Steven Withrow (founder of PACYA and creator of Library of the Early Mind) has a newly revised’digital poetry collection called Crackles of Speech. I don’t see it on Amazon.com, and as far as I can tell, he’s giving it away as a pdf free! Which is ironic, because this poetry?is actually worth paying for.
I’m only a fifth of the way through it, but I love it! I love his sonnets and sophisticated rhyming poems–very muscular and full of great, strong language–and his free verse, too.
Here’s one of my favorites so far (maybe because I’ve shared a rough draft of a poem about a spelling loss myself?):
BEST OF A BAD SPELL
Losing the Williams Junior High School
spelling bee, on ?eleemosynary,?
was, I now see, an act of charity.
Knowing the Latin root for ?alms?
(could you use it in a sentence?)
guarantees no one a varsity letter.Although it burned me that I flubbed
the double e’s, entreating the floor
for the proper etymology
before retreating to my seat
to small applause, conciliatory
(c-o-n-c-i-l-i-a-t-o-r-y, conciliatory),Worse by far would have been
the booming backlash in homeroom
next morning, hearing my name
among the roster of brainiacs,
?loo-zer? in any language, certain
I’d perish (part of speech?) a virgin.–Steven Withrow, all rights reserved
Ha!?Isn’t that great? Now, if I’ve misunderstood and it’s not free, then I assume Steven will correct me here and I’ll pass along the purchase information.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some more wonderful poems to read.
Karissa at The Iris Chronicles?has the Poetry Friday Roundup today!
Wow-so clever is the title-& the voice in the poem is ‘me, me, me’, just like a teen. Thanks for telling about the availability of this anthology Laura. I’ll check it out!
I think you’ll love it, Linda!
Wow-so clever is the title-& the voice in the poem is ‘me, me, me’, just like a teen. Thanks for telling about the availability of this anthology Laura. I’ll check it out!
I think you’ll love it, Linda!
This poem definitely reminds me of my tween. Thanks for sharing the link to the anthology.
Yeah, it’s a good kind of snarky voice!
This poem definitely reminds me of my tween. Thanks for sharing the link to the anthology.
Yeah, it’s a good kind of snarky voice!
So funny! I guess geek chic hasn’t hit the spelling bee circuit yet.
Hehe
So funny! I guess geek chic hasn’t hit the spelling bee circuit yet.
Hehe
That last stanza rang so true…that is exactly the reaction we’d get at our middle school! Thanks for sharing this…and the collection of poems I’m looking forward to enjoying, too!
Glad you like it! Enjoy the collection:>)
That last stanza rang so true…that is exactly the reaction we’d get at our middle school! Thanks for sharing this…and the collection of poems I’m looking forward to enjoying, too!
Glad you like it! Enjoy the collection:>)
Steven is a wonder, isn’t he, Laura? Or maybe I should say he induces stupefaction – s-t-u-p-e-f-a-c-t-i-o-n. Or agogification. I won’t spell that letter by letter, since it’s not really a word, but you get my drift.
I like the agogification, and I feel quite sure you could use it wonderfully in a sentence–or a poem!
Steven is a wonder, isn’t he, Laura? Or maybe I should say he induces stupefaction – s-t-u-p-e-f-a-c-t-i-o-n. Or agogification. I won’t spell that letter by letter, since it’s not really a word, but you get my drift.
I like the agogification, and I feel quite sure you could use it wonderfully in a sentence–or a poem!
It isn’t my spelling, (I have spell check for that) It is my fat fingers when I type. that gets me into more trouble than anything else. Thanks for sharing this fun poem. I love Steven Withrow’s poetry. He is soooo clever.
Haha–though spell check can get us into trouble, too! Glad you enjoyed this.
It isn’t my spelling, (I have spell check for that) It is my fat fingers when I type. that gets me into more trouble than anything else. Thanks for sharing this fun poem. I love Steven Withrow’s poetry. He is soooo clever.
Haha–though spell check can get us into trouble, too! Glad you enjoyed this.
Hi Laura, thanks for sharing this. I love the entire feel and vibe of the poem – will check out the anthology.
Enjoy!
Hi Laura, thanks for sharing this. I love the entire feel and vibe of the poem – will check out the anthology.
Enjoy!
Ouch. That hurts (both his loss and yours). They are interesting as a pair: you are still miffed at Susan, but the speaker in Steven’s poem is mad at himself…sort of…
Ha! Yep, I felt cheated. Too awful that 35 years later, I still feel miffed. Of course, I wrote that poem for a Poetry Stretch and hadn’t thought of the whole spelling bee debaucle for ages before that–or since, until I read Steven’s wonderful poem:>)
Ouch. That hurts (both his loss and yours). They are interesting as a pair: you are still miffed at Susan, but the speaker in Steven’s poem is mad at himself…sort of…
Ha! Yep, I felt cheated. Too awful that 35 years later, I still feel miffed. Of course, I wrote that poem for a Poetry Stretch and hadn’t thought of the whole spelling bee debaucle for ages before that–or since, until I read Steven’s wonderful poem:>)
This would be a great poem to use with students studying Greek/Latin roots, etc. I’m going to download the pdf! Thanks for sharing!
Great idea, Karissa! Thanks again for hosting!
This would be a great poem to use with students studying Greek/Latin roots, etc. I’m going to download the pdf! Thanks for sharing!
Great idea, Karissa! Thanks again for hosting!
I was in our elementary school spelling bee in first grade. I was the second one to sit down. I still remember the sting, though I wasn’t sophisticated enough to identify with the rest of Steven’s poem. That’s the last time I was in a spelling bee. Enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing.
I was in our elementary school spelling bee in first grade. I was the second one to sit down. I still remember the sting, though I wasn’t sophisticated enough to identify with the rest of Steven’s poem. That’s the last time I was in a spelling bee. Enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing.
Wow. Really good stuff, you described his writing to a tee Laura. My elementary school work was TREASON. Lost in the 2nd round. Funny how those memories never go away eh?
Ooh, treason. What a great word to be the villain!
Wow. Really good stuff, you described his writing to a tee Laura. My elementary school work was TREASON. Lost in the 2nd round. Funny how those memories never go away eh?
Ooh, treason. What a great word to be the villain!
Thanks very much, Laura, and thanks to everyone who commented here. What a thrill to be a featured poet! At this point, I’m content to have as many readers as possible, though I do greatly appreciate your vote of confidence in my work. Please email me at stevenwithrow(at)gmail(dot)com if you’d like a free PDF of my collection.
Thanks very much, Laura, and thanks to everyone who commented here. What a thrill to be a featured poet! At this point, I’m content to have as many readers as possible, though I do greatly appreciate your vote of confidence in my work. Please email me at stevenwithrow(at)gmail(dot)com if you’d like a free PDF of my collection.