Thank you 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poetry Poets!

Thank you to the poets who submitted erasure poems based on page 214 from books of their choice for the Silver Birch Press Valentine’s Day Erasure Poetry Project. We plan to feature these poems in an upcoming printed anthology entitled Silver Birch Press By the Numbers Erasure Poetry Anthology. 

We extend our appreciation to the poets whose work featured this week on the Silver Birch Press blog:

Stuart Barnes, Ron Barton, Mary Bast, Candace Butler, Freda Butler, Jan Dean, Rosemarie Keenan, Todd King, Catfish McDaris, Marcia Meara, Sarah Nichols, Cari Oleskiewicz, Patrick T. Reardon, Michele Seminara, Gerald So, Toby Speed, Caitlin Stern, Ashley Sumerel, and Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike.

Holes in My Pockets, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Rosemarie Keenan

HOLES IN MY POCKETS
by Rosemarie Keenan

While I was asleep
I chased wonder
 
He was a disappointment
they warned me —
a thief
 
I set free my valuables
delirious release

SOURCE: “Holes in My Pockets” by Rosemarie Keenan is based on page 214 of Holes by Louis Sachar (Yearling edition, 2003), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rosemarie Keenan‘s  poetry has appeared in The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and the Silver Birch Press Noir Erasure Poetry Anthology.

Voyage to Fez, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike

VOYAGE TO FEZ
by Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike

Handsome man about forty
Glossy black hair
Carefully combed back
 
Smiled at her
Two teeth slightly crooked
Gave him a roguish air
 
Men should smell like precious
Wood, exude marvelous odors
Their heads completely shaved

SOURCE: “Voyage to Fez” by Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike is based on age 214 of The Delta of Venus by Anais Nin (Mariner Books, 2004), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike is a writer, actor, singer, director, and arts in education presenter. Her work has appeared in such publications as Chez Chez, clockwise.wordpress.com 2012, Helicon Nine, Heresies, International Worker, Jewish Daily Forward, La Mia Ink, Maintenant, Ovation, Silver Birch Press Summer Anthology and Noir Erasure Poetry Anthology, Womannews, and Zeitriss (Augsburg, Germany). Barncott Press (London) will release her poetry collection, An Alphabet of Love and Sleep, in ebook and print versions in early 2014, and in spring 2014 her work will appear in At the Edge. A veteran of The Living Theatre, she directs the dada/surrealist company, DADAnewyork, and is cofounder and codirector of Action Racket Theatre in New York City. In December 2014, she will appear in A Christmas Carol at the Abingdon Square Theatre in New York City (with Austin Pendleton as Scrooge). She is currently working on a science fantasy novel and her fifth full-length play.

Masque, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Michele Seminara

Masque
by Michele Seminara

Ah,

as if                     abuse  was

happiness                    and    I

striking her

were a game,

she raised and dropped           against my lap,

gutted on a dagger.

SOURCE: “Masque” by Michele Seminara is based on page 214 of Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (Faber & Faber, 1985), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michele Seminara lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and three children. She has been practising and teaching yoga, Buddhism and meditation for fifteen years. Her poetry has been published in many online and print journals, and she was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her passions are emptiness (the Buddhist kind) and poetry. She blogs at micheleseminara.wordpress.com and is on twitter @SeminaraMichele.

Matches, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Todd King

MATCHES
by Todd King

Secret words found their truth
as a beautiful bird flying
straight into the memory
of restless wings that refuse
to shoulder their earthly burdens.

SOURCE: “Matches” by Todd King is based on page 214 of Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan (Little, Brown, 2010), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Wm. Todd King is a Poet and Regulatory Compliance Supervisor living in Kentucky.  He is the recent finalist in theFound Poetry Review’s Dog Ear Poetry Contest, and a participant in 2013’s Pulitzer Remix project.  His works have appeared in STILL, Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology, Life’s Vivid Creations, andFound Poetry Review.

Carry You, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Ashley Sumerel

CARRY YOU
by Ashley Sumerel

Gave her the City
People like me
The only thing Golden
 
I shall carry you
Gates of Emerald
Wonderful country
 
He wanted me
Better than forever will be
Carry you safely

SOURCE:  “Carry You” by Ashley Sumerel is based onpage 214 of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz  by L. Frank Baum (Centennial Edition, Signet Classic).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ashley Sumerel holds a B.A. in English and a B.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, as well as an M.A. in Literary and Cultural Studies from Carnegie Mellon University. She currently teaches English at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, with her husband and daughter.

Romeo and Juliet, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Caitlin Stern

ROMEO AND JULIET
by Caitlin Stern

Starry eyes
love at first sight
So romantic
Star-crossed lovers gone too far
lives ruined
felt no caution
Now know about crying

SOURCE: “Romeo and Juliet” by Caitlin Stern is based on page 214 of Five Golden Rings by Fern Michaels (collection), story entitled “Twelfth Night.” by Jo Beverly (Zebra, 2000), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Caitlin Stern grew up in San Antonio, Texas, where she read in trees, avoided team sports, and “published” her first book in elementary school. As she grew, she wrote and read more, developing into an avid bibliophile and writer. She followed her love of books to Angelo State University, where she worked as a tutor at her school’s Writing Center, and later as a Teaching Assistant while she earned an English MA. Recently, she has edited an e-published mystery novel and a poetry collection, and had poems published in Silver Birch Press’ Summer Anthology and Noir Erasure Poem Anthology.

The Mountains Forget and Remember, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Toby Speed

The Mountains Forget and Remember
by Toby Speed

The mountains forget
the taste of a bad dream
lingering
heeding the call
of Its songs
remember
that chord
The chatter of birds
their power
to awaken this wild through and through
with the passionate touch
of sun
green fields
wet orchards
warm ponds
all living
with hungry longing

SOURCE: “The Mountains Forget and Remember” by Toby Speed is based on page  214 of The Annotated Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (W.W. Norton & Co., 2009), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Toby Speed writes mysteries, children’s books, short fiction, and poetry. Her most recent poetry publication appeared in The 5:2 Crime Poetry Weekly. Death Over Easy, her first mystery, was published in 2013 by Five Star. She is hard at work on the sequel, Death Under the Radar. Visit tobyspeed.com to learn more.

Jack, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Cari Oleskewicz

JACK
by Cari Oleskewicz

Strange things
pleased you

so lonely and
only comfortable

deciding to leave

SOURCE: “Jack” by Cari Oleskewicz is based on page 214 of Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Picador, 2006), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cari Oleskewicz is a writer and poet living in Tampa, Florida. Her work has been published in several online and print publications, including The Washington Post, The Pedestal Magazine, Main Street Rag, Commonline Journal, Found Poetry Review, Five2One Magazine and Platform Art. She is currently at work on a novel in verse.

Pursuit, 214 Valentine’s Day Erasure Poem by Sarah Nichols

PURSUIT
by Sarah Nichols

I came
to
him, waiting  for the sudden flash of light,
the crack of pistols.

And in the quiet of dreaming people,
I write him,

determined to jettison all obligations
but
the dark forces of lust

SOURCE: “Pursuit” by Sarah Nichols is based on page 214 of The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (Anchor Books, 2000), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sarah Nichols is a writer and artist living and working in Connecticut, and the author of The Country of No (Finishing Line Press, 2012). In April 2013, she participated in Pulitzer Remix, a National Poetry Month initiative, with 84 other writers, creating found poems out of the Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction. Her chapbook manuscript, The Dream and Other Poems, was recently named as a semi-finalist in the Paper Nautilus Vella chapbook competition for 2013, and her work recently appeared in the Silver Birch Press Noir Erasure Poetry Anthology.