Listen to the Druthers of Others

 

Musing… 

“Wise men put their trust in ideas and not in circumstances.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Charise’s Turn: 

When you host a poetry table at an arts festival, you meet a lot of people and have many conversations. Basically, you hold court in a tent as a poet-in-residence. This year, my third at Art on Cullers Run, I tried something different. Along with poetry books for sale, and a writing activity that generates a community poem, I offered single poems to purchase for a nominal amount.

Those poems are published in journals, where they live, not part of a book of my own. Might I also add that none of these journals compensate the writer who they choose to publish? This isn’t a matter of money, however. This is about the idea of poetry as art outside of a bound book or journal––on view, perhaps framed. And it was suggested by someone who visited my table the year before. She saw a poem on display, one that had been commissioned by the organizer of the festival, and wanted a copy for herself.

I heeded the brilliant idea in this person's request. On good quality paper, with elegant layout and font, signed and also stamped with an image of an orange tassel (part of my signature), a poem makes a unique presentation. One of my poetry table visitors even bought books based on what he saw and read amongst the single poems––without perusing the books themselves. What a blessed success!

“Ideas without action are useless.”  Helen Keller 

Get Fired Up:

What suggestions are you hearing about your own work, project, creative vision?

What out-of-the-box (or out-of-the-book, in my example) ideas are you picking up on? 

 

www.charisehoge.com