After the Easter Feast

We’ve been busy, so I forgot all about this poem. It was accepted by YDP about a year ago and held until April 8th. I share it now in hopes that it’s not too late to enjoy.https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=4415

A Celebration of Color!

Marlo and Leslie are standing behind Artist Vivian Pastor’s wonderful ceramic creation at the exhibit opening on April 8^th.  Here’s the poem that inspired Vivian’s art:

Merced Canyon

Like a timid woman’s smile

Spring eases up hillside cheeks

With dawning joy

Of wildflowers,

Not quite sure

Poppies, lupines or 

Shooting stars

Are allowed,

For

Opera buffa orange,

Papillon purple

And yelping yellow

Aren’t bashful

At all.

P.S. Here’s another wildflower poem:

El Niño’s Tears

Poppies, Cinquefoil and Gold-Fields,

Grow in the dry streambed –

Impatient blossoms bursting

Into galaxies of golden novae,

Swirling about their stellar business,

Even though El Niño’s

Reluctant tears

Failed to resurrect

Even an hour of ripples

In Mission Creek.

 Color:Story 2023

April 8, 2023: Opening reception and poetry reading, 6-8PM
March 31 – May 20, 2023: Exhibition on view, Gallery 100, The Silos at Sawyer Yards, 1502 Sawyer St., Houston, Texas, 77007

A Win and almost!

I just received this award certificate in the mail and wanted to share it. Caesura is likely the best poem I wrote in 2021. Besides, a win is a win! Also, as usual, I entered the Monterey Herald’s annual 101 word competition and received an honorable mention. That post is below.

Bosnian Brandy in The Orchards

Sofra is a Bosnian restaurant in Zagreb. I’ve dined there often with son Jeremy and his family. Sometimes, though, it’s too much work to pile kids and grandparents into the car, so he and I go there to pick up takeout. When we enter, host and waiters greet Jeremy with embraces, jokes and grins. He replies in kind and we are both provided with flasks of Bosnian brandy, on the house. We drink, I smile and Jeremy chats until our order appears. We part in good cheer and friendship. Good cheer and friendship are heroic achievements for any Bosnian in light of their region’s recent, tragic history. I’m happy that The Orchards published my tribute to them. The Winter 2022 edition is now live at the link following: https://orchardspoetry.com

On the Beach

I thank editors Robert Grant and Jason Christensen for including my “On the Beach” in the third issue of Abandoned Mine. The quality of the poetry in this journal is high and I’m honored by the company!

https://www.abandonedmine.org/on-the-beach-robert-walton

Balconies Belay is in Red Wolf Journal

Balconies on a beautiful morning

Poetry has always been a vast puzzle for me. Discovering how words and images best fit together sometimes takes me years — or decades — of attempts. Balconies Belay is one such poem. I began it thirty years ago, but it only coalesced in recent weeks. Irene Toh has included it in Red Wolf Journal and plans to include it in her Fall 2022 edition A Change of World. I’m both pleased and honored! https://redwolfjournal.wordpress.com

Scroll down a bit to find the poem.

One Poet’s Process

Saturday Writers columnist Diane How published a brief interview with me conducted after my poem “Caesura” won the winter contest. Here’s what she had to say:

“April’s contest also included a first-place poetry winner. Robert Walton won with his twelve-line poem, Caesura. This brief verse journeys from burgundy October memories to hopeful emerald May eyes. I was surprised when Robert said he doesn’t write poetry. What???? 

Then he explained, “I never write poetry. Poetry writes me. An image or a thought seizes me unbidden and leads to the beginnings of a poem. That’s not to say that craft doesn’t enter in while I’m trying to find the poem’s truest shape.” Now that is poetic. 

His journey of explanation regarding where the inspiration came from is a story in itself. “One of the inspiring things about parenthood is that it never ends. Eldest son Jeremy was winding up his research project for the Max Planck Institute last autumn. He needed to move his stuff out of both his office and a pied -a-terre flat in 

Goettingen, Germany. Everything (a lot, believe me! Jeremy collects vinyl!) had to go from there to his family home in Zagreb, Croatia. He drafted me to help with packing and moving. In between the packing and toting sessions, he had professional responsibilities to fulfill. Pop had to stay out of the way and amuse himself. I often did so in the garden behind Max Planck’s HQ, a lovely, wooded place, good for reading while listening to the fountain and its brook. Ah, the fountain!” 

Robert’s simple advice to other writers is brief and powerful much like his poem. “Keep your eyes wide open — always!” 

And there you have it, folks. Keep your eyes open and your pen or laptop ready. Inspiration surrounds us. Now it’s your turn to write a winning entry and I can’t wait to read it!” 

Thanks very much, Diane!