So, How Did It Go?

Well, now that you ask, or are curious about this question, let's be effusive about it. Let's bank on heightened interest. This is what writers do all the time. We write for our supposed audience, as well as some known fans. We imagine our audience is massive, "contains multitude(s)," as Whitman says. We're thinking of  you, whether you know it or not. We rarely hear applause. So, when we gathered for our virtual book launch of Serious Fun: Poets of "Next Line, Please," I was beaming like a proud parent. Emoji applause was rising up my laptop screen. I said, "I could do this all day." Thank you to Bruce Isaacson of "Yes, Poetry, YES!" and Zeitgeist Press for hosting. There are too many good poems and poets in the book to miss out on if you're without a copy. Here's a sample: 

https://bruceisaacson.substack.com/p/yes-poetry-yes-f88

And, if you missed the event, check out the Saturday Series for their regular poetry readings.

Cheers,
Charise

Hang Out With the Authors of Serious Fun

Join me September 19, 5:00 pm ET, for the virtual book launch of Serious Fun: Poets of "Next Line, Please"! That's correct, you can hang out at home, like Freya pictured here, while we regale you with poetry.

Our poets are located in different U.S. states, as well as internationally, so this is how we gather together to celebrate with you and each other. The "Next Line, Please" poetry community is dear to my heart… it got me started on sharing my writing publicly in 2014. 

Save the date! Link will be posted here a few days prior.  Update: Link is by invitation. Comment here with your request to join or

email host: events@poetrypromise.org.

 

Cheers,
Charise 

Light, Light

Paris gave me more than pigeons. (If this statement befuddles, see previous post!) Early August affords this view of sunset, perfectly aligned with the center of the Arc de Triomphe.

I leave you facing the light… 

Warmly,

Charise 

"Sightseeing"

  

Sightseeing

 

While

Paris

romantic

may be renown––

discourse of pigeons is her sovereign sound.

 

Around this city I hear soothsayers,

stray messengers,

love letters

––oohs and

aahs.

 

by yours truly,

Charise

[Note: this layout is a double tetractys.]

 

 

 

"Bygone"

A cento is a poem built of lines by other poets, with surprising results. My effort, "Bygone," has multiple voices but one source: an anthology I've kept since high school, New Voices in American Poetry. Poets include Alice Walker (who I studied with one summer at Sarah Lawrence College), Thomas Lux (professor at SLC who I did not study with, sadly), Louise Glück, Charles Simic, and others. See how a new poem is born from these greats: 

https://theamericanscholar.org/come-live-with-me-and-be-my-love-2/

P.S. I'm thrilled to be given the title "NLP all-star" by the master of poetry prompts, David Lehman. 

Cheers,

Charise

 

Community Poem 2026

 Creative Hydration

 

We knew the thunder was coming, 

like a swarm coming after you. After loss,

community: “remind me of your name.” 

Two vessels meet, pouring into one another, 

 

reminding me of the delicate balance between 

nature and humanity. Warmth of the sun 

multiplied today... even flies are sweating.

Still, we stayed, hands clutched on our creations. 

 

This country will be “us.” A luscious garden

around empty tables, art blooming like flowers. 

Two barred owls sing me back to sleep, heaven,

infinity. Spider silk stretches between boughs. 

 

Smelling basil, I sat, grateful for a vagabond 

breeze. The deer on the road stares back. 

Butterflies tasting the salt on my skin. We are 

all pretty once. Life, the trophy, I have not

 

forgotten you. We danced, waiting for the storm 

to pass. Rain, rain, hail, hail. Creative hydration 

can quench as well... this place, people who cross 

our paths. The word “yet” fuels art, caresses the valley.  

 

~ Voices of Visitors to the Poetry Porch, Art on Cullers Run   

    (arranged by Charise Hoge)  

 Thank you all for writing on my notepad!  

 

 

 

Serious Fun: Poets of "Next Line, Please"

This book doesn't belong to me but it's a brainchild of mine. Serious Fun brings together nineteen poets whose common bond is David Lehman's poetry column "Next Line, Please" of The American Scholar. We played with writing prompts weekly, became poetry kin virtually. When the column closed, I thought a book of our poetry was a good idea. Idea to fruition is a long and bumpy road, but when people get on board the way this band of dogged and distinguished writers do, we ride it out. Now this opus belongs to... you (cover art by one of our poets, LaWanda Walters):

https://www.zeitgeist-press.com/index.php/product/serious-fun-pre-order/

"These poets are marvelous souls who know that poetic journeys lead to fabulous places, and that the road of poesy is, in the end, infinite."  ~Andrei Codrescu 

 

Cheers,

Charise