Ornery Poetry: For Wes #8Sunday #SnipSun

 

Genre: Poetry

Heat Level: Poetic

Blurb

Poetry; a unique and beautiful way to express feelings and ideas. Weaving words into perfect poetic prose, these authors remind you of your childhood, bring comfort from the hardships of life, fiercely spur emotions, and tell tales of old. All lovers of poetry will find a favorite here!

Featuring the following authors: Lee Clark Zumpe, Nick Armbrister, Anna Ross, Toastingfork, K.J. Watson, LindaAnn LoSchiavo, David J. Vowell, Roxana Negut, Vanessa Bane, Cassandra Jones, Andrea Tillmanns, Mathew Anderson, Fariel Shafee, Davion Moore, Afshan Q, Korede Badmus, Cara Hartley, Tanya Fillbrook, and J.E. Feldman.

Snippet

For Wes

It’s been 25 years since I saw you play. The rhythm of the music shook the audience to our bones. For a couple of hours, we were all friends.

I dreamed about you last night. I was backstage staring at your tattoo of yourself on your arm. I can’t remember if you have tattoos, but if you do, I’m certain you don’t have one of yourself. One of the reasons I had it so bad for you is because you don’t have a big ego.

I spent the rest of the dream unable to find a way into the show.

icy mountain roads

winter trees covered in snow

wind cuts through to bone

113 Words

Yes, my desk is in a storage area. Technically, it sits between my sleep area and storage. My bedroom is long and about the size of a studio apartment. To put it kindly, the guy who owned the house previously made some very unconventional remodeling choices. If I look to my left, I'm looking at the remnants of what used to be a wall dividing two rooms. I get the feeling a lot of beer and happy herb were involved in his creative architectural decisions. 

Buy Link

http://books2read.com/dspchaser

The e-book is currently available for pre-order. It will be released on June 23, 2025.

Pre-Order Price $1.99

About the Author

Ornery Owl is a wise old bird who seeks the truth behind the lies. She uses her observations to heal the wounded soul. In essence, she is the spirit of an odd little bird whose wings were clipped at a young age. She is at once a whimsical manifestation of poetic expression and a fierce protector of those targeted for derision by an angry and unsympathetic world. Depending on how you perceive her, she can be either a goddamned delight or your worst nightmare.

Follow Ornery Owl (AKA Cara Hartley)

Get your kicks on the Naughty Netherworld Press Start Page.

naughtynetherworldpress.start.page

Ornery Owl is Outstanding in her Field

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/401643826588474

http://wewriwa.blogspot.com

April Is Upon Us: 2025 Version

 

Free use image from Gordon Johnson on Pixabay

Hello, fellow poets. I will be participating in NaPoWriMo, the April PAD Challenge from Robert Lee Brewer at Writers Digest, and the Writers.com 30-day poetry challenge this year, but I won’t be publishing my poems here because I am submitting them to Dragon Soul Press for consideration in the forthcoming Soul Chaser anthology from Dragon Soul Press. You can find out more about the anthology on this page.

https://dragonsoulpress.com/poetrycalls/

Here are links to the sites mentioned in the first paragraph.

https://www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-pad-challenge-prompts

Napowrimo.net

https://writers.com/napowrimo-prompts-for-national-poetry-month

One of the prompts for the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge from Long and Short Reviews asks what books I’d like youths to discover.

https://www.longandshortreviews.com/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge/

I think young people should be introduced to poetry in all its forms. Classic poetry, modern poetry, world poetry, it’s all worthwhile. 

I feel that some people concentrate too much on perfect form. For me, poetry is a way to express certain emotions and concerns that I otherwise can’t. I don’t want to censor the story my soul wants to tell. There’s a time for concentrating on form. However, most of the time, poetry is catharsis, it’s therapy, it’s a way to bleed out without dying. 

I didn’t realize until I was in my fifties that the way I behaved as a teenager and even well into my adulthood was a trauma response. I don’t know if I would have survived without poetry to help me express what was happening inside me. I didn’t understand it. I just thought I was crazy. I had a lot of unhelpful labels put on me, but nobody doing the labeling was interested in helping me heal. They wanted compliance from me, not peace for me.

I don’t go on about this sort of thing as much as I used to. In some ways, it’s water under the bridge. I also got tired of not being heard or understood. That’s just the way it is. The people who will get you, especially if you’re an odd specimen like me, are rare birds. The ones who get and like you are rarer still.

So, the cool things I’m doing this month are poetry and creating some sort of weird hybrid mess for a Camp NaNoWriMo replacement project. Everything else involves crap like taxes and Medicaid renewal. Blech! Yuck! Suckville!

The thing about Medicaid renewal is that if we had a national health system, everyone would be on it, so there would be no need for Medicaid renewal. I have believed we should have a national health system in the US since my youth, and I will continue believing it through my old age. I wonder if we’ll get one before I put my other foot in the grave.

Anyway, I want young people to be exposed to poetry from the time they can write. I want them to not only learn about other people’s poetic masterpieces but to learn to create their own. Being able to express one’s pain in a positive way is essential to mental and spiritual health. There isn’t enough focus on the importance of the arts. Engaging in creative activities not only leads to inner peace, it leads to greater understanding of oneself and one’s place in the world.

A world with Medicaid for all and poetry for all would be a much improved place in space.

Ornery Owl Has Spoken