#lapwing poetry

[pd-lyons]

"OR" by PD Lyons read by Morgan From "Caribu and Sister Stones" published by Belfast Lapwing 2009 ISBN 978-1-905425-90-7

  nothing comes so softly as this day of leavingeven stones, once cursed now picked up at randomsavoured almost by moutha kisslet fall gentlyas if they’d remember only that as far as the eye can seesmall diamond starstattooed unspeakable skinancient linensa memory of watera beautiful woman has comepure infant dreamdeep on my strong shoulderswaying songs the rain peers into be good Tanya, be goodI…

[nebris]

You can blame Geoffrey Chaucer for Valentine’s Day.

No matter how you personally feel about Valentine’s Day (which is this week, in case you hadn't noticed), don't forget that you can blame Geoffrey Chaucer.

Chaucer, you say? What does Chaucer have to do with it? After all, St. Valentine was a third-century Roman martyr, whose saint’s day is February 14. Hence, Valentine's Day. Simple, right?

Not so much. According to Professor Lisa Bitel, no fewer than three (3) different martyrs named Valentinus died on February 14th, all of them during a two-year period towards the end of the third century. Jack B. Oruch reports that the name was so popular that over 30 Valentines, not to mention “a few Valentinas,” ultimately achieved sainthood. However, no matter which Valentine you look at, their traditions and texts actually have . . . absolutely nothing to do with love or courtship.

As Oruch has noted, despite the claims of some critics, there is no evidence of any “Valentine convention” (as we understand it today) in “literary or social customs, before Chaucer.” Instead, St. Valentine—whittled down to one—became known in the centuries after his (their) death(s) as the patron saint of epilepsy. And beekeepers. 

And that was that, just looking after bees and seizures, until one Geoffrey Chaucer stuck his pen in.

The earliest known suggestion that Valentine’s Day was a day for lovers comes from Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th-century poem “The Parliament of Fowls,” in which “Seynt Valentynes day” is the day “whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make” (i.e., in case it’s been a long time since AP English, when birds come to choose their mates). Considering Chaucer was basically the equivalent of a Kardashian in his day, the people—starting with his friends, of course, notably poets Oton de Granson III and John Gower—followed his lead and began to use the feast of St. Valentine for their romantic purposes.

The earliest surviving explicit “Valentine” we have is from about a hundred years later—in February 1477, Margery Brews wrote to her fiancé John Paston, calling him her “right well-beloved valentine.”

Why Chaucer thought spring was in mid-February is another matter. It’s still cold, my dude. Possibly it was due to the fact that “the date of the beginning of spring was far from being set firmly in the 14th century,” Oruch writes. Calendars were wildly different from each other, and in Chaucer’s day, if you looked at a calendar, you “probably would have found the beginning of spring marked at February 7 or 22 or (much more likely) at both.”

At the very least, Chaucer’s February 14th would have been more like our February 23rd, which at least gets us within spitting distance of March. So was Chaucer was just really ahead of his time on the whole global warming idea, or is this really is when birds choose their mates? According to Oruch, “quite a few birds do pair during February in England, including the missel thrush, raven, partridge, rook, heron, grebe, lapwing, and blackbird.” Okay, then. 

Poets like William Shakespeare and John Donne continued Chaucer’s tradition in their poetry, Bitel explains, further cementing St. Valentine’s reputation as a patron of romantic love. And, she writes, “by the 19th century, English consumers were ready and eager for cards with poems already printed on them, preferably decorated with love birds, hearts and Cupid (rather than the image of a headless Roman bishop).

The London Journal of 1858 supported the custom of exchanging observance love tokens on Valentine’s Day, declaring that it was both ‘natural’ and ‘proper’ that, at the start of spring, ‘the predominating sentiment in the human mind should be the sentiment of love; and to this accordingly the anniversary of our saint is directed.’ However, the publication preferred home-made cards to mass-produced Valentines, about which the editors opined: ‘If we were to give a general character, we would say they are very trashy and not a little vulgar; and . . .the production of mercenaries for hire.’

So whatever your hippie parents say, rebelling against the corporate nature of Valentine’s Day isn’t exactly new. But now at least you can blame all the lovey-dovey stuff on Chaucer—whether that makes you ignore or celebrate it depends entirely on your own temperament.

from

Literary Hub

[limejuicer1862]

#NotAdvent Day Eight. Enjoy the poetry of Annest Gwilym. For December go against the flow with me, instead of an Advent Calendar I am having an online Disappearance poetry calendar. Thinking of Extinction events, disappearing wildlife, disappearing homes due to war, thinking of the missing during Christmas. Eighth Day.

Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA Annest Gwilym Bios and Links Annest Gwilym Author of three books of poetry: Surfacing (2018) and What the Owl Taught Me (2020), both published by Lapwing Publications. What the Owl Taught Me was Poetry Kit’s Book of the Month in June 2020 and one of North of Oxford’s summer reading recommendations in 2020. Annest has been widely published in literary…

[markulyseas]

Her first collection of poetry At The Edge (Lapwing) was published in 2015. Her second collection, Threads (Lapwing), was published in April 2018. Her third collection, Elsewhere (Vole Imprint), in November 21. Her fourth, Practically A Wake, will be published next year (Salmon Poetry).

[floweringpoverello]

Nature's Painterly Eye

Nature’s Painterly Eye

The lapwings Took me by surprise ~ I had not expected To see anything On such dull day ~ But suddenly the fly And flash of black and white Flapping above the hedgerow Caught my heart ~ And then there were the cries And hundreds took flight Disappearing so soon Dots on the canvass Of the sky ~ Irresistible to Nature’s Painterly eye. ~ Flock of Lapwing, Polemere Nature Reserve,…

[gregsantospoet]

I’m thrilled to have received copies of ‘Be Not Afraid: An Anthology in Appreciation of Seamus Heaney.’ My poem “Berry Picking”, which appears in my new book BLACKBIRDS (Eyewear Publishing, 2018), is included in the anthology honouring the great Irish poet, Seamus Heaney. Many thanks again to editors Angela Topping, Bethany Pope, and Grant Tarbard (@granttarbard) for featuring my work. Much gratitude to Dennis Greig and Lapwing. Cover art by Jane Burn. Order the anthology here and temporarily in my bio: (https://sites.google.com/a/lapwingpublications.com/lapwing-store/editors-angela-topping-bethany-pope-grant-tarbard) . . . #gregsantos #seamusheaney #poetry #anthology #blackbirdspoetry #Lapwing #poetryanthology #poetsofinstagram #bookstagram #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #tribute #BeNotAfraid #lastdayofaugust https://www.instagram.com/p/BnJUuVknPSp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zz8415s9a585

[andrea1717]

Andrea's monthly recommendations :)

Hello and welcome to my first monthly rec's post. I am including all kinds of entertaiment, art, music etc that has moved and interested me in the last month.

It will be sometimes more, sometimes less depending on how much time & brain capacity i had lol. So this is october. Hope you enjoy!

(sorry in advance if i won't be able to link everything but platforms like spotify, disney plus etc are pretty easy to search on)

music:

Tara Nome Doyle - i went to her concert without knowing her before and i am so happy i went because she's so amazing! Her concept album is stunning and it's new.

Kristina Bazan - she used to be a fashion blogger and makes music now too. Her EP is stunning and the videos are also so great. This is my favorite song - click

You can find them both on spotify.

podcast:

The Diary of a CEO - very inspiring and with great guests. I am still listening to all older shows too. - on spotify

YouTube:

Simon's Cat - it ALWAYS cheer's me up!

instagram:

Lovely Penguin Poetry - so so beautiful!

tiktok:

Hunter Prosper - i love these inspiring videos from real people!

book:

Shatter me by Tahereh Mafi - it's a series and i am on a re-read now. The writing, the characters. I love it so much and can only recommend! I am also excited to re-read because then i can finally read part 4 to 6.

shows:

Roswell New Mexico - @werebird got me hooked and i really need to continue watching. I am at season 2 now and love it.

A Teacher - (Disney plus) It's a show that follows a teacher who has an affair with her student. It's very character driven and interesting.

Young Royals - (Netflix) This swedish show follows a Prince that comes to a new school and he falls in love with one of the other students.The lead actors are incredible. Season 2 comes tomorrow!

Dahmer - (Netflix) This one is controversial but personally i liked it very much. Evan Peters is absolutely brilliant.

documentaries:

Conversations with a Killer - The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes -(Netflix) Very haunting but also very interesting to hear him personally.

The September Issue - Little shoutout to @lapwing-em who was excited for fashion content haha - this movie follows the making of the september vogue which is the biggest issue of the year due to NY fashion week. (Maybe i can find it online and add a link later)

movies:

Trial of the Chikago 7 - (Netflix) very good movie that follows the trial of a group who demonstrated against the vietnam war. Great actors!

Single all the way - (Netflix) very cute holiday movie that follows two best friends that come home to one of the friend's home and everyone knows they are in love but them. (someone might wanna write it and make it Stucky?!)

Purple Hearts - (Netflix) i love this movie! It's a love story that follows a couple who marries for the army benefits but ultimately fall in love.

The Last Full Measure - i re- watched this movie and noticed how incredibly important and well acted it is again. It's truly one of my favorite Sebastian movies and it always has me in tears.

fics:

Some of my favorite fics i read recently as a list :)

Kinktober by Pandafish @myexplosion

Flufftober by @plincess-cho

all we need is time by @itsfeistyred

Eclipse Seasons by @dreamsinthewitchouse

i could have chained your heart to a star by @stuckyflangst

I've never been so happy to be alive @bittersweet-in-boston

The Olive Groves by AgentCoop

Be kind, Rewind by @sparkagrace

Here we go! I hope you like these kinds of posts. I plan to post always on the last day of the month. Let me know if you want more or less etc :) Thanks for reading! <3

[martyncrucefix]

Two Ekphrastic Collections - David Pollard and Seamus Cashman

Two Ekphrastic Collections – David Pollard and Seamus Cashman

My earlier postings on ekphrastic poetry – poems inspired by visual art – have proved astonishingly popular and, when Agenda magazine asked me to review two collections with exclusively ekphrastic intentions, I leaped at the chance. I’m posting this now because the reviews have just appeared in the latest Agenda, a journal well-worth subscribing to.As will become clear, in what follows I am more…

[corkcitylibraries]

Cork in Verse | Ana Spehar interviews Rosalin Blue

Rosalin Blue is a poet from Münster, Germany, performing since 1995. Since 2000, she lives in Cork, where her poetic home is Ó Bhéal, and she has performed in many Cork venues, as well as Limerick, Galway and Dublin. Her poetry has been anthologised and published in magazines including Southword, Revival and Crannóg. Since 2020 she facilitates the Blue Mondays Writing Group. 

Publications: “In the Consciousness of Earth” (Poetry), Lapwing, 2012; August Stramm, “You Lovepoems” (Translation from German): University Library (ULB) Münster, 2015. Find her on YouTube and Facebook. 

Being bilingual, would you write in both languages? Do you find it easier to write in English or German? 

I started writing poetry in my teens in German, years before my English became fluent. Then in my exchange year in the US age 16/17, I began to write in English. Since then I have written in both languages, often translating poems from one to the other. Nowadays, living in Ireland for 16 years, I find that the words come easier in English, but sometimes the odd poem does pop out in German. 

Who is your favourite author/authors? 

In my childhood, I was much influenced by the stories and poems of the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. While in the US, I fell in love with the poetry of William Wordsworth and the English Romantics. During my study years, I came across the German poet August Stramm, whose Futurist poetry influenced my writing, and I wrote my thesis on his poetry and later translated it into English. Nowadays, I love listening to all the poets around us and have no particular favourites. My favourite fiction genre is phantasy. 

Where do you seek inspiration from? 

I find inspiration everywhere in life: Nature (trees, the sea...), people, animals, music, art... Emotions can inspire the best of poetry, so I get inspired by my own and other people's experiences. 

You are an excellent performer. What advice would you give to someone to overcome stage fright? 

Thanks very much! Even after over 25 years performing on stage I still get the nerves, sometimes the fright hits so hard that my shaking knees make the page tremble in my hand. What helps me best is to be well prepared, with my set thought out, practised and rehearsed, ideally for a fortnight before an event. I also take homeopathy 20 minutes before I perform to take the edge off the stage fright, allowing me to use the kick of the adrenalin whilst keeping up my concentration. Further, I make sure I keep breathing well when the adrenalin hits, and remind myself to keep a slow pace in performing. 

What are you reading at the moment? 

At the moment I am studying for a diploma in translation, so I rarely read during my leisure time, but if I do, I am indulging in the German translation of Peter V. Brett's epic 'Demon Saga', Volume 3 "The Daylight War" (2013), a series that whisks me away into a very different world. 

The Writer 

I am a writer who does not write,

as everything everything is repeat repeat

all is analyzed, criticized, specified

all explained, defined, described

all expressed and talked and captured.

What can I say, what‛s left to write,

what does remain?

I'm a paper without a pen,

I am a writer who does not write.

I am the ear that does not hear.

Just noise of cities echo, echo

waves of traffic through the air,

ads and news and ads and lies

seduction, war, deceit and more.

I no more hear the voice

that sounds in silence.

Drowned in the flood of words around.

So I'm a voice without a song,

I am a writer who does not write.

I am a mouth that does not speak.

Too much talk, empty talk,

words with holes, the goal is gold.

Blasting ‛round earth, zipping thru space,

web-babbles leaking, cybertext whizzing,

computer, computer, computer, www.

Who listens and whose answers matter?

Opposing opinions an ongoing battle.

What party do your poems push?

I am a mouth that does not speak.

I am a writer who does not write.

I am the eye that does not see.

Clouded by the Isms of academy

as formalism blocks the mind,

rationalism with theory blind,

no sense for reality – what do we see?

Bombs, corruption, catastrophes,

global warming, money laundering,

the cuts – you‛re fired, no job, no home.

Not one word counted, no justice to see

in the stronghold of names playing games.

I am the eye that does not see,

I am a writer who does not write.

I am the hand that does not do.

When politics do their „politricks”,

everyday everyday politics touch us.

Whittling down into homes

rattling families to their bones,

keeping us busy busy and down,

as they make wars elsewhere.

So "There is suffering" suffering suffering.

Oh, the damage done, when one

hand washes the other and the left

does not see what the right hand does.

So what is there for me to do?

I am a writer who does not write.

I am the writer who‛s writing these words.

What is the power of poetry?

Let's be analytical, critical, political!

Keep the muscle flexing, get the music singing

get the rhythm swinging – and get the point across.

Speak the mind that comes to see

old mistakes repeated from last century,

take on the spiritual responsibility

of shaping life to the consciousness of Earth.

The Spider

Spider, Spider in the night

looming lurking in the shadows

crawling out from creepy cracks,  

dusty corners, darker nooks,

spooking under sofa-burrows,

from behind my racks and hooks

Spider, Spider in the night,

you flit forward into sight!

 “Eeek!” I screech. You scramble on,

quick to speed, your eight legs fumble,

nimble feelers finger forwards.

In the depth your hairy thorax,

fangs and digits, front and hind

set for your sharp deadly bite.

You stare at me with many eyes

Spider, Spider in the night.

On the walls and outside windows

spinning, weaving nets so fine,

tunnel traps, like eerie hair

or tangling sails to cut the air,

webs for creepers, crawlers, flies

magic patterns, sticky lines:

You sit and wait and feel and stay

Spider, Hunter, lure your prey!

You lunge forward, strike your catch

And the icky fly is trapped!

“Eeek!” I freak and jump away,

startled, from my watching patch.

You jolt and grab to hide your prey!

– Spider, Hunter, I respect you,

let you sit and will protect you!

Spider, Spider in the night –

Just don't come close or I'll take flight!

Published in: Rosalin Blue. In the Consciousness of Earth, Lapwing 2012

[simon-martin]

BIRDS FROM THE SATURDAY BOOK by Agnes Miller Parker. These were engraved in 1941 at the height of the Blitz during the Second World War for ‘The Saturday Book’ an annual miscellany featuring poetry and essays on a range of arts. They were accompanied by descriptions of birds by the 18th century naturalist Gilbert White from his Natural History of Selborne. There seem to be parallels with the attitudes of the current moment as people seek solace in the natural world, and notice the beauty of birds in their gardens and on country walks. Leonard Russell, author of the Saturday Book, wrote: ‘If anything it looks backward, and nostalgia for small pre-war pleasures emerges from the pages: for days by the sea, for country drives and birds, beasts and flowers.’ Agnes Miller Parker’s wood-engravings are so characterful: we feel not so much like we are watching the birds, but that they are watching us; somehow sentient beings, conscious of our eyes on them and ready to take to the wing. In almost every case they are paired with plant life: Fieldfare with berries, kite with fit cones, lapwing with grasses at the water’s edge. There is a powerful dynamic between positive and negative space, between the sinewy curves of the bird’s form and the white of the page. Of course Thomas Bewick’s little vignettes of birds and animals were an important point of reference for Miller Parker and other printmakers of the time, but she completely makes the form her own. AMP never created illustrations for a published edition of White’s Natural History but I feel these must be in the book I am working on, which also includes Eric Ravilious, Gertrude Hermes and Clare Leighton, amongst many others. #birds #nature #illustration #woodengraving #printmakjng #saturdaybook #agnesmillerparker (at Brighton and Hove) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMEf8-CFYCt/?igshid=15967oibdycur

[eunoiareview]

Grey Herons

Without my field glasses, they are six standing stones spaced along the rocky shore in monastic stillness. Watching for an hour, I become the seventh stone. Tim Dwyer is the author of Smithy of Our Longings (Lapwing). His poems have recently appeared in Cyphers and Hold Open the Door, the Ireland Chair of Poetry anthology, and forthcoming in Amethyst Review, Atrium Poetry, and The High Window. He…

[pd-lyons]

poems and photos by pd lyons published by clockwise cat issue 36 "Skullwise Cat"

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/56836339/skullwise-cat   scorpion night THE NIGHT MARES Restless In a still night No moon softening Sharp stars No cloud drapery. Against this midnight The night mares move Sharing colour with the darkness. What cannot find them is found by them, There are no ways secret: Spiraling stars leave every sky familiar, Foraging herds by trails of green…

[bearspeaks]

The Lapwing Stars

Here we are in October already. Time slides like the strange and graceful trickster it is. Days lived, weeks lived, months lived – I’ve been telling more stories than ever before, on the road with Hedgespoken, but new written work that’s made it through to publication is thin on the ground. Plenty brews in the notebooks and on my pocket recorder, in the bytes and bits of this machine. I’m…

[limejuicer1862]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Annest Gwilym

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Annest Gwilym

-Annest Gwilym Author of two books of poetry: Surfacing (2018) and What the Owl Taught Me (2020), both published by Lapwing Poetry. Annest has been published widely in literary journals and anthologies, both online and in print, and placed in several writing competitions, winning one. She is a nominee for Best of the Net 2021.The Interview 1. When and why did you start writing poetry? I started…

[gregsantospoet]

I’m grateful to Eyewear Books for helping bring my most recent poetry collection BLACKBIRDS into the world. Also to the editors of Be Not Afraid: An Anthology and its publisher, Lapwing, for including a poem of mine in the anthology in memory of the late Irish Poet, Seamus Heaney. Many thanks to them and the following venues for publishing and featuring my writing in 2018. It’s been a dream year! 🙏 @scattered.like.seeds @vallummag @canadianpoets @acontainerco @montrealwrites @poetsorg . . . #gregsantos #poetry #poetsofinstagram #instagrampoetry #blackbirdspoetry #eyewearbooks #vallummagazine #poemsforall #leagueofcanadianpoets #montrealreviewofbooks #montrealwrites #montrealpoet #poeminyourpocketday #poeminyourpocketday2018 #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity https://www.instagram.com/p/Br9Kp6Mn1H7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1q91h57k4ldn1