Women in the Arts and Who’s Who Among Professional Women.  To find out more, visit her website: www.travelswithpat.com

Sample Poem:

You Are Not Really Here

(Inspired by the photography of Pat Bashford)

You are the breeze

that blows a white kitchen curtain

up high above the vision of a field,

while cornbread browns in the oven.

You are a pair of faded, leather sandals

with wooden beads decorating the toes.

They could take you anywhere.

You are the light that flies away

like lightning bugs –

the little sparks from a bonfire.

You are the mighty tide coming in,

challenging the shore.

You are the undercurrent

sending starfish into a spin.

You are not really here.

Your soul has another home –

your birthplace

and your resting place.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2008, 2014

 

 

Random Acts of Poetry and Art Day is February 20, 2014

 

Perhaps because it is February, and people are often sick or snowed in, this is the perfect month to spread some happiness around, through random gifts of poetry and art on February 20th, 2014!

This year's theme is Animal Totems.  Create a piece of poetry and/or art about a favorite animal: the messenger spirit symbol of the HAWK, or the sense of freedom inspired by the HORSE, for example.

 Whatever art or poetry you choose to create and share, please also post a photo of your creation on the Random Acts of Poetry and Art Facebook page, so we can celebrate the art of YOU! 

Enjoy and have fun, everyone! 

~ Cristina M. R. Norcross, author/poet

(Co-founder of RAPA Day)

Thursday, January 16, 2014 - Poetry Reading and Open Mic at the Dwight Foster Public Library, Fort Atkinson, WI at 6:30pm

 

One week from today, I will be braving the cold to read a selection of poems from my books: The Red Drum, Unsung Love Songs, The Lava Storyteller, and a few poems from my upcoming book, Living Nature's Moments! Hope you can join me at the Dwight Foster Public Library in Fort Atkinson, WI - Thursday, January 16th, 6:30-8pm OPEN MIC to follow!

2014 Poetry Readings and Guest Speaker Engagements

Here's what's coming up for me on the poetry front in 2014!  Some featured reader spots and some speaking engagements.  Hope to see you at one of these events!


January 16th, Thursday - Dwight Foster Library (Fort Atkinson, WI) poetry reading - featured poet with open mic 6:30-8pm

Feb 5th, Wed. - Gifted and Talented "Game Night" Co-facilitator at Books and Co. (Oconomowoc, WI)

Feb. 15th, 10-2pm - Schuaer Arts Center, Hartford, WI. - LIVE Improv & Ekphrastic Poetry/Art Presentation with artist, Anne Raskopf.  Sponsored by WRAP 

April 5th, Sat., 7-8:30pm - Books and Co., National Poetry Month Reading - Oconomowoc, WI - featured poet


April 13th - Fox Cities Book Festival, Appleton, WI - 1:30-3pm Art & Poetry Presentation (I will be one of three guest speakers.)  Selling books, displaying photography/poetry cards/prints!


June 19th, 6pm Martha's Vineyard - Featherstone Center for the Arts, Summer Solstice Poetry Reading and Music Event.  Open mic reader.

July 21st, 6:30pm  - Featured poet at the Harmony Cafe with Tom Jones, followed by open mic in Appleton, WI

Three Artists, a Poet and One Great Love

"Your Moment of Zen" by Dave Smith

If Mother Nature is the mother to us all, then I think she would speak to us in ways which move the spirit and encourage us to lead lives of greater love.  Dreams often inform my poetry.  The fanciful narratives that filter into my head at night become the scenes for future verse.  "The Path to the One Great Love" is one such poem which spoke to me in that space between deep sleep and wakefulness.  

I am honored to share the ekphrastic artwork of Dave Smith, Joanna Turlej and Kelsey Becker.  Through the lens of art, you will see three different visual expressions of what this poem might or might not be about.  I will let you, the reader, reflect on how these offerings meld together and weave their own individual stories of what it is like to be on the path of the One Great Love of life itself.

"The Path to the One Great Love" by Joanna Turlej

The Path to the One Great Love

(Dreamtime messages)

There is a path that leads

to great unhappiness.

Why do my children choose this?

The steps replace themselves

with more steps.

No two, well-worn pavement stones

are alike.

And yet –

each path leads

to isolation from the Great Love

and weakened bones.

I shower them with deepest blue skies

and blooms as big as a baby’s head.

No, this is not enough they say.

More.

We want

More.

So, the sun fades to mellow.

The loosened buds close their petals

and take refuge in the deep sleep

of winter.

I shall come in spring –

to root down and flower up.

All life will come to be again,

but my children, you must live.

Even inside the hibernate cave,

you must dwell

in union

and BE.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2013

"Silence In Between" by Kelsey Becker

About the Artists

Dave Smith

Dave Seth Smith is an artist, poet and co-founder of the Art Ambush Project.  He lives in the Tidewater area of Virginia.

Joanna Turlej

Joanna Turlej graduated from OCAD University in Toronto, ON with an honours degree in art and design, and the George A. Reid Award of Excellence.  She explored different media, from tapestry weaving, silk painting, watercolours to acrylics.  Joanna exhibits three to four times a year in group exhibitions and participates in the Oakville Studio Tour on annual basis.  Her expressive style and luminous colours are her trademark.  She is inspired by moody and atmospheric landscapes that she likes to interpret in her own way.  To learn more about Joanna's work, visit her website.

 

Kelsey Becker

To learn more about the artwork of Kelsey Becker, please visit her artist Facebook page HERE.

 

"Bohemian Rhapsody" / "Her Own Path" Painting by Elaine Sturm / Poem by Cristina M. R. Norcross

Her Own Path

(Inspired by the painting "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Elaine Sturm)

Circling towards truth

I follow the path –

a hawk in search of the highest point,

before shooting an arrow –

determination’s center.

Milkweed fairies travel with me –

a dust cloud whirl of movement

and light.

Flickering beings trail after

with curiosity and wonder –

never revealing where they see me next.

I open my eyes wide –

seeing all of time in an instant.

Carrying this perfect pearl wisdom home,

I embark on the real journey

of me –

and come alive.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2013

About the Artist: Elaine Sturm

"As a self-taught artist, Elaine Sturm pursued her love for art by going to local workshops as a young adult, knowing she always had an artist's soul living inside her and just waiting to emerge. She has been able to apply techniques she acquired from her extensive library of art books from the many famous museums around the world, and also from gratefully listening to the constructive advice of respected artists she has met along her path.

Besides being showcased in many different kinds of venues, Elaine was an active participant in The Annual Thyroid Foundation Art Show in Montreal since 2003 and has donated several artworks for auction and charity. Her oil painting of the renowned and respected author, and Dean of the Law School of York University, Toronto, Peter Hogg, was painted upon his retirement and now hangs in Osgoode Hall at the University.

Elaine is an honorary member of the Drawing Society of Canada, and she has been a member of the Pastel Society of Eastern Canada (PSEC), accepted into their prestigious juried Art Exhibit at Ogilvy's, in Montreal. She is a current member of the Forest Hill Art Club."

To learn more about the artwork of Elaine Sturm:

Visit her official website HERE

OR "like" her Facebook page

What Are Poetry Magazine Editors Looking For? Here's the Inside Scoop!

What Are Magazine Editors

Really Looking For?

Is the poem engaging, from the first stanza to the last?

Does the poet use fresh, innovative language?

Is there a natural rhythm and flow to the poem?

Is the language beautiful?  Does it take my breath away?

Do the lines of the poem have their own sense of musicality?

Do I want to read this poem again?

Does the poet paint a picture with words effectively?

Does the poet create atmosphere?

Do certain lines of the poem jump off the page – do they linger?

Does the style, content, theme of this poem match the flavor of my magazine?  Will it fit in well with the other poems in this issue?

Do I like this poem?  Does this poem speak to me?

(When it comes right down to it, this is a very subjective answer.  You can have 10 well-written, well-constructed poems, but if it doesn’t speak to the editor, it won’t be chosen.)

*Always research a magazine/journal/publisher before submitting.  Order a sample issue (if in print form only), or read some of the poetry online on the website, to see what kind of poetry they publish.  This should always be your first tactic.

*You should be proud of every rejection letter you receive.  Each one brings you closer to the YES letter!  Every poem will find a home.  You just have to find the right one.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Editor, Blue Heron Review

www.blueheronreview.com

 

Visit Blue Heron Review to learn more about a new literary magazine, specializing in mystical and spiritual verse.

 

Book Signing at the Delafield Arts Center - Thursday, November 14, 2013

Lake Country Author Poetry Reading and Book Signing
at The Delafield Arts Center

Thursday, November 14, 2013 from 6-8pm

Join us as we welcome Lake Country Authors: Mary Jo Balistreri, Cristina M.R. Norcross, Rebecca Seymour, Rebecca Mattano and Kim Suhr.

www.delafieldartscenter.org