Pool Party

~ Lynne Burnett ~ 6 Comments
Photo by Angelo Pantazis on Unsplash

Not able to sleep:
a pool party happening
across the ravine –

all the happy screaming
bubbly voices
rising, falling,

washing the tired
lines of the day
from my eyes.

Is there something to celebrate
on a dark night that
has lasted far too long?

I would give up all
remaining sleep to be giddy
with the adolescent fervor I hear

and to pass it to the wind
which can’t keep secrets
and make you listen too

as I am listening now
for an invitation
to join in,

to celebrate so many bodies
all plunging together
into vast new worlds

unafraid.

An older poem, first published in North Shore Magazine in 2007 (and written a decade earlier). 

Two Poems Up At Soul-Lit

~ Lynne Burnett ~ 17 Comments
Photo by Joseph Greve on Unsplash

The spring issue of Soul-Lit is now live and I have two poems in it that can be read here.

I’ll note that “Morning Blessing” previously appeared  in my chapbook “Irresistible” and “Kindness” in the anthology “Best of Kindness 2017” where it placed third. These notes were supposed to be included with their appearance here. Such a lovely journal! Do check out the rest of the issue.

 

Apples & Oranges

~ Lynne Burnett ~ 6 Comments
Photo by Anastasiya Romanova on Unsplash

This is just to say my entry into  The UK Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition 2021 bore some fruit after five years: I received a long and lovely  email saying a poem of mine (which is not being named so it can be submitted elsewhere etc) made the longlist of 108 poems – out of 16,729!  I had submitted two and it was of great interest to me to discover that the poem that went farthest wasn’t the lyrical, highly crafted one – but the more free-flowing, almost conversational more narrative one. So that’s something for me to think about, maybe compose more like that. Here’s a link to the results page, with the winning poems and the longlist from which they were chosen (listed alphabetically by each poet’s first name):  https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/national-poetry-competition/

I’ve been away in Mexico for a couple of months so haven’t posted much and also haven’t read much of others’ blogs. I have lots of catching up to do! Happy Spring to you all!

Part 2, Poets Speaking To Poets

~ Lynne Burnett ~ 2 Comments

This is my second poem included in the anthology “Poets Speaking To Poets: Echoes and Tributes” – the brainchild of editors Robert Hamblin and Nicholas Fargnoli and is a tribute to poet Jane Kenyon. It first appeared in my chapbook “Irresistible”. Imagine my surprise to be handed a brochure about the artist Jane Kenyon during a walk one day!  Referenced in the first stanza are various titles from her striking works and in the second are titles and lines from the poet – fun to do and which would be evident to any reader already familiar with the poet’s work; however I wanted to give equal footing to the lesser known artist, whose exhibition theme echoed so many of Jane Kenyon’s poems. The artist didn’t begin her career in visual art until 1993, two years before the poet died. Though the poet was born in 1947 and the artist in 1953, they probably didn’t know each other. You can find out more about the artist here

The book is a wonderful collection of poems that talk to each other through poets past and present. It’s available on Amazon here and also here.  

Poets Speaking To Poets

~ Lynne Burnett ~ 16 Comments

This poem, which first appeared in my chapbook “Irresistible”, is the first of two selected for the anthology  “Poets Speaking To Poets: Echoes and Tributes” – the brainchild of editors Robert Hamblin and Nicholas Fargnoli. My poem was written after Cecilia Woloch’s “Blazon”. I will post my tribute poem later. The book is a wonderful collection of poems that talk to each other through poets past and present. It’s available on Amazon here and also here.