Poetry and About Poetry

Thank you to all who have reviewed Finite to Fail on Goodreads . Latest reviews: Dec 16, 2017 Russell B. Walther rated it it was amazing As a poet who has been writing for 45 years, and a fan of Emily Dickinson, I earnestly recommend this inciting and thoughtful collection. Mr. Sam is a talented and prolific poet, and I know you will enjoy reading not only this chapbook, but all of his other works. You can find this at GFT Press (Ground Fresh Thursday). I ordered my copy and received it promptly. It’s definitely a good read! Feb 22, 2018 Lisa Stice rated it it was amazing David Anthony Sam has written such a beautiful tribute to Emily Dickinson and to the influence she has had on all the poets born after her. These lyric poems recreate the emotions experienced when reading and reflecting on the poems of Dickinson. For those who have only read the handful of Dickinson poems taught in high school, I believe ‘Finite to Fail’ will inspire readers to seek out more of Dickinson’s poetry, a

You can now read my poem “ Unforgetting ” at Heron Tree and download their Volume 5.

You can now read my poem " Unforgetting " at Heron Tree and download their Volume 5.

A Bag of Hands by Mather Schneider My rating: 2 of 5 stars This is a Runner-Up collection for the 2017 Rattle Chapbook Prize and so many must appreciated the “talky’ style of poetry contained herein: It’s 5 a.m. and I get the cab warmed up. I drive to McDonald’s in the dark where Josie is already working the breakfast shift. She gives me a coffee and a smile. This is how we met 3 years ago. Most of the poems go this way. The opening poem, “Hot Iron,” and the closing one, “Chasing the Green Card,” both work a little more for me. But I just cannot appreciate this sort of poetry. Billy Collins does it better. It must be me–so many editors do appreciate and publish poems of this sort. But this collection left me flat. View all my reviews

A Bag of Hands by Mather Schneider My rating: 2 of 5 stars This is a Runner-Up collection for the 2017 Rattle Chapbook Prize and so many must appreciated the "talky' style of poetry contained herein: It's 5 a.m. and I get the cab warmed up. I drive to McDonald's in the dark where Josie is already working the breakfast shift. She gives me a coffee and a smile. This is how we met 3 years ago. Most of the poems go this way. The opening poem, "Hot Iron," and the closing one, "Chasing the Green Card," both work a little more for me. But I just cannot appreciate this sort of poetry. Billy Collins does it better. It must be me--so many editors do appreciate and publish poems of this sort. But this collection left me flat. View all my reviews

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have announced the nominees for the 2017 Nebula Awards. — Read on theportalist.com/nebula-awards-nominees-2017

The English language contains some strange words, and we have collected ## weird words for you to learn. — Read on www.thoughtco.com/weird-english-words-4156446

Please visit my Goodreads author profile:  https://www.goodreads.com/dasam

Please visit my Goodreads author profile:  https://www.goodreads.com/dasam

“But I, who am old, who have done what I must do, who stand in the daylight facing my own death, the end of all possibility, I know there is only one power that is real and worth having. And that is the power, not to take, but to accept.” From The Farthest Shore Ursula K. Le Guin Wins Posthumous Prize For Essay Writing – Associated Press

Poetry Quarterly  has accepted my poem “My Yellow Season” for publication in its next issue.

Poetry Quarterly has accepted my poem "My Yellow Season" for publication in its next issue.

The  Red Queen Literary Magazine  has accepted my poem “Lineage” for publication in an upcoming issue.

The Red Queen Literary Magazine has accepted my poem "Lineage" for publication in an upcoming issue.

The dead are too warm and bloody. The living have not had time to mourn. The news cycle has not had time to move on to the next big thing. The politicians have not had time to bank the latest contribution. The ammo manufacturers have not had time to refill the stores’ coffers. The earth has not had time to swallow all the dead. And there has not been enough time for the next gunman to vindicate the silence of legislators with another shooting for which now will not be the time to talk about guns.

The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar: Essays on Poets and Poetry by Helen Vendler My rating: 5 of 5 stars Reading Helen Vendler as she discusses poets and their poetry is like sitting with your favorite professor, one not stuffy though erudite, one brilliant but clear. I may not agree with her exegesis of a given poem or her ultimate judgement on the worth of a given poet’s work, I have to face that fact of her cogent arguments. Vendler seems to love poetry so much more than many critics who spend their time demonstrating their superiority to the art their discuss. I enjoy reading her essays and explications nearly as much as I do the poetry itself. View all my reviews

The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar: Essays on Poets and Poetry by Helen Vendler My rating: 5 of 5 stars Reading Helen Vendler as she discusses poets and their poetry is like sitting with your favorite professor, one not stuffy though erudite, one brilliant but clear. I may not agree with her exegesis of a given poem or her ultimate judgement on the worth of a given poet's work, I have to face that fact of her cogent arguments. Vendler seems to love poetry so much more than many critics who spend their time demonstrating their superiority to the art their discuss. I enjoy reading her essays and explications nearly as much as I do the poetry itself. View all my reviews

The Sea Lette r with one of my poems is now available in print or to subscribe.

The Sea Lette r with one of my poems is now available in print or to subscribe.

Kristin LaFollette ‘s New Chapbook Is Now Available for Pre-Order from GFT Press Kristin LaFollette is a Ph.D. candidate studying rhetoric and writing and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Bowling Green State University. She is a writer, artist, and photographer and teaches English and humanities courses to college students. She currently lives in northwest Ohio with her husband and their greyhound. You can visit her at  kristinlafollette.com . Body Parts examines the complicated nature of bodies as the poems navigate growing up, illness, injury, death, and self-actualization. Pre-Order Now Copyright © 2018 GFT Press, LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email from GFT Press because you are either a current or past submitter or contributor to GFT Press (see submission guidelines at  gftpress.com/submissions ), a current or past subscriber to the GFT Press print journal, GFT Presents: One in Four, or because you have a past or current business or individual relations

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin My rating: 5 of 5 stars Normally, I am more a fan if hard sci-fi, not space opera or fantasy. But the worth and quality of Le Guin’s Wizard of Earthsea are undeniable. Fantasy and magic are a vessel to contain a story of the growth of a child into an adult. As he faces his own darkness and the darkness of his own death, Ged becomes his true self. I did jot read this as a youth or young man. It probably would have sung to me then. As someone in his 7th decade, it speaks to me now. View all my reviews

In 2017, 32 journals/collections accepted 66 of my poems. My thanks to the following: 50 Haikus; Aji Magazine; Allegro Poetry Magazine; Burningword Literary Journal; Chantwood Magazine; The Deadly Writers Patrol; Dual Coast Magazine; Foliate Oak Literary Magazine; Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review; GFT Press One in Four; Glass: A Journal of Poetry; Gravel: A Literary Journal; Heron Tree; The Hungry Chimera; Into the Void Magazine; Inwood Indiana; Literature Today; The Muse: An International Journal of Poetry; The Mystic Blue Review; Piedmont Virginian Magazine; Poetry Quarterly; The Ravens Perch; Red Earth Review; The Sea Letter; Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine; Summerset Review; Temenos Journal; Three Line Poetry; Two Cities Review; The Voices Project; The Wayfarer; and The Write Place at the Write Time.

“But that’s illusion, and when you eat illusions you end up hungrier than before.” Ursula K. Le Guin

Voices Silenced: 12 Authors Who Died in 2017 | BookBaby Blog

The  Magnolia Review  has accepted 4 of my poems for their upcoming Vol. 4 Issue #1. They have previously published one of mine. Thank you Magnolia Review.

My poem “ The Gatekeeper ” can be viewed online at The Chantwood Magazine .    

My poem " The Gatekeeper " can be viewed online at The Chantwood Magazine .

My poem “Anticipation” has been published in the UK-based magazine Peeking Cat. You can get an eBook version free  HERE  or buy a copy  HERE .

My poem "Anticipation" has been published in the UK-based magazine Peeking Cat. You can get an eBook version free HERE or buy a copy HERE .

The Piedmont Virginian Magazine reprints my poem "Echoes" in their Best of 10th Anniversary November/December 2017 issue. Buy a copy or read it online here . Thank you Editor Pam Kamphuis. 

The Piedmont Virginian Magazine reprints my poem “Echoes” in their Best of 10th Anniversary November/December 2017 issue. Buy a copy or read it online here . Thank you Editor Pam Kamphuis.  

Peeking Cat Poetry –a UK journal–has accepted my poem “Anticipation” for publication in February.

Peeking Cat Poetry --a UK journal--has accepted my poem "Anticipation" for publication in February.

The Kingfisher by Amy Clampitt My rating: 5 of 5 stars Amy Clampitt's career as a poet was far too short---just 11 years. But she created a body of work any poet would be proud of. "The Kingfisher" was her amazing debut collection back in 1983 when she was 63 years old, and it stands today was one of the best collections of the second half of the 20th Century. For that matter, it has staying power. As I read and reread it in 2018, I hear echoes of Gerard Manley Hopkins AND Wallace Stevens. Her love of words as music, her encyclopedic incorporation of art, geography, botany, nature, travelogue, biography can make some of her poems dense. But each one bears rereading. Even those that seem most approachable at first have depths of feeling, thinking and experience. Read and savor. View all my reviews