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Poetry Society Blog

Published on October 22, 2019October 22, 2019 by Editorial Staff

Scroll down for our blog posts about various topics, poems from our publications, announcements of member publications, and events.

You Connect / Radhika Iyer

Published on September 15, 2021 by Editorial Staff

Ambush / Steve Williams

Published on August 27, 2021 by Editorial Staff

A hidden yellowjacket nest,
an ankle-twisting curb, those
hungry mosquitoes lurking
in the shade of the maple tree,
a practical joke at your expense,
that word that always used to be
at your fingertips – a threat
in every corner, except in bed
with the covers pulled up. Once
you’ve brushed away the spiders.

Steve Williams/ Munith, Michigan

Annual Contest Winners for 2021

Published on August 23, 2021August 25, 2021 by Editorial Staff

Category 1: Margo LaGattuta Memorial Award: Judge: Joy Gaines-Friedler

1^st I’d Have Painted Him in Altenburg,… Lynn Pattison, Kalamazoo, MI
2^nd Antinomy Thom Porter, Woodhaven, MI
3^rd Reverie at Slack Time Dr. Emory Jones, Iuka MS
HM Premonition Lori Zurvalec, Grosse Pointe, MI

Category 2: Chancellor’s Prize: Judge: Eric Torgersen

1^st How Will I Find Absolution Diana Hart, Kalamazoo, MI
2^nd Current Resume Art Curtis, Bellaire, MI
3^rd You Don’t Know Colleen Alles, Grand Rapids, MI
HM The Girl with a Green and a Brown Eye Nadia Ibrashi, Troy, MI

Category 3: Founder’s Prize: Judge: Russell Thorburn

1^st Michigan State Fair 1960’s Roberta Brown , Royal Oak, MI
2^nd Skinny Dipping at Cranbrook Janice Zerfas, Eau Claire, MI
3^rd Leaving Tawas, July 3rd Christian Belz, Pontiac, MI
HM New Buffalo Cassandra Caverhill, Ann Arbor, MI

Category 4: Barbara Sykes Memorial Humor Poem: Judge: Elizabeth Kerlikowske

1^st You Probably Are One Too Laura Sweeney, Bloomington, IL
2^nd Learning to Sit Ann Weil, Ann Arbor, MI
3^rd Shifting Gears Milton Bates, Marquette, MI
HM Not Yet Robotic Robert Erlandson, Birmingham, MI

Category 5: George Dila Memorial Prose Poem: Judge: Robert Fanning

1^st Toad Dawn McDuffie, Detroit, MI
2^nd Home Visit Patricia Barnes, Wyandotte, MI
3^rd Churned Terry Jude Miller, Richmond, TX
HM Sea of Stars Simon A. Thalmann, Kalamazoo, MI

Category 6: Nature: Judge: Alinda Wasner

1^st Wingbound II: Elegy Shy of Lamentation Barbara Saunier, Marne, MI
2^nd Call Winter Home Patricia Barnes, Wyandotte, MI
3^rd Swarm Warning Iris Underwood, Leonard, MI
HM Japanese Maple Diana Dinverno, Troy, MI

Category 7: Love: Judge: Sue William Silverman

1^st The World Will Always Welcome Lovers Barbara Saunier, Marne, MI
2^nd What Her Eyes Did Randy K. Schwartz, Ann Arbor, MI
3^rd Bringing Late Lorraine Jeffery, Orem, UT
HM A Sort of Love Poem John Jeffire, Macomb, MI

Category 8: Music: Judge: M. L. Liebler

1^st Song and Dance Nadia Ibrashi, Troy, MI
2^nd Music Ellen Lord, Charlevoix, MI
3^rd The House That Jack Built Sold On Jazz, Diana Cornell, Spring Lake, MI
HM Player of Player Pianos, a Love Poem, Sophia Rivkin, Southfield, MI

Category 9: Loss: Judge: Zilka Joseph

1^st New Widow Ellen Lord, Charlevoix, MI
2^nd Mothers Claire Scott, Oakland, CA
3^rd Noise Trek Janice Zerfas, Eau Claire, MI
HM there, then David Fitch, Lathrup Village, MI

Category 10: Women and Science: Judge: Diane DeCillis

1^st Fluids Leak Like Rivers Nadia Ibrashi, Troy, MI
2^nd I Am a Standard Candle Janice Zerfas, Eau Claire, MI
3^rd Brushstrokes and Stars Carla Dodd, Waterford Township, MI
HM Peggy Whitson Patricia Barnes, Wyandotte, MI

Congrtulations winners and thank you to all who entered!

WordView at Lowell Center for the Arts

Published on July 29, 2021July 29, 2021 by Editorial Staff

WordView is a series of workshops and discussions exploring the practice of collaboration between the visual and literary arts, culminating in a juried exhibition in the LowellArts Gallery, from January 8 to February 19, 2022. Click the logo above to learn more.

WordView is presented in partnership with the International Society of Experimental Artists and the Poetry Society of Michigan with funding in part from Michigan Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment For the Humanities.

Deep Freeze / Emory D. Jones

Published on July 3, 2021 by Editorial Staff

I am not going to say it is cold,
But when you milked the cows,
They gave ice cream,
And you could knock over
Any frozen goat.

The chickens hatched penguins,
And the horse snorted
Ice-sickles.

The windows of the house
Glazed over,
And as the inside heat
Melted the ice,
It became running rainbows.

The thermometer
Plunged to ten below zero,
And the trees exploded
Like cannon shots.

Now that was cold,
And if you believe me,
I will tell you another
Tall tale.

Emory D. Jones / Iuka, MS

New Sponsors for 2021 PSM Poetry Contest

Published on May 23, 2021 by Editorial Staff

PSM IS DELIGHTED TO ADD 4 NEW SPONSORS THIS YEAR

The Detroit Writers’ Guild (DWG) is sponsoring a new category, “Music,” in honor of Faruq Z. Bey, a visionary of Detroit’s modern jazz scene, saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. The Detroit Writers’ Guild was founded in 1983 for black authors in the Detroit Public School system. Today, the DWG has grown and now invites a diversity of community writers in the Detroit area to impact literary arts in all of its extraordinary forms and mediums. The DWG non-profit 501(c)(3) organization is led by M.L. Liebler as president. http://www.dwguild.org.

An endowed category recently added to the PSM Contest is “Women and Science” sponsored by Dr. Kathleen Decker. Poems should focus on the accomplishments and struggles of these women or even yourself. Lucile E. Thompson Decker was born in Grand Rapids in 1927. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Michigan State University in 1948, a Master’s degree in Chemistry from MSU and a PhD in Chemistry from MSU. Lucille and Kathleen were the first mother/daughter members of the American Chemical Society. She managed to raise two children while pursuing a full-time scientific career when many women were still homemakers.

Denise Sedman was great friends with Patricia A. Kearny and was an admirer of her poetry. Kearney passed at age 67 in March of 1999 and had a book of poetry published posthumously called “Skirting the Pain.” She was very active in the poetry scene and would often sing at readings. Denise Sedman is sponsoring the “Love” category in her honor. Denise has been a supporter of the Detroit Writers’ Guild since its relaunch in 2017, and a long-standing member of the Poetry Society of Michigan. Her poems are often written in prose about human issues in day-to-day living. She is an award winning poet and short story writer.

Honorary Chancellor Eric Torgersen taught Writing for 38 years at CMU. He has published seven books and chapbooks of poetry, most recently In Which We See Our Selves: American Ghazals, Mayapple Press; two novellas, and Dear Friend: Rainer Maria Rilke and Paula Modersohn-Becker, Northwestern University Press. He is married to the quilt artist Ann Kowaleski. He is sponsoring the 2021 “Chancellor’s Prize.”