I was out running errands and just sitting down to enjoy a late lunch when the Muse grabbed me by the scruff and made me write these stream of consciousness haikus about the experience. Please, let me know if you like any of them.
Belinda Y. Hughes is the author of the new lesbian vegan interracial romance, Blues in the Night (Amazon), Confessions of a Red Hot Veggie Lover 2 (Amazon), a lacto ovo vegetarian cookbook, and Living Proof (BookLocker), a miracle memoir short story collection. She enjoys reading, writing, beading, baking and hiking in the woods with her old dog. Belinda’s poetry has been published in the Odessa Review, New Day Publications and Long Story Short. Her next romance will feature a lesbian disabled veteran.
Today we’re getting to know another G+ writing friend of mine, D.W.Metz. Doug and I share interests in poetry, Asian forms in art and poetry, natural healing arts and Buddhism. We were cabin mates at Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2014 edition, but he got quite a bit more writing done. Doug is a Renaissance man and modern-day Kerouac, introspective, meditative and a nature boy during weekend web fasts. He blogs at unknown poetry and recently released his first independent poetry collection, Discovering Duluoz, after Kerouac. Please join me in welcoming him, and remember to show Doug some follow love. – Belinda
Recently you participated in Camp NaNoWriMo. What was your experience like?
Overall I would say it was a success for me. It did confirm that I am absolutely horrible under pressure when it comes to forcing myself to write. What I liked about the “camp” experience is that the goals were much more flexible and you didn’t have to commit to writing a full novel. I wound up working on a short story I’ve had brewing for the past year. Well that was my chosen assignment at least. Most of the time if I was doing anything writing related it was working on finalizing my first solo poetry publishing, Discovering Duluoz.
What can you tell us about Discovering Duluoz?
Discovering Duluoz is a collection of poetry based off several years worth of journals I wrote in the early 90′s. The poems cover the period when I was first exposed to the writings of Jack Kerouac as a teenager on the beach at Long Beach Island, and culminates with me hitchhiking (in true Kerouac fashion) from my home in New Jersey to his birthplace in Lowell, Massachusetts several years later.
What is your experience with poetry anthologies?
I’ve been published in a couple anthologies but for the most part they were all 20+ years ago. Most recently I responded to a solicitation for poems on a Google+ post and was very pleased to have been included as a result in Scattered Voices: A Collection of Poems Shared by Strangers on the Internet published by Rotting Horse Publishing. What I really liked about this experience was that because all the poets featured were from Google+ I’ve gotten to know a few of them better after having been included in the anthology with them and gladly consider them friends now. I also have a piece that’s coming up in an upcoming anthology surrounding the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Why do you write poetry?
I’ve written poetry for as long as I can remember. When I started it was a lot of “roses are red” and such. If it wasn’t so successful with the girls I pursued as a young man I probably never would have continued with it. As I got older it became less about the wooing and more about the catharsis. I’ve used poetry as an expression of art therapy to get me through the most difficult situations in my life. For me poetry is like a hurricane of emotion. The ‘event’ comes on with a storm, black clouds and lightning. Water whipped against you so hard it feels like stones. In the eye the poem comes out. Tranquility. Clarity. Then it rips back through you again for good measure. You pick yourself up, hopefully, and stand up to survey the wake. From that moment life starts again.
Do you have a favorite poetic form?
Not particularly. Most of what I write tends to fall under ‘free verse.’ Sometimes I find myself in the midst of a rhyming poem and if that’s the way it comes out I tend to go with it, though I’m always apprehensive of the rhyming sounding forced. I also like to experiment with several Japanese forms of poetry – specifically senryu and choka.
What’s your writing space like?
For the most part my writing space is very mobile. The majority of my poetry in the past few years was actually composed and published from my phone. I use a laptop or tablet when I’m working on longer fiction pieces. I do have a desk that I write at but only when I’m dedicating a lot of time to writing. I also tend to do most of my spoken word editing at my desk.
How long have you been doing spoken word poetry?
When I was in high school and college I would often participate in open-mic readings wherever I could find them. When I started publishing my poetry online a few years ago I got hooked up with a Google group that was doing spoken word workshops, which led me to experimenting with Soundcloud. Over the past couple years I’ve recorded a large percentage of my poems as well as some recordings of other famous poems. I enjoy doing spoken word because I think it allows the listener to experience poetry from a different dimension. Recently I’ve been adding music and effects to the recordings as I experiment with the abilities of the artform.
Do you have any favorite writing tools?
My phone/ipad are probably my favorites as I’ve always got one of them with me. I use a plain text app, iA Writer for poetry writing which I backup to Dropbox. For fiction pieces I use Google Docs. I like the piece of mind knowing that if one of my devices were lost or destroyed I’ve got a backup online whether the piece has been published or not.
What’s your most recent publication?
Most recently I published the short story I was working on for Camp Nano. The story is about a character who is down when he inherits a house from an Aunt he didn’t know he had. The inheritance proves to be more than he bargained for when a secret room is discovered in the basement.
What are you currently working on?
At the moment I’m working on another short story. This one is about an antique typewriter that has some haunting characteristics.
If someone wants to read more of your writing where should they go?
My two poetry books are available in print and kindle editions via amazon and other book retailers. You can visit my author page on Amazon for links to purchase. http://www.amazon.com/author/dwmetz. I’ve also started promoting my work on Goodreads and would be grateful for any reviews there. https://www.goodreads.com/dwmetz. In addition to those I publish my poetry, spoken word and fiction at http://unknownpoetry.wordpress.com
Thanks for visiting, Doug, and for hosting me at unknown poetry. We look forward to hearing more publication updates from you.
Today’s guest blogger is Tamara Woods, poet, proud hillbilly in Hawaii and so much more. She generously hosted me on her blog, PenPaperPad, some time ago and I’m excited to share her with you today. Please remember to show her some follow love and be sure to check out her newly released, first book of poetry, The Shaping of an Angry Black Woman. Aloha, T! – byh
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Thank you so much Belinda for allowing me to chat with your readers. I’m so excited to share my work with a new audience.
Hello my name is Tamara, and I’m your resident poet for the moment. Please bring your own beverage, have a seat and let me talk to you a little about what being a poet means to me and a little bit about my new collection of poetry, “The Shaping of an ‘Angry’ Black Woman.”
In my head being vulnerable ranks right up there with death, speaking in front of groups of people and finding one of those huge tropic cockroaches in my bed. To share your inner thoughts with the world for possible judging judgertons to well…judge…horrifying.
Sure, I have a vlog and now two blogs, but I’m an incredibly private person. I don’t talk a lot about my past- my personal history, except through poetry. Actually, I don’t really talk a lot about my life period. I’m slow to open up. I keep people at a distance until I feel comfortable to let them in…a little.
I find with my poems, I can’t help it. That’s how you learn who I am the most. My emotions and thoughts just won’t keep to themselves. I suppose everyone needs an outlet, and poetry is mine.
Sometimes there’s thoughts that linger with you for years. Words that you scribble within the full flush of heated emotion, editing in the calm of the next day. Sometimes, you observe life’s patterns and as you chat with people, you realize you’re not alone. You’re not the only one who sees things this way. And maybe other people see it too. So, you scribble it down, too.
This collection is a bit of that and more. I write first as a person, then as a woman and then as a black woman. That’s how I see myself. I’ve noticed with others, my race seems to supersede all other aspects of myself. I needed this conversation to be larger than that. I discuss love, jealousy, domestic violence, writer’s block as well as race issues. I wanted to write about things that were both personal and observational. My experience and any woman’s combined, which is what lead to the cover of the book.
Let me tell you a little about how I came to the name, “The Shaping of an “Angry” Black Woman.”
I wanted a chance to talk about myself and give an idea of who I am as a person and as a writer. To allow people a bit more access to me and to share. Even though it’s scary, sometimes it’s necessary. I’m going to share one of my poems with you.
Here’s one of my favorite poems from the book. I decided a few years ago to stop putting relaxers in my hair. I had been putting home kits in my hair since I was 12, and my hair was starting to show the wear and tear. It was breaking off, didn’t have a luster or shine to it. To put it bluntly, it looked like shit. I decided I needed a change, and stopped with all the processing. I noticed people’s reactions to it, and then I started noticing how other black women treat each other about hair, and how society judges hair choices period. And so this poem was born.
Rhonda Lee, the meteorologist I referred to, fired for cutting off her hair, was just hired recently. She was fired in 2012. That is an incredibly interesting story in itself.
I find myself going back to spoken word often, which that poem was an example. There’s an inherent freedom in having no real form, but still trying to make it sound lyrical. Putting things in perspective using voice and body, as well as word choice and rhythm. Many of the poems in The Shaping of an Angry Black Woman are spoken word poets, and others are just poems.
Do any of you write poetry or like to read/watch poetry? Who are your favorite poets? Maybe there’s someone who’s new to me on your list. Thank you again for having me, Belinda, and it’s nice to meet you all.
Tamara Woods was raised (fairly happily) in West Virginia, where she began writing poetry at the age of 12. Her first poetry collection is available at Sakura Publishing and at Amazon. She has previous experience as a newspaper journalist, an event organizer, volunteer with AmeriCorps and VISTA, in addition to work with people with disabilities. She has used her writing background to capture emotions and moments in time for anthologies such as Empirical Magazine, her blog, PenPaperPad, and writing articles as a full-time freelance writer for places like LeftyPop. She is a hillbilly hermit in Honolulu living with her Mathmagician.
growing closer still
the path from food to self
is a yellow ribbon
Belinda Y. Hughes is the author of Confessions of a Red Hot Veggie Lover 2, a vegetarian cookbook with vegan options. If you like to cook, visit Café
Belinda. If you like to read or write, check out her WordPress blog. This is
the first time she’s committed senryu in public.
Belinda Y. Hughes Books 