10 Minutes of Poetry
whisperings
Bookmarks Unveiled!
The first batch of bookmarks have been created! 🙂 Initially, I wanted rounded corners, but that would have required more work. Now I actually like the square edges with the soft tulle ribbon, creating a mix of masculine and feminine qualities. They’re so adorable. I will be giving these out at my poetry readings.
New Bookmarks
I decided to design some bookmarks tonight, which I will be handing out at my poetry reading in February. It took a while, but it was definitely fun to create. I can’t wait to see the finish product (printed, cut and possibly with a ribbon).
Recent News and Postings
The Whisperings Publication was mentioned in the Poetry Center San Jose (PCSJ) eNewsletter In So Many Words.
Last month on October 16th, I read my poem Moonbathing at the Willow Glen Poetry Project. It is now posted on their website. There were a total of 31 readers that night. You can see the full list here. Dream Cather was one of my favorite ones that I heard that night, while Cyborg Penis was probably one of the more unique ones.
I also attended the Willow Glen Poetry Project this month, on November 20th. The featured reader that night was Ellen Bass from Santa Cruz. As part of the introduction, the MC discussed the beauty of Ellen’s work, in particular What Did I Love, which was a poem that was praised by the 2011-2012 Poet Laureate of the United States, Philip Levine. You can read the full introduction here. Ellen shared many beautiful, witty and inspiring poems that Thursday night. I look forward to attending more of these local readings 🙂
On a more personal note, I am still deciding on which library to book for my Whisperings poetry reading in late January, stay tuned for that!
Book Giveaway Sweepstakes!
Hi fellow bloggers,
I am going to give away a free copy of Whisperings via a sweepstakes.
Terms and Conditions:
- To enter the sweepstakes, simply like this post (or leave a comment with your email)
- The last day to enter is 11/20/14
- I will notify the winner by 11/25/14
- After receiving and reading the book, the winner must do the following within a month’s time:
- Write a book review on Amazon:
- Write a book review on your own blog and link to this blog Whisperings
Thanks for playing!
The Whisperings Book is Officially on the Market!
I am happy to announce that after almost two years of work in selecting, collating, editing, proofing, designing and tweaking my collection of poems, Whisperings is officially published and available for purchase on CreateSpace! Â Read about it here: https://www.createspace.com/4596601. It is now available on Amazon as well: http://www.amazon.com/Whisperings-Decade-Jenny-Katherine-Luu/dp/1494853183/
Stay tuned for future release dates and local poetry readings!
Thanks everyone for your support! 🙂
Marina Memories
Hand in hand, walking along the beach
as our feet sink into the warm, soft sand.
Is this what lovers do
as they watch waves crashing
against the shore?
Cascading patterns of beauty,
moving back and forth,
proceeding with weight
and density,
receding with transparent
clarity.
Mixed with the gentle breeze of the wind,
it’s like a musical dance of nature.
Refreshing foams of water
melt into the arms of the soft sand,
an endearing moment
repeated throughout time,
a truly magnetic wonder
that attracts both man and bird alike.
Flirting with danger,
they touch the tip of the wave,
a sensational feeling of ice.
Overwhelmed by its intensity,
they run to shore,
afraid to be sucked in deeper,
yet tempted
by the unknown,
they return…
and we stare…
mesmerized.
Black Birds
Going on an evening stroll,
step by step,
swinging my arms,
twisting my torso,
loving the movement,
feeling the freedom,
listening to mellow melodies
of instrumentals.
I watch black birds
swirl in the sky,
flying in harmony,
dancing in rhythm
loving life,
living freely
in the pink-blue sky.
Updated Poetry Themes
If you have previously visited my blog and played around with the menus and sub-menus, you will notice that my Poetry Themes have changed.
The original themes were:
- Philosophy
- Love
- Nature
- Fun
- Author’s Pick
Now that I have reached the final stretch of publishing my poetry book, I have updated the themes on the blog to match the actual printed product. The existing blog posts have been re-categorized accordingly. Please note that the poems will not appear in this exact order in the final book and not all poems posted here will be included in the book (as I post the poems depending on my mood). Due to how I previously categorized the poems, certain categories have more poems associated with them. I will be flushing out the sections that have fewer poems first in the coming months. I hope you enjoy the new themes listed below:
- Inspiration & Creativity
- Thoughts on Love
- Thoughts on Nature
- The Body & The Senses
- Telling a Story
- Dark Poetry
- Thoughts on Society
- A Different Perspective
- Self-Reflection
Whisperings – Table of Contents Complete
At the end of April, my three wonderful friends (aka my editors) finished going through the first draft of whisperings (all 262 pages) and provided their feedback. With their guidance, I decided to split up my poetry collection into official themes. These are the sections I came up with:
- Inspiration & Creativity
- Thoughts on Love
- Thoughts on Nature
- The Body and The Senses
- Telling a Story
- Dark Poetry
- Thoughts on Society
- A Different Perspective
- Self-Reflection
It was insightful doing this exercise as I learned a little bit more about myself. I definitely wrote a lot about love during my 20’s, since it was my biggest section. I was a little surprised that my nature section was the smallest, but then I realized it was because I incorporated nature into many of poems (whether it was love, inspiration or perspective). I just didn’t categorize many of them as purely “nature.” It was also interesting to revisit my dark side. During my late teens and early twenties, I really enjoyed the horror genre, the human psyche and the supernatural. All the poems in my dark poetry section were written in that time frame, but I think I’d like to explore that genre again as I go into my thirties. In this exercise, I also eliminated the poems that weren’t so great and got it down to 92 pieces that I really enjoyed. I’m really excited to move forward with my book. The next steps would be to redo my book layout, put the poems into the new order, finalize my book cover, print a copy, and try to find some local newspapers to review it 🙂 Thank you for all the support. Wish me luck as I pursue this journey.
Whisperings 