Vonnie Winslow Crist

 A good book of poetry or a copy of the latest issue of one of your favorite literary magazines, a cup of tea, a cozy chair, and a couple hours of free time are a wonderful way to pass a snowy, rainy, or sunny afternoon.

 I hope you enjoy poetry as much as I do. I've included a couple of fun forms for you to try your hand at writing. Plus, I've posted some links to publications that include my poems.

And thanks to those who supported me. I was voted #4 in 2011, #3 in 2010 and #6 in 2009 as a Poet in the Preditors & Editors Reader's Poll.

 If you'd like to read some of Vonnie's poems:

 Check out the following online publications:

   "Penelope" - "I long to catch lightning/ as it swarms through airspace,/ to cage a smoldering ribbon/ with interlocking fingers,/ to unravel its blazing fabric/ one flossy strand after another/ like a tapestry which must remain/ as unfinished as our love/ each daybreak, though I weave/ my years away..." in Emg-Zine, December 2011. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-penelope  

  "The Greener Forest" - a sneak peek at the poem used to introduce Vonnie's short story collection: "Leave all iron, red thread, bells,/ and four-leafed clovers secured/ in your cozy house./ Then, cross the yard and unlock/ the gate in the out-of-the-way/ corner of the fence..." http://tinyurl.com/greener-forest-intro-poem

 "Immortality" - "Her living room:/ pensive sun studies reflection in golden sarcophagus,/ tilts his face, listens to the tick of pendulum;/ ochre wall-to-wall carpet ripples/ from sky-border to sky-border/ like Zawyet El Amwat's sand/ where..." in Emg-Zine, December 2010. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-immortality  

    

 "Raven" - "Day implodes, vanishes/ in a red O./ Lone raven paces/ on cottonwood bough above/ a browning lawn that rolls/ down to chokecherry and..." in Emg-Zine, September 2010. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-raven  "Raven" was voted the Best Poem of 2010 in the Preditors & Editors Reader's Poll.

    "Before the Battle" - "On this witch-kissed morning,/ as I trudge northward,/ dampness frizzes my hair,/ worms its way into my joints..." in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, July 2010. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-battle

   "Dragons" - "It's a bring-the-dog-in night --/ even the moon/ has hidden her face./ Dragon’s breath/ billows over the city..." in Emg-Zine, May 2010. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-dragon  

  "Spiders" - "As I kneel beside the coreopsis,/ my eyes snagged/ by webs woven of light,/ I think of the two Texan women/ who plucked out their sister’s eyes..." in EMG-Zine, June 2009. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-spiders

 "Sea Children" - "sea star/ tan pentacle/ skimming across the strand/ witching us with water magic..." in Sea Stories, Hibernal 2009 Issue.Sorry, readers. It looks like the archives from 2009 have been eliminated. Instead read it here: Sea Children

 "At the Asian Arts Center" -  "Listen./ Hee-Young Kim has written/ a poem/ on four horizontal banners pressed/ edge to edge like/ river, grass, mountain, sky..." in The Chesapeake Reader, Vol. 11, #1, Spring 2008. Sorry, readers. It looks like the website is down -- but hopefully it will be appearing in my upcoming book!

 "if not" - "If Harriet hadn’t been a woman/ steeped in bitterness and quick with a smack/ who longed for Mississippi and Louisiana/ like an alcoholic hungers for booze..." in The Loch Raven Review, Spring 2008. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-if-not 

 Or you can buy magazines & books containing Vonnie's poems:

"A wolf is kept fed by his feet" - is scheduled to appear in Paper Crow.

 "Kingdom Across the River" - "As mice run helter-skelter/ through this place of forgetting,/ it's forbidden to speak of clocks/ tic-tocking the hours away/ or mention almanac dates/ gobbled by a greedy man./ Here, daffy-down-dilly never/ brings spring to town in/ gaudy gown and petticoat..." appears in the anthology,Garden of the Crow. Available from: http://astore.amazon.com/vonnwinscris-20

 "Venus" - "Poised in a seashell,/ showered with roses,/ Botticelli's goddess/ rides the landward breath/ of Zephyrus and Aura./ Her elongated body,/ luminous as..." & "Harpers Ferry" - "The Shenandoah's branches,/ swollen with spring runoff,/ spill northward/  on either side of Massanutten Mountain,/ converge at Front Royal./ The river then ribbons..." appear in Maryland Writers' Associations new poetry anthology, life in me like grass on fire. Available from:  http://astore.amazon.com/vonnwinscris-20 

 A haiku in the February 2010 issue of Scifaikuest available from Sam's Dot Publishing: www.samsdotpublishing.com

 "Death-Haunted" - "I collect sun-bleached turtle shells,/ squirrel skulls, deer antlers,/ bits of bone from countless/ fox, opossums, and other/ unlucky creatures that wandered into the thorny tangle of..." in the 2010 issue of Champagne Shivers available from Sam's Dot Publishing: www.samsdotpublishing.com

 "if not" - "If Harriet hadn’t been a woman/ steeped in bitterness and quick with a smack/ who longed for Mississippi and Louisiana/ like an alcoholic hungers for booze..." in The Loch Raven Review  #4 Annual Anthology, http://astore.amazon.com/vonnwinscris-20

"Flower Face" - "Flower Face,/ I hear your cry this evening/ in the Llandudno twilight:/ the who-who haunting July air/ like a ballad sung by Celtic bards..." in the Spring 2010 issue of Illumen available from Sam's Dot Publishing: www.samsdotpublishing.com

 "On the Edge" - "On the fringes of the Caribbean/ where generations of coral/ have surrendered thri lives to land,/ drowned sailors in seabird guise/ scull the gales and lament/ the approach of another storm..." in the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of Paper Crow magazine available from Elektrik Milkbath Press: http://www.elektrikmilkbathpress.com

 "Mars Rising" - "Sly warmonger, an oft-cursed tarot card/ placed on ebony cloth, you flash your scarred/ face in the universal spread. Devil take/ your sharp implements of war. Moon forsake/ the sky where you lift your ruddy helmet..." in the Spring 2011 issue of Paper Crow magazine available shortly from Elektrik Milkbath Press: http://www.elektrikmilkbathpress.com

"River of Stars" - "I dip washcloth into metal bowl,/ wring icy liquid from terry cloth./ The plash of mint-scented water/ in the basin’s pond..." in Manorborn 2009 - Water published by The Harford Poetry & Literary Society: http://astore.amazon.com/vonnwinscris-20

"Frozen Earth" - "Sky/ blue grey/ cloud laden/ seasonal birds wing/ their way northward, beaks splitting air/ as genetic memory sounds a fevered/ blood call..." in Manorborn 2008 - Memory published by The Harford Poetry & Literary Society: http://astore.amazon.com/vonnwinscris-20

 "School Fieldtrip" - "At Ladew Gardens,/ fifth grade boys tumble over/ each other and their own feet,/ as the sun glints/ sweat-slick hair bluer black/ than the lazy flies whirl-a-giging/ in the daze..." in Manorborn 2006 - Poems of Place available from The Harford Poetry & Literary Society:  www.harfordpoetrysociety.org 

Write an Ekphrastic Poem: 

 Try an ekphrastic poem. It's a poem written about a piece of art work. Perhaps just a description of the art; perhaps a poem speculating on what the artwork means; or maybe, how the art makes the poet feel. MSAC poet, Laura Shovan uses one of my poems as an example of an ekphrastic poem on her blog: http://tinyurl.com/vonnie-at-asian-art-center

 Some Fun Poetry Forms:

1- Try a cinquain (Sin-kane). It's a 5-line poem. Each line must tell something about the noun in the 1st line.

Line #: Syllables/ Description:

Line 1: 2 syllables/ NOUN

Line 2: 4 syllables/ description of noun in line 1

Line 3: 6 syllables/ action (about noun in line 1)

 Line 4: 8 syllables/ a feeling or emotion having to do with noun in line 1

 Line 5: 2 syllables/ another noun (often it means the same as the noun in line 1)

 2- Try a diamente (de-ah-Man-tay). It's a 7-line poem of opposites that usually takes on a diamond shape.

 Line: Number of words/ Description:

 Line 1: 1-word/ subject - noun, opposite of the word in line 7.

 Line 2: 2-words/ adjective describing subject in the 1st line.

 Line 3: 3-words/ participles (-ing or -ed action words) about subject of 1st line.

 Line 4: 4-words/ nouns, 1st two nouns about subject in 1st line, and last two nouns about subject of 7th line.

 Line 5: 3-words/ participles (-ing or -ed action words) about subject of 7th line.

 Line 6: 2-words/ adjective describing subject in the 7th line.

 Line 7: subject - noun, opposite of the word in line 1.

 3- Try a haiku (hi-koo). It's a 3-lined nature poem. A senryu is a 3-lined, 17-syllabled poem about humans (often humorous or satirical). A haiku that is about science fiction is called a scifaiku and a haiku about horror is called a horrorku!

 Line #: Requirements:

 Line 1: 5 syllables

 Line 2: 7 syllables

 Line 3: 5 syllables

 4- Try a tanka (tan-ka). It's a 5-lined poem that's like a haiku with 2 extra lines.

 Line #: Requirements:

 Line 1: 5 syllables

 Line 2: 7 syllables

 Line 3: 5 syllables

 Line 4: 7 syllables

 Line 5: 7 syllables

 5- Try a haibun (hi-bun) which combines a prose paragraph with a haiku that follows it. The haiku and paragraph can complement each other, or the haiku can summarize the paragraph.