By Dennis Patton
Poetry Day is the main poetry event in Arkansas. Each year this conference honors Arkansas Poet Laureate Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni (1953-1970). As a result of her efforts to promote poetry in Arkansas, Governor Ben Laney proclaimed Oct. 15, 1948, the first annual Poetry Day in Arkansas.
Poets’ Roundtable of Arkansas’s 2023 Poetry Day Conference is scheduled for Oct. 14, at the Parkview United Methodist Church, 514 North Border Street, Benton.
Registration will begin at 9:15 a.m. There is no registration fee.
A TRIBUTE TO POETS
Poets paint leaves with words that rhyme; put love to music and love in real time.
And like artists, musicians, actors, and the like, poets tell their own stories between the lines.
But only for a while and then they move on from the poet’s roundtable to heaven’s theater-in-the-round!
Leaving behind a storied past— Previous moments in time Spent with family and friends, Making memories that rhyme. — Mike Pafundi
Deceased
WHERE ART THOU, POETS?
I know there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of poets in the good old USA.
I wonder where they are?
I try to find them.
I know my circle is small, my world cannot meet many, but when I ask,
“Are you a poet?”,
I get answers,
-Like-,
“When I was in school.”, “Sometimes.”,
“I used to be.”,
“I want to be.”.
What is that deep inborn strong desire, the God-given spark that calls?
What makes a poet?
What causes a poet to write a poem that stands out for all timeso much so, that when we read it or sing it or study it, hearts flutter?
— Cathy Parker
Alexander
SENYRU
the mentor poet losing to the mentee -success!
— Pat Laster Benton
HOW I FIND THE WORDS
I threw a stone into a dug well At Grandma’s home place.
Far down to bottom,
To water, and to resounding Gurgle lapping against stone walls,
And I stood spellbound As echoes vibrated
Along walls
Back to my ears.
Poetry in sound.
To find a word and continue My poem, I thought
Of that well, how stone splashed, Then gurgled.
I remember how it resonated From side to side when I leaned Over the opening and said
Silly words, high pitched,
Or in deepest bass
A boy of ten could.
Then it came to me.
In writing poetry, throw a word Into the poem like a stone
Into that well.
There is a moment of waiting, Listening, feeling, sensing,
Until it reaches bottom.
As it splashes emotions, Inflection of voice rolls
Each word over an eager tongue. A spiritual sense can listen
For proper echo. A warm sound Caresses heart and soul
Imitating voice and well.
It resonates.
It is then I write on, Closing the well, Until I search
For another word. — Dennis Patton
Alexander
To submit poems for publication, please send poems of 16 or fewer lines to Dennis Patton, 2512 Springhill Circle, Alexander, AR 72002, or patton_dr@hotmail.com.