Alyssa Anderson [Author Unknown, Thirty-Seven Cents], Marie Asner [ Member-at-Large], Annitka Bergen [Author Unknown, Thirty-Seven Cents], Louan Blackmon [Poets & Friends], Ana May Blum [On the Edge], Robert T. Chrisman [Member-at- Large], Barbara Cochran [Member-at-Large], Stacy Coleman [On the Edge], Zoe Welter Habegger [Member-at-Large], Rebekah Herrera [Author Unknown, Thirty-Seven Cents], Heather Lewis [Author Unknown, Thirty-Seven Cents], Michael Lorenzo [Member-at-Large], Sarah Molder [Author Unknown, Thirty-Seven Cents], Freeda Baker Nichols [Thirty-Seven Cents], Dennis Norville [Member-at-Large], Andrew Reeves [Author Unknown, Thirty-Seven Cents], Bill Tilley [On the Edge], Dan West [Author Unknown, Thirty-Seven Cents].
 

FROM YOUR PRESIDENT by Velvet Fackeldey, MSPS President

Another new year is upon us! I hope you all made a resolution to write more poetry, and to submit it to publications or to contests. I’d like to ask each of you to also make a resolution to be an ambassador for MSPS and your chapter. All membership organizations seem to be struggling now to maintain their numbers. MSPS is no different.

You can support your chapter by making the effort to attend meetings, and by inviting others to attend. Keep in mind that you can encourage anyone interested in poetry, they do not have to be a writer of poetry.

If your chapter has low attendance numbers, think about doing some projects to get members involved. You can sponsor a poetry contest and ask members to help judge the entries. Schedule the judging for a specific meeting and tell everyone you need their help. Think about two contests each year, maybe one in the spring and one in the fall. This will keep the members active.

Plan a poetry reading during April’s National Poetry Month and invite the public. This can be held at your regular meeting place, at the library, or any other suitable location. Submit a press release to the local newspaper and promote the event. This will give a voice to poetry and you can find new members this way.

Invite a speaker to a meeting and publicize this, another way to find new members in your area.

Encourage your members to submit their poetry to publications and contests. When someone has a poem accepted or places in a contest, send a press release to the newspaper with the details, including membership in your chapter and contact information. Always take advantage of every opportunity to inform the public that your chapter is there and everyone is invited to attend a meeting.

Encourage each other! I assume you have read-arounds at your meetings. If you don’t, start now. When someone reads a poem, don’t just say, “That’s great.” Tell the poet why it’s great so he/she can build on strengths for future writing. And tell the poet what changes might make it a better poem. Think about assigning themes or a specific form for the next meeting. This is great discipline and makes us work.

To our members-at-large: if you’re not a member of a chapter, find another poet in your area and plan to get together once a month or so to encourage each other. Poets are isolated in their endeavors, and we need each other for support and to celebrate our successes.

Remember that we are looking for a state publicity chair. If you are interested in the position, please contact me.

Thank you for the privilege of serving as your president. Never hesitate to contact me with ideas or suggestions for our state society, velpoet@yahoo.com, 417-532-4847.  -- Velvet Fackeldey
 

TIME TO PAY DUES FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T ALREADY PAID!

Dues for 2009 are to be paid before February 28.  We must send the list of state members to the national federation before March 1. Members of chapters pay the treasurer of the chapter the local fee plus $7 per member for state and national dues. If you are a member of more than one chapter, you pay $2 for each additional chapter.

Chapter Treasurers: please send payment and list of members, including mailing address for each, to State Treasurer Bill Lower, 21010 S. Hwy 245, Fair Play, MO 65649.

Members-at-Large, those not a member of a local chapter, pay $13 per year and payment should be sent directly to Bill Lower at the above address.

Please make all checks payable to MSPS.

Remember that, as a member of MSPS, you are also a member of the national federation, and receive a quarterly newsletter from both: Spare Mule from MSPS and Strophes from NFSPS.

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 Deadline: Postmarked September 15, 2009

 Format: Submit two copies of each entry, category number and name in upper left-hand corner of both copies, poet's name and address in upper right-hand corner of one copy.   If you are a member, put "Missouri State Poetry Society" below your address.  Put "Non-Member" if you are not.

 Limits: Poems may be 40 or fewer lines.  They may be unpublished or previously published if the poet retains the rights to the poem.  Poets may enter each category as many times as they wish.  No poems will be returned. 

Categories:

 1. Rhymed verse or blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) any subject, serious or humorous
 
 2. Free verse, any subject, serious or humorous

 3. Humorous verse, any subject

 4. Any form, summer subject, serious or humorous

 5. Poet's choice: any form (including open-field, shaped, or concrete poetry), any subject, serious or humorous

Fees:

• Non-members pay $1.00 per entry.  Members pay $1.00 for two entries.  Make money order or check payable to MSPS and mail to Billy Adams, 12600 McKinstry Road, DeSoto, MO 63020.  Include an SASE or your e-mail address on a 3x5 index card if you want a list of the winners.

Prizes:

• $25, $15, $10, and three honorable mentions in each category. 

Membership: 

•  If you do not belong to one of our local chapters but wish to join Missouri State Poetry Society, pay the $13 annual member-at-large fee and enter the contests by paying a member's reduced contest fees. See Membership Application on the menu on our webpage at www.nfsps.com/mo

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AROUND THE STATE IN OUR LOCAL CHAPTERS

POETS & FRIENDS (SPRINGFIELD):  Our poetry group meets at the Brentwood Library the fourth Monday each month at 7:00 p.m. The address is 2214 S. Brentwood Boulevard, Springfield (just east of the Seminole/Glenstone intersection). We read poetry for enjoyment and do not critique. Annual dues are $15.00, which also entitles one to be a member of the Missouri State Poetry Society and the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.  P&F has a monthly newsletter and an annual contest.  Everyone is welcome.  Please let me know if you have questions. --   Lee Ann Russell

Some of our members had books published or won prizes in contests. 

Don DePriest published his first book, To Write a Mona Lisa with Author House.  He won a second honorable mention in the Poet's & Friends contest.

Marilyn Smith won two second place prizes and one honorable mention in the Poets & Friends contest.

Lee Ann Russell won a second prize and a first honorable mention in the Massachusetts State Poetry Society contest.   She also won a second prize and a first honorable mention in the Illinois State Poetry Society contest.  She won an honorable mention in the Carlisle Poets contest, a third place and two honorable mentions in the Lebanon contest.  In the Poet's & Friends contest, she won a second place and an honorable mention.

LEBANON POETS' SOCIETY: Velvet Fackelday won a first prize in the Poets & Friends contest.

ON THE EDGE (DE SOTO/FESTUS): Among the publications of our members recently is a new book by Faye Adams:  Laughing at the Moon.

Our 2008 anthology, Diamonds in the Rough, is hot off the press and has received excellent reviews from contributors and friends.  Information about this book may be obtained from the e-mail addresses below.

All MSPS poets are also invited to submit to our 2009 anthology, Facets of Love.  The title serves as a broad interpretation of the concept of love, and should follow standard MSPS guidelines.  Submission information may be obtained from:  Billy Adams at  badams0523@esagelink.com, or from Faye Adams at aloe095@esagelink.com.

Three On the Edgers were awarded 'Member of Distinction' status from the St. Louis Writers Guild;

One poet was published in the Mid America Review and the Lucidity Journal;

Another member was published in Journ Ezine;

An On the Edger was honored to serve as a poetry contest judge;

One author was accepted to a prestigious writer’s workshop;

Two new members joined our ranks; and

we were fortunate to have received "Narcissus Poeticus" bulbs from a multi-talented poet.

Our regular meetings continue with read-arounds and critiques.  We also explore works by Missouri poets as well as national and foreign authors.  Contest information and publication venues are regularly shared.  May 2009 be a year of peace, health and inspiration to all!                   --Bobbie Craig

The climb robbed some of the air
from my chest—
From where I stand I can see
miles beyond miles,
and I feel small.
Trees over a hundred feet tall still frosted
with snow in the middle of July;
Roaring waterfalls carve
new paths into the mountain’s side;
As far as the eye can see—
mountains on top of mountains,
with meandering rivers slickly sliding
through the valleys thick with green.
This place,
This mountain top,
This feeling I have—
It’s home.


IF IT PINCHES
Gwendolyn Eisenmann
Mountain View Poetry Society
Thirty-Seven Cents

If it pinches
wear a never-mind warm sock,
listen to someone else's new poem,
and straighten the mind wrinkles
that bulge
or maybe not
maybe that's a place for wonder
(there's always wonder under tomorrow)

because you never know
you're going to break a leg,
or win first prize.

What a surprise!
I stepped in a hole,
woke up in a hospital
recommended for ten days of walking
through an accelerated program
to recovery. So I did.

It still pinches but my socks are warm,
and it's a wonder how mind wrinkles
blossomed into sunlight on flowers under blue
and left me wondering.
 
MOVING DAY
Dave Gregg
Thirty-Seven Cents

unpacking unwieldy boxes
clumsy with book and volume
I note her packing, pairing
noir with religion and dance
with history and in the hall I
question her couplings with
so small logic in her groupings
she giggles like she does and
smiles luminiscent and says
"now you see us like they do"
 

MY FARM
Sue Klinger
Poets & Friends

My farm and I are one
For this moment
This moment of perfection...

When light plays on the field
And wind makes grass dance
With dew drops shimmering.

When giant carp and catfish
Swim with me in the cool river
And bobcat and deer drink their fill.

When the sun low in the sky
Beams through mist in the air
Displaying a rainbow to the east.

When the big dipper appears
And rotates around the polar star
While moonlight guides me to the barn.

When I dream of laughing days
Filled with children outside at play
With crawdaddies, skipping rocks and me.

When I am on my death bed
That held my foreparents before me
And I die to become my beloved earth...

My farm and I are one
For this moment
This moment of perfection.

A SESSION WITH THE SOCIETY
Bobby Bostic
Mountain View Poetry Society

Today I propose for me a session with the Society.
Each meeting is a form of therapy,
Reading our most intense thoughts from a notepad
While each line is analyzed, identifying good and bad.

Before coming to a session, you have much on your mind,
After an emotional reading, you allow yourself to unwind.
In these gatherings there is a certain magic in the air,
A mystical meeting of minds that leaves the soul bare.

Naked thoughts that we clothe in decorated verse,
Sometimes just free-styled with no need to rehearse.
Emotions coming alive with an intensity felt within,
Silent thoughts brought to life through our pen.

After every session we can't wait until the next one.
There's always an inspirational feeling after we're done.
We all bring something unique to the table,
Wiring our verses back and forth like a cable.

Each member wears his thinking cap to the session.
At each meeting we learn some meaningful lesson.
Some special moment creates a lasting memory.
It happens every time at a session of the Society.
 

MYSTERIOUS STRANGER
Laurence W. Thomas
Honorary Member-at-Large

In a trunk in the attic I find a packet of letters
tied in a ribbon. Half a dozen, neatly typed
and dated from the turn of the century.
Signed by a man whose name I don’t know,
they recount meetings, are filled with endearments,
and something about the beauty of holiness.
I think about letters in some stranger’s attic
bewildering his offspring, as I burn his letters.
Mother, a widow of some fifteen years, died
quietly in her sleep leaving four grown children
and a trunk with love letters stashed in the attic.

Arid ground,
sagebrush,
A fall cool breeze,
hot sun dry.

Its expanses
Are too wide.
Breathtaking,
Disconcerting.

Too broad
for the air to linger
in such a thin.

It strays
and spreads,
and stretches.

It could wander
forever.

How can you explain
such a wideness
leaving
such a narrowness?

This place.
It makes you feel so small.

So thin.


WHY I REPLACE THE DEAD FISH
WITHOUT TELLING MY DAUGHTER
Steve Penticuff
Thirty-Seven Cents

The age of innocence
is sometimes purchased
with lies, and the window
to certain joys is open

just long enough
for a few soft breezes
to carry the smells of spring
and a little birdsong.

So I strap her on my back
and chase the sun:
disillusion nips my heels,
where a strange shadow

slowly lengthens.
Darkness, right before
my eyes, trades its pawns
for queens, but we slip away

from another clever check.
A mere deferral,
but I know with each new
smile of hers the flight

is not in vain. Clouds
will come--and rain, and
worse--but now a shiny gold-
fish flaunts its orange

and shimmers, bathes itself
and us with the promise
(blown in kisses through
the glass) of glitter.


MIND TWISTER
Phyllis Moutray
Thirty-Seven Cents

In post-911 America
amidst intense scrutiny
for possible terrorism,
sometimes in an unscrutable manner,
the pot ran away with the kettle,
and the economy threatened
to go down with the moon.

THE KEEPER
Don DePriest
Poets & Friends

I was also of the house of David.
The news about our cousins, Mary and 
     Joseph
Had come to us about 6 months before.
We knew about the impending birth,
And of the prophecies,
And of the visions.
The orders for our family’s registration
Had also had come some months before.
To spread the news and organize takes some  
     time.
It’s not a bad thing that they made us do.
It was like a family reunion they imposed.
A time to see our kinfolks old and new.
All Bethlehem was eager for the day
And many had prepared their homes to share
Others were passing through
To their own family’s towns.
It was a busy time.  It was an exciting time.
My wife and daughter worked hard to prepare
A room for Joseph and Mary in our inn.
We were prepared.
But when they finally arrived at that late hour,
And I learned that the birth was imminent,
I knew I had to turn them away.
Mine is a delicate position,
Maintaining an inn. Serving my people,
Serving those who occupy the land,
Trying to maintain a happy balance.
This is not place for birthing
Especially such a birth.
Maybe the child would be just a child,
But that’s not what the information predicted.
That’s not what we all hoped.
Such an event would have ruined my business.
It was my decision.
My wife and daughter were devastated,
As was I.
They rushed about town for alternate housing,
But it was late and all rooms were full,
Except for the cave.
The cave was used as a stable
During the cold winter months.
Now it was Spring.
The animals were now in the fields.
A place was quickly prepared there.
There was little time for the amenities.
And so the child was born.
Born in a stable. Instead of my inn.
Joseph and Mary understood my decision,
And as the events and years unfolded            Others came to understand.
No room in the inn.  Indeed.
As it had to be.
But always room in our hearts.
 

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EXTRA ITEMS:

17th ANNUAL NATIONAL SENIOR POET LAUREATE Competition is “GO”

The Angels Without Wings Foundation of Springfield, MO is again sponsoring The National Senior Poet Laureate Competition.  The contest this year will be administered and judged by Yvonne Nunn, Dean of the Cyber-College of Online Poetry and her Bardlets class. Those interested in participating in this contest should check the revised rules online at www.amykitchenerfdn.org under the Senior Poets Laureate contest link.  The rules are also in The Diploemat Newsletter issue of December if you receive that.

ANNOUNCING THE ANNUAL MISSOURI WRITERS GUILD CONFERENCE                     
Cape Girardeau, MO  April 3-5, 2009  Drury Lodge (Only about 115 miles south of St. Louis!) http://www.druryhotels.com/ or call 1-800-DRURYINN
www.mwgconference.org   Emily Hendricks, conference chair

Exceptional speakers: TV writer Lee Goldberg (Monk), WOW! Magazine editor, Pulitzer Prize nominee Harvey Stanbrough,  and a Simon and Schuster editor. Check the website for many more!
Networking opportunities
One-on-one agent/editor appointments
Workshops on perfecting your craft and marketing
A weekend with writers who understand you!

What can you do NOW, so you can go?
Register at http://www.mwgconference.org/Registration.html 
or email Emily at esh@mwgconference.org  or call Margo at 217-714-8582 with questions.
Sign up for more information to be sent to you via email at the above website, so you can pay later this spring after the holiday bills are paid off.
Invite a friend to go with you, so you can share the cost of transportation and the hotel room—not to mention, it’s fun!

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NATIONAL ITEMS:

2009 NFSPS CONVENTION TO BE IN DULUTH, MINNESOTA, JUNE 11-15.  SEE CURRENT STROPHES OR STROPHES ONLINE FOR DETAILS.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Spare Mule is edited by Don DePriest and David Thomas, both of Springfield's Poets & Friends chapter.  Don is copy editor.  When emailing copy to him at mopoetry@mchsi.com, please place “For Spare Mule“on the subject line.  When using US Postal Service, address him at 1241 W. Vancouver Drive, Springfield, MO 65803.  Tom Padgett is the MSPS webmaster who posts the copy to this web site.

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