There are amongst the many a selection of individuals who must learn the hard way. It would be beyond my learning to even guess at why this is the case, but, being one of those "chosen" few, i can say that what is learned usually sticks when The School of Hard Knocks is the academy! I took all the hard knock lessons from the Reverend Dad, sans the learning, as a prelude to life as a poet. I chose to get out of school as soon as possible, because my life was planned; i was a poet! Ha, ha, ha! "Making up" for that mistake has taken me in many directions; a volume of the entire works of Edgar Allen Poe was purchased in 1987 at a fleamarket (that took me an entire week to read, 1200 pages), I spent forty-five minutes a day at the library reading those books you cannot take home before going to work, in 1988, a set of classics by authors such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald was the slate for '89 and at the present a book of 18 English Poets, Shakespeare, Milton, Tennyson and such, letter for letter the way they "released" it, awaits this winter's layoff, though i just had to get started on it! PoetryPalaceGiftShop.biz is but a continuation in the same academy. It is possible that every mistake that could have been made, especially the expensive ones, have been made. Yet, the project moves on!



   The "Palace" is ascurry with activity, as is its norm. Today i am taking a break from building a quick purchase page, having been informed that the site is impossible to maneuver. (...there may been have an exaggeration there...) The winter plans are to continue to form the sites into an appealing place to peruse and purchase modern poetry. Volume twenty-one of the Palace Poets series was released this month, adding our first high school student to the list of talented poets, Jeralyn Klopotic. This allows for quite a variety of verse for students to choose from if they decide to use the series in combination with a seminar. The monthly publications will now be suspended, allowing us to focus on the seminar end of the project; financing, of course, being the biggest issue at hand. Attempts are being made now to let students interested in a seminar sell tickets to a reading, which include a copy of volume XIX, to cover traveling expenses, then additional tickets to cover copies of the students' choice of the Palace Poets series. Until further funding is attained we feel this is the best means of support, as those interested must back that interest with action. We all know what lip service is and what it usually amounts to...



   We are still open for submissions! All volumes for the year of 2005 must be completed before the end of April. Trying to balance editing and printing during a hectic paving schedule this past year proved to be too exhausting. If you, or someone you know, are interested in having your verse be an addition to this colorful and inspiring series, PLEASE submit as soon as possible.



   We hope you all enjoy the beginning of the holiday season, and are not too overwhelmed by the beginning of the retail season! LOL Cheers!



   We are also looking for articles for this newsletter! If you have an essay on a poet, or form of poetry, we would be glad to run it here! Let us know!




   I, again, would like to remind all the Palace Poets that the poem and picture/art option for the newsletter is open to all. Maybe you could go through your photo albums in search of poetic inspiration. Maybe you will even find the whole idea enticing. A scrapbook of your life with accompanying verse might be quite the heirloom to leave behind! :)

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Web Sights

No ones home,
The tenants have left.
The apartment is vacated
For another year.
Eight legged's
Scurry off into the void
Of non existence.
Like ghost towns
Strewn along the trails,
The beauty
Of their passing
Left behind
For our wondering eyes
To be charmed
And awed.
No signature
Declares their pride
Of accomplishment.
As the seasons change
Mother nature
Highlights their contributions
To the scene
With her finest jewels
Delighting us
As we stroll along
The lanes
Coming upon
These forsaken web sights.



© Jeri Garry 2004




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"I hear the desert calling

calling back its own,

tenderly with bones exposed.

I see the heart of the desert

and it is my own."

Kathy Bade

Palace Poet VII



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"I write when the poems come to me."

Sam Gallimore

Palace Poet VIII



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"I write anytime and anywhere, always having a pen and a bit of paper, albeit scrap, in my pocket"

James Brown

Palace Poet IX



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Poetry Exercise

     
     This month's execise deals with rhythm. Using the same subject, write four separate poems using different rhythms. Be specific with your setup; make each line a certain number of syllables, using longer lines and shorter lines. Use exact punctuation. Let us know how this effects your writing! :)

     Have an exercise you created for improving your writing? Would you like to see it in this newsletter? Send it to

Poetry Palace

.

     Remember, if the exercise is easy, the benefit is minimal… :(



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     Chapbook Self-Publishing guide. $3.00 (US delivery). 40 pages.

          Chapbook Self-Publishing guide. $6.00 (Foreign delivery). 40 pages.

   We poets here at the 'Palace' hope you continue to enjoy visits to the sample and posting pages!



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And, feel free to send comments to

Poetry Palace

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Good Day! :)



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Donations to Poetry Palace help thomas beal to continue publishing poets and further the attempts to bring these works to High Schools.

www.PoetryPalaceScholarships.org is in the creation stage. We apologize for not having this tax deductible option available at the present time!



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Submitting Poetry For Chapbook Consideration

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Thank You, Again, For Your Visit!

"My mind is like a city of one way streets

all leading to its center.

Poems and parts of poems

and parts of possible poems

stampede frantically

in Twilight Zone redundancy

down each street

and i live

in the dust above the collision

unable

or willing

to control the bits of their shrapnel

as they tear through me

writing all that i can hold on to

long enough to slate.

I am not sure if i messed up the blueprints

or the construction

or if the city was already there waiting for me.

My best days are when i scribble frantically

or share those scribblings.

I guess that makes this one of my best days!!!





Thanx"



thomas beal

Palace Poet XIX