Today is Poetry Friday! Susan at her blog Chicken Spaghetti is our host for today! Be sure to check out her blog for links to more great poems and poets. Thanks for hosting Susan!
This week I thought I’d provide an update on what’s brewing in my poetry corner of the world.
Another Poetry Reading
I’ve been asked to participate in a poetry reading for our public library system in La Crosse County. My name was given to the librarian by the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, or WFOP, a group to which I belong. I am pleased to have another opportunity to share my poetry with a live audience. The reading is tentatively scheduled for April. Updates will follow as I know more. I hope some of my local friends can attend!
State Poetry Groups Membership Importance
This brings up the importance of belonging to poetry groups. I decided to join this group last summer before we moved to the Northwoods. The cost is nominal and the networking has been great! I would surely have not had the above opportunity or others if I wasn’t a member.
Success might start small. The WFOP regularly runs contests, meetings, and announcements for participants. Many of the opportunities are limited to those within our state or even a region of the state. Competition is fierce for publication so it limits the number of submissions by being constrained to a state or area. I highly encourage you to find a similar organization in your state if you haven’t already. (I know many of you belong to the Society of Children’s Book Writers (SCBWI) and Illustrators which provides a similar and probably model service for members).
Another Chapbook
Due to the upcoming reading, I’ve decided to publish another poetry chapbook with my compilation of color poems. I hope to have it ready for purchase by the time of the reading. It will include instructions for writing color poems with children as well, following the Wong and Vardell of Pomelo Books, poetry plus way of publishing. If you haven’t yet taken a workshop from them, I would highly recommend it. After taking the anthology 201 Course, I was able to publish my first chapbook of poetry and publish through Amazon and Kindle Direct Press. I already knew how to use Canva software from writing a curriculum for my after-school garden club, so I used that to format the book. It was a great experience and I hope to add my own photographs to this second chapbook on color.
Queries
As of yet, I’ve not been successful in querying publishers with ideas or write-for-hire opportunities. I will continue this query-ing quest with my idea for a book on How Trees Wear Snow. I wrote another poem this week featuring Apple Trees and how they wear winter white.
Just like gaining a following on a blog, queries take persistence and a belief in oneself. I have 805 followers on this blog and 463 followers on my Medium.com page. I’ve written daily for almost six years (the end of February will be my 6th year anniversary of this accomplishment)! Time, patience, and dedication are what it takes. I’ve got this!
Winter Poetry Postcard Exchange
Again, this month I participated in the Poetry Friday Winter Poetry Postcard Exchange. I participated last year for the first time and it was so heartwarming, I decided to participate again! I’ve received postcards from several participants so far and have most of my cards mailed out!
I find this a fun way to network and share with other poetry pals. My cards are made on Zazzle with my own photography. I also wrote a haiku using the traits of a water rabbit to send a winter wish.
2023 is the Year of the Water Rabbit, as celebrated for Chinese New Year. After doing some research on the traits of the water rabbit (to aid the writing of my haiku), I discovered that I was born in the Year of the Water Rabbit (1963). This was fun to learn and read about!
Many thanks to Jone Rush MacCulloch for organizing the exchange again this year!
Here is a draft of my poem How an Apple Tree Wears Snow:
How an Apple Tree Wears Snow Bearing a heavy weight is familiar For my fruit can weigh me down. Thus, when the snow flies, I wear it like a crown. My strong branches do not droop Or even sway in strong winds. They stay stately and upright, No matter when bad weather begins. Holding several inches of snow up on my branches Is not a feat for me. There it stays, stacks of flakes, I wear it proudly, can’t you see? While the other trees bend down In the heaviest of snow, You’ll notice that I’m upright, As all fruit trees grow. © Draft, Carol Labuzzetta, 2023, All Rights Reserved.
The Apples in My Orchard 
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