Tag: essay

  • How to Organize Your Poetry into a Chapbook

    How to Organize Your Poetry into a Chapbook

    It all sounds so easy. Write poetry. Organize your poetry into book format. Submit chapbook. Profit! Well, maybe not the last one. We all know how much poetry pays. Sometimes it’s tempting to fold poems into paper airplanes and send them out into the world. I favor the “tie a poem to a balloon and…

  • Welcome, 2021. We’ve Been Waiting For You

    Welcome, 2021. We’ve Been Waiting For You

    2021. Welcome. I keep checking out my window to make sure nothing is sneaking up on us, Mad Max style. It’s Day 1. So far, so good. Marking the New Year is supposed to be about resolutions. As writers, resolutions are easy to make and a bear to keep. The Muse is fickle, and despite…

  • The Trouble With Being A Poet

    The Trouble With Being A Poet

    The last two times on the Gyroscope Blog, I talked about listening vs. performing poetry. Here’s one last thought on that topic, more along the lines of reading vs performing poetry. Billy Collins. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed Collins’ poems until I started listening to his CD “Live”. I didn’t come to appreciate…

  • Listening to Poetry — Part II

    Listening to Poetry — Part II

    (Click HERE for Part I -Listening to Poetry vs Reading Poetry, and last week’s videos.) What happens when we listen to a poem? All kinds of stuff goes on in your brain when you’re actively listening. Scientifically, neurons in your brain fire in sync with the rhythmic structure of what you are listening to. Neurons…

  • Listening to Poetry vs Reading Poetry, Part 1

    Listening to Poetry vs Reading Poetry, Part 1

    Do you prefer to read your poetry on the page, or listen to it? (Or watch and listen to it?) Which are you more comfortable with? As a poet, do you write your poem to be read on the page or performed? Give a listen to the YouTube poem readings below and consider how each…

  • Looking Down to Find Yourself

    Looking Down to Find Yourself

    One of the things I miss about being pandemic homebound is flying to a different place. I’m not big on flying but once I get on the plane, and reassure myself the pilot DOES know what he/she is doing, everything is okay. I’ll even sit in the window seat. I love flying in the daytime…