Finding readers

I’ve been thinking about this for the past week as I have been developing and tweaking my online outlets. Last night I was reading an article about speculative poetry in the 2010 edition of Poet’s Market. Speculative poetry is poetry that fits into the genre of sci-fi and mythological. What I found interesting about this article it stated speculative poetry is the type of poetry that actually pays. Often I have heard that poetry doesn’t pay and at best doesn’t pay well. But here was a genre of poetry that based on what the article was stating does pay out better than the average publisher of poems.

Why is that I wondered. After thinking about the article I realized that the sci-fi genre has a very dedicated and committed following. It has birthed an entire culture of hard core fans with a grassroots type movement. Dragon Con anyone?

And now it makes sense. Supply and demand is the root of all that is profitable. And the sci-fi fans LOVE their sci-fi in all its formats. Poetry included. A collection of poems that focus on sci-fi may actually sell. Why? Because sci-fi readers LOVE reading sci-fi.

My point is not that I’m about to write sci-fi poetry although I do love sci-fi and mythological worlds and characters. My realization is that finding readers is a more productive endeavor if I find what genre of writing my poetry falls into and I focus my submissions and online outlets into that area. Adding my poetry as a thread in the fabric of a genre’s culture would develop a readership.

As a poet I like writing about whatever moves me or inspires me and i will always do so. Yet I’m excited to focus my writing into a genre where my work is embraced because it enlivens the culture of the genre it belongs too.

Discovered a quite place on the Chattahoochee

Earlier today me and the boyfriend where riding around and discovered a public but dirt road that ran along the Chattahoochee river.  I have an explorer’s heart and love a little “safe” adventure. The kind that is off the beaten path but on a non-beaten path.  The key word being there is some type of public path. So dirt roads that are public streets appeal to me.

As we where riding along this dirt road we noticed that it ran against the river and if I swerved off the road my car would tumble into the river.  You better drive straight along this country road.  We passed only a few houses with half being new and the others looking like they have been there a few decades. But nothing run down or poverty stricken.  So I didn’t feel anxious just cautious. I mean lets face it this is still a dirt road that only one car can fit on and not that many inhabitants in the area.

As we drove we saw a pull off area where we could park the car and walk well climb down to the river. And once on the river there was a group of big rocks we could sit on and enjoy the peace and quite of nature.  It was one of the most beautiful spots I’ve encountered along this river and I’ve hiked this river in a number of places upstream.

Looking up and down the river I didn’t see any houses just nature and just us. We plan on returning and having a picnic on those rocks.  Makes me want to take up nature poetry.

Starting to record my poetry

Downloaded a free recording software called Audacity and now I’m able to record myself reading poetry and save it as a mp3 file. Actually to save the file as a mp3 file I also had to down load the free LAME mp3 encoder. instructions here. Gotta love open source software LOL.

What’s so cool about the software is that when I save the file it asks me the name of the artist, the genre of the work, and the name of the album. When I opened up my iTunes player and added my recording to my playlist it shows up as a song with my name as the artist and my “album name”. How cool is that!

So I’ll be creating more readings of my poetry (and also purchasing a nicer microphone). I’m now on the hunt for where to upload my recordings. Looking at Reverbnation.com It seems to be the spot where a number of poets have their recordings listed. I just have to read their website and see how all of that works.

Twitter poem #10

Poetry is a pulse
representing something alive
it is created
birthed from fingers
that are not dead
its breathing looking at you

Alisa

The Only Way Out

Come by here my Lord
Come by here

Pencil in hand, memories in mind
or maybe not memories but his vision
of the sharecroppers stories
the old ones talked about
laughed about, cried about
kept silent about
A lot of the old ones keep silent

It’s a moment from a hard life time
framed in his artist mind
as he transfers it to a
simple piece of white paper
that meant nothing when he bought it

Pencil laid against a blank canvas, he draws
back breaking, brow sweating
hand stinging, feet burning, life ending
cotton field
on hot red Georgia clay

Burlap sacks on the backs
of hard working souls
singing our Negro spirituals
to unburden their souls
to lift high broke down spirits

No thinking about tomorrow unless
you want to think about pickin cotton
while you busy pickin cotton
because tomorrow is another cotton pickin day

This moment in time plays in his mind
as a short movie in black and white
black pencil, white paper
black hands, white cotton

He sees them, he hears them singing low
singing sweet low
sweet chariot
ready for deliverance
ready for a lifeline that saves them
saves them from drowning
in a pile of pretty, soft, white
bloodstained cotton

Deliverance came in a book
For most the good book
For a few a school book

And it’s the school book the artist drew

A book in the arms
being carried
being protected
by a young woman
back straight, feet bare
head tilted heavenward
eyes forward piercing
past the cotton field
into her determined
self-determined
future

She’s not singing
She is thinking
That’s what the book taught
Educate to liberate
Her only way out, off, away
from a cotton field

It’s the school book the artist drew
because pickin won’t fix
a fixed life serving king cotton

Come by here my Lord,
Come by here

Alisa