Category Archives: Arizona

by Luanne | November 14, 2023 · 9:00 am

Yay for Wonderful Reviews and #TankaTuesday

Our Wolves, my Red Riding Hood poetry chapbook, was reviewed by fantasy and science fiction writer D. (Diana) Wallace Peach for her October Book Reviews: https://mythsofthemirror.com/2023/10/31/october-book-reviews-2/. I love her review. She says, “these are thoughtful and provocative poems that I found stirring, raw, and deeply insightful. They’re also beautifully written with gorgeous but accessible language, providing glimmers into the lives and stories of girls everywhere.”

Diana posted the review on Amazon where it is keeping company with another new and fabulous review by writer Wilma Kahn: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R31IC9DU4DZING/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0BTKNP31D. The ending of her review is so cool: “Love the poetry. Embrace the shock.”

It feels so rewarding to have readers take the time to write reviews for my books. Makes me happy.

On the same subject of poetry, I read a hilarious article in The Onion, a master of satire. It’s the funniEST if you know that most poets make nothing from their books as the costs of promotion in both money and time outweigh the royalties. https://www.theonion.com/sellout-poet-made-over-150-in-2023-alone-1851012377

For #TankaTuesday, Colleen Chesebro challenged poets to write three tankas using specific kigo as either first lines or pivot lines.
#1: “the first month with sleet”
#2: “late winter garden”
#3: “blanket by the fire”

Here are mine. It took a little weirdness since we still have gorgeous weather in Arizona.

the first month with sleet

and a howling, freezing wind

first weeks of snowfalls

that melt even as they touch

the earth not yet full-frozen

outside I linger

among the curling petals

late winter garden

a place for thoughts of the past

a place for wishes to come

in Arizona

we look ahead to winter

blanket by the fire

both cuddling with the kitties

will it come or will fall stay

###

I also wrote a tanka about the contrast of our Arizona weather and my family’s Michigan weather.

[Beginning of Winter in Arizona versus Michigan]

A fall breeze upset

my skirt on my daily walk.

Lone sign of winter.

My brother in Michigan

raked fallen leaves for hours.

###

My kigo is fallen leaves and fall breeze (instead of autumn wind).

Japanese woodcut print by Kamisaka Sekka by New York Public Library is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

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Filed under #OurWolves, #poetrycommunity, #TankaTuesday, #writingcommunity, Arizona, Book Review, Poetry, Poetry book, Poetry Collection, Syllabic Poetry, Writing

Tagged as #TankaTuesday, book review, kigo, Our Wolves, syllabic poetry, tanka

by Luanne | November 8, 2023 · 2:35 pm

The Beginning of Winter #TankaTuesday

You really have to be paying attention to see the beginning of winter in Phoenix. It is a little cooler, but it is still as warm as a Michigan summer. The sky is still bright blue. Our flowers are brilliant, and the sun shining through the leaves of the bushes and trees is a painting.

Still, according to #TankaTuesday, this is the first week of The Beginning of Winter (November 7 – 21) Ritto 立冬. I thought I would try a new-to-me form, the gogyohka. This form is not truly syllabic, but Colleen Chesebro’s research has shown it to be more about breaths. It is a five-line poem, like a tanka. A gogyohka does not need a kigo word, but I am playing along with the seasonal prompts, so I am including “long night” as a kigo.

Some super cool news this week. Both my full-length collection Rooted and Winged and my chapbook Our Wolves are finalists for the American Book Fest 2023 awards! https://americanbookfest.com/2023bbapressrelease.html

I’m so pleased with how my books have done with the awards, but they could both use more reviews on Amazon (and Goodreads, too, but especially Amazon). It only takes one or two sentences to help the algorithm, so if you have read the books and liked them, please consider taking the time to drop Amazon a line or two.

It’s been over a week that I have been walking every day. I am so happy that I have been able to sustain this routine, and that my health has permitted. It’s a beautiful walk near me, and so far it’s been almost eventless. I am a little dismayed, though, how few birds I am finding this year. Has anyone else noticed this where you live or is it just here?

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Filed under #AmWriting, #poetrycommunity, #TankaTuesday, #writingcommunity, Arizona, Book Award, Our Wolves, Poetry, Poetry Collection, Rooted and Winged, Syllabic Poetry, Writing

Tagged as #TankaTuesday, American Book Fest awards, Arizona outdoors, book award, gogyohka, Our Wolves, Rooted and Winged, syllabic poetry

by Luanne | November 5, 2023 · 4:20 pm

Lothlorien Poetry Journal: Five Poems

Strider Marcus Jones, Editor of Lothlorien Poetry Journal, has published five of my poems. Four are brand new, including one about my high school reunion in August, and one is from my first book Doll God. Two of the new poems are about living in Arizona.

I hope you enjoy this variety!

https://lothlorienpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/2023/11/five-poems-by-luanne-castle.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR3bPdw-HVvbTrIZAp6GpD0ri75v_C5C5cte6qDfQ-8T10AG09OhIyYfrmU

two mallard ducks on water — Photo by TheOther Kev on Pexels.com

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Tagged as #ampublishing, #poetrycommunity, #writingcommunity, Arizona wildlife, father poems, high school reunion, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Poetry

by Luanne | July 18, 2023 · 5:15 am

Bird in Imayo: #TankaTuesday

Since Colleen Chesebro’s weekly #TankaTuesday poetry prompts are so inspiring to me, I bought her book that describes the various types of syllabic poetry so that I could use that as a guide instead of the wonderful links she has on the Wordcraft website. This way, the book is right at my side when I need it.

Ironically, this week’s #TankaTuesday is to write in a form not in the book. We are to write a poem about a bird in the Japanese form Imayo.

The imayo is comprised of four 12-syllable lines. Each line is divided into a 7-syllable and a 5-syllable section, with a hard pause (or caesura) in between. The pause will generally be represented by a comma, semi-colon, or similar punctuation.

4 lines (8 lines permissible)
12 syllables per line divided as 7-5
make a pause space between the 7 and 5 syllables
use comma, caesura or kireji (cutting word) as the pause
no rhymes
no meter
no end of line pauses – the whole should flow together as though one long sentence
The Imayo is a literal poem so do not use symbolism, allegory etc.

I decided to write about the Great Blue Heron that showed up in my yard last year. In the photo, the coyote behind the heron is an inanimate metal coyote!

I glanced out the front window — the Great Blue Heron

stood motionless by the pool — it stared straight ahead

perhaps lost in the desert — perhaps it mistook

pool for a swamp or wetland — beauty or sadness?

###

Hmm not my favorite form. When the description mentions “literal,” it means the form is not to employ figurative imagery. In general, in English language poetry, literal poems tend to be for children whereas figurative poems (using metaphor, simile, etc ) are for adults. In a literal poem the focus is on a plain description or a simple point or philosophy.

70 Comments

Filed under #amwriting, #poetrycommunity, #TankaTuesday, #writingcommunity, Arizona, Cats and Other Animals, Poetry, Writing, Writing prompt

Tagged as #poetrycommunity, #TankaTuesday, Arizona fauna, Colleen Chesebro, Great Blue Heron, imayo, Poetry, Word Craft

by Luanne | July 11, 2023 · 5:15 am

Arizona Wildlife, California Beach: #TankaTuesday

This week’s #TankaTuesday is at the bottom of the post.

This past week we had two new animals show up in our yard. The first was an adolescent javelina. These are not pigs, but peccaries. Because they are very destructive to flowers and cacti, we eventually had to get permission to fence them off our property. But now this little one showed up alone. They travel in herds, called squadrons, and the babies are always twins. I think this one became separated from his people after the @#&*s had to have their fireworks.

Then we were visited by the king snake two days in a row. The first time the snake was climbing a wall. The next day he was near the pool. We love king snakes because they keep rattlesnakes away!

Today’s #TankaTuesday prompt by Colleen is to write a poem with imagery that incorporates the phrase Sun, Sand, & Sea and uses this photograph for inspiration.

This photo taken in San Diego is a far cry from my desert world, but I did used to live in California, not that far from San Diego. At one time, the gardener and I thought we would move to San Diego, but we changed our minds. I wrote a haibun about a different San Diego beach and something that happened not long after we moved to California.

How I Became a Californian

That first year in California, on a sunny late October day, we skipped our grad classes and pulled the kids out of school. The four of us lay on beach towels, mesmerized by the push and pull, the rhythmic crashing, of the waves as they broke upon the beach. My chin rested between my forearms, and the smell of my own warmed skin pleased me. The sun, sand, & sea of California, even enjoyed this late in the season, seemed unreal in comparison with all my Michigan winters. The flowers were so different, I thought, as I spied spiky orange bird-of-paradise flowers along the restroom building. A whistle sounded, and we all looked toward the road. There we saw a train rushing toward us. I only noticed then that the tracks were laid in the sand along the sidewalk. The train slid in to a stop right in front of us. Only three people alighted: young men in board shorts, each carrying a surfboard. They ran past us and straight into the ocean as we watched with our mouths hanging open. The train departed and with it my midwestern innocence.

The foamy surf swelled

just past the sloping shoreline

on this grand fall day.

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Filed under #amwriting, #poetrycommunity, #TankaTuesday, #writingcommunity, Arizona, Flora, Garden, and Landscape, Poetry, Writing, Writing prompt

Tagged as #poetrycommunity, #TankaTuesday, Arizona fauna, California, haibun, javelina, king snake, Poetry, sun sand & sea

by Luanne | June 12, 2023 · 11:03 pm

The Phoenix Rises in Fall: #TankaTuesday

Colleen at Wordcraft poetry suggested writing a syllabic poem about the mythological Phoenix or Thunderbird.

Because I live in Phoenix, Arizona, I wanted to write about the city. Phoenix was named after the bird of myth, but is often associated with it because of the extreme heat of the summers. In reality, it earned the name because it was a new city built on the ruins of the Hohokam civilization. I wrote a double tanka so I could work with both notions.

With flat-roofed houses

and white adobe mission,

they built a city

on the ancient vill ruins

of the Hohokam nation.

In celebration

of the fiery eponym

the city’s named for,

every summer it burns

to ash, then rises in fall.

###

Fall brings perfect weather, new and colorful flowers, and relief after the hellish summers.

As we move into summer, though, we do have lovely cactus flowers.

When I take Theo out I try to walk in shade because I am very aware of the danger of heat to his paws.

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Filed under #amwriting, #poetrycommunity, #TankaTuesday, #writingcommunity, Arizona, Flora, Garden, and Landscape, Poetry, Writing, Writing prompt

Tagged as #amwriting, #TankaTuesday, cactus blossom, Phoenix, Poem, Poetry, tanka

by Luanne | June 5, 2023 · 9:48 pm

Orange as a Dragonfly: #TankaTuesday

Colleen at Wordcraft poetry suggested writing a syllabic poem about a color using a word from a color chart she provided. I chose orange because it is close to my favorite color which is coral. For a word I chose joy.

Last year I posted a photo I took of one of our gorgeous Arizona Flame Skimmers, or orange dragonflies. This beauty is my inspiration.

Here is my tanka:

On a day of cares,

when the water heater leaks

and I am in pain,

I step outside and notice

with joy orange fairy wings.

###

The following photo is a closeup from the free photo library.

The journal The Ekphrastic Review hosts an Ekphrastic (writing inspired by a work of art) Challenge every two weeks. Here is a poem I wrote to one awhile back. The link will take you to a sample of the art by Manuel Espinoza, though not the actual piece I used. https://www.ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/manuel-Espinosa-ekphrastic-writing-responses

So from joy to violence. But luckily joy is right outside my door because the Arizona air practically vibrates with dragonflies and hummingbirds.

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Filed under #amwriting, #poetrycommunity, #TankaTuesday, #writingcommunity, Arizona, Cats and Other Animals, Flora, Garden, and Landscape, Poetry, Writing, Writing prompt

Tagged as #TankaTuesday, dragonfly, ekphrastic poetry, flame skimmer, Manuel Espinozaa, Poetry

by Luanne | May 8, 2023 · 3:48 pm

A 3rd Poem Up at MasticadoresUSA

Thanks to Editor Barbara Leonard, MasticadoresUSA has published my poem “Screaming.” https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2023/05/09/screaming-by-luanne-castle/

person s shadow — Photo by Nadi Lindsay on Pexels.com

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Filed under #poetrycommunity, Arizona, Flora, Garden, and Landscape, Literary Journals, Poetry, Publishing

Tagged as #ampublishing, #poetrycommunity, MasticadoresUSA, Poetry

by Luanne | April 19, 2023 · 5:15 am

A Love Poem to My Cat and #TankaTuesday

I had a poem published today in a cool Australian lit mag. It’s called Trash to Treasure Lit, and the idea behind it is that “every writer has a piece of ‘trash’ that we can treasure.” Look through your drafts, your poems you figured you could never do right by, and if you can write something that explains why this “trash” can be a “treasure,” they might publish it. In my case, I wrote a love poem to my cat Perry, who as you may know, suffers from a couple of terminal illnesses (so far so good in case you’re wondering). I hope you can tell from this poem that Perry is the real treasure.

https://www.trashtotreasurelit.com/publishedpieces/perry-by-luanne-castle

Colleen Chesebro’s prompt for #TankaTuesday this week is in celebration of her 65th birthday. (Happy birthday, Colleen!) We were to create a poetic form using 65 syllables.

I created a form I will call the aînée, which is the French word for a female elder. I was going to use the Spanish word anciana, but I didn’t like the connotations which seemed less positive. Plus I like that I am honoring the French language which is a language that has originated a lot of syllabic poetry. 65 syllables are arranged this way: ten lines of six syllables each, followed by a line of 2 syllables, and a final line of 3 syllables.

Decades to Medicare, or We Count Slower Later On

The first we play and learn,

then anguish for ten more.

Finally on our own,

we screw it up or not.

Next years we develop

into who we will be.

In our forties we whine

that we are now so old.

Those next decades are fine

for comfort in ourselves.

Now count

more slowly.

You might recall that I have been submitting a poem every month to Visual Verse for their ekphrastic challenge. Here is my April poem: https://visualverse.org/submissions/dont-look-back-2/ They showcase each poem next to the inspirational art.

Finally, here is another review of Our Wolves. This review addresses the issue of abuse in some of the poems. https://impressionsininkblog.com/2023/04/13/review-our-wolves-by-luanne-castle-poeticbooktours/

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Filed under #poetrycommunity, Arizona, Flora, Garden, and Landscape, Literary Journals, Poetry, Publishing

Tagged as #ampublishing, #poetrycommunity, #poetswithcats, #TankaTuesday, cat poem, ekphrastic poem, love poem, Poetry, syllabic poetry, Trash to Treasure Lit

by Luanne | April 11, 2023 · 8:24 am

Poem Up at MasticadoresUSA

Thanks to Editor Barbara Leonard, MasticadoresUSA has published my poem “The Not Sonnet.” Of course, it is a sonnet.

This is the second poem of mine that Barbara has published. And there will be a third next month.

https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2023/04/11/the-not-sonnet-by-luanne-castle/

Cactus blossom season is here. The gardener took this pic. He is a much better gardener than photographer, but you can still see how beautiful the blossoms are.