Monday, July 16, 2007

Monday, 16 July 2007 - Validation

Dear God:

Today, I am thankful for validation as a poet.

I think of myself as a poet and writer. I even identify myself as a poet and writer. But, what others' think, well, I don't always know. Although I write poetry primarily for myself, I admit that others' opinions can make or break my day. That's why I participate in local poetry readings and self-publish short anthologies for Christmas gifts. I've heard that when I read them aloud, my poems have the power to heal and to soften hardened hearts.

A few months ago, I entered three poems in the Artella Poetic Idol Competition. Artella (www.artella.com) is an online arts community that's a bit wild for my taste but a fun place to visit. I rarely enter writing contests but couldn't resist this one. As usual, I sent in my entry without any expectations of placing or winning.

So, I was quite surprised when I received an email this afternoon informing me that I was among the 12 finalists. My poem, French Trilogy (Haiku), inspired by my 2001 trip to France with my sister and her family, impressed someone! (Note: Haiku is a Japanese poetry form in which each line has a set number of syllables. I write 5-7-5 Haiku). My husband remarked that the honor is unexpected but not a surprise given my long writing history.

Now the voting begins. I'm not begging anyone except family members to vote for my poem. But, if you read this message and want to vote, please go to the link cited below. You will need to register at the site and vote by July 31 - one vote per person.

Congratulations! Your poem, “French Trilogy (Haiku)”, was selected by our judges to be one of 12 finalist poems in the Poetic Idol Competition.

The 12 poems are now displayed in The Artella Café and the Artella Community will be voting to determine the winners.

All the instructions for voting are at http://www.artellawordsandart.com/poetry-vote.html

Voting closes on July 31.

Feel free to invite others to vote, but keep in mind that only one vote is allowed per person. Artella reserves the right to disqualify votes if we find that any individual has voted more than one time.

The results will be announced after July 31. Once again, congratulations for your stellar poem. And thank you for participating in the Poetic Idol Competition!

And, before I forget, here's the poem:
French Trilogy (Haiku)

Their gold crowns wilting
sunflowers answer summer's
last call for prayer.

Monet's garden is
not my garden's twin. Oh well.
The weeds still love me.

In Paris, I kissed
the soft summer sky. Now I
know what blue tastes like.
For this blessing, I am grateful.

Amen.

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