Please read here: https://thenewversenews.substack.com/i/141892157/a-voice-for-navalny
Grateful to the editor of this journal, James Penha, for choosing poetry that sheds light on current events.
Original poetry of Charise M. Hoge
Please read here: https://thenewversenews.substack.com/i/141892157/a-voice-for-navalny
Grateful to the editor of this journal, James Penha, for choosing poetry that sheds light on current events.
There are many ways that poetry happens, and one way is by request. Each time I've been commissioned to write a piece, it has felt like a blessing. In one case, a blessing on the pandemic; in another case, a blessing on a life suddenly ended. This is sacred work––to be entrusted to create a tribute, elegy, or ode for a specific person or scenario.
A commissioned poem is never shared by me without permission. It's typically private, a gift. In our era of sharing everything under the sun, I keep some work out of the public eye. This is my code of ethics.
In times of grieving, of doubt, of loneliness, art can be an answer. I've worked as a dance therapist for many years. My mindset is that art is healing. Poetry heals. Find a poem that moves you. Remember that you can ask for one that hasn't come into existence, that's waiting to be born.
Feel free to comment below. You can also send me a message on Instagram @charhogepoet.
Walk to Twilight
Jilted tree,
jingle bells played
out, on its side
at the curb.
Vestige
of a dog-eared
calendar.
Blanketed bronze
“Homeless Jesus”
curled up against
a sculpted bench
… crucified feet
uncovered.
Its replica
swaddled in cloth
against a metro grate
… grown man folded
into a fetal position.
Sliver of moon slung
like a hammock
across the semidarkness.
The rest of the silver orb,
the lot of felled pine,
the contour of the womb
are out of the picture.
~LCMH
You never know what you'll find at an arts festival in Hardy County, West Virginia. When I prepare my poetry table at the annual Art on Cullers Run, I am surrounded by extraordinary artists and makers. Last year I fell in awe with an art piece by Michele Mouré: a sculpted book that pays homage to Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou's book has been banned in certain areas of the United States, and Mouré's art exists in this context.
A photo doesn't capture the three-dimensionality of this piece, but it gives you a view. An eye-opening view.
Maybe you saw some movies this year and maybe one or two made The New York Times list of best movies of 2023. As a reader of this newspaper, I was surprised at a couple of omissions from their list: the fine film "The Holdovers," and Greta Gerwig’s layered fable "Barbie." My comment to this effect was excerpted and quoted in a follow up article of The New York Times on December 15.
My, my... speak up! You may be heard. You may be published. Your perspective matters. Also, metaphor is dramatic. Among 700 reader comments, editor Robin Kawakami chose 4, including this poet's words:
Lisbon storefront (Barbie gets around) |
I made a promise to provide hints about an upcoming poetry collection. My photo capture of a plaque on the sidewalk of Library Way in New York City is the second clue. (If you missed the first one, it's the post dated August 29.)
"If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people" is a quote by the writer Virginia Woolf. Intrigued?
Earth Tone
We set out to knead the mountain
while it gives,
before the crusty surface hardens,
while it leavens
orange yellow reddish leaves
while fall turns
round like the wind-up of a music box
while it plays
the same song yearly, more dear
while we recall
forgetting how the season
waltzes in
~LCMH