March Against Gun Violence

They sat in the dark
that afternoon
as the chaos unfolded;
The killing spree.

Gun laws need to change.

"No more silence,
end gun violence."

"No more hate;
we just want to graduate."

It's the voice of a new generation.

We need action.
We need change.

This generation will be the change.

© Catherine Giordano, 2017

The March for Our Lives brought a million people to Washington DC and hundreds of thousands showed up to marches all over the country and the world. In Orlando, as many as 10,000 people marched at Lake Eola. 

It's been a while since a did a News Print Poem, but the eloquence and courage of these young people amaze me, and I just had to write a tribute to them.  

Our Community Will Heal

by Catherine Giordano  

The front page
of the Orlando Sentinel

The horror.

The outrage.

The grief.

The worst mass shooting

in American history.

A heinous act of brutality.

A massacre of 50 souls.

The wounding of dozens more.

A community in mourning.

Coming together,

To honor and remember the dead,

To comfort their families

Orlando

Uniting, Enduring,

in the midst of tragedy.

Orlando strong!

© Catherine Giordano

June 2012

Every now and then, something so noteworthy happens that I feel compelled to make note of it with a news print poem.  The terrorist attack on a nightclub in Orlando, Florida in the early hours of Sunday morning (around 2 AM), June 12, 2016 was that type of event. On the following Monday, The Orlando Sentinel printed a front page stand-alone editorial which became the basis of this poem. 

Comet Landing

Philae and Rosetta and the Comet

A
  slow
    motion
      descent.
to the surface
    of a comet--
Philae gently landed.

 

The Roseta orbiter,

The Philae lander
--Four billion miles of space travel--
--Ten whole years of space travel—
finally,

    met up

        with the comet,

a slash

CLICK HERE

     of dust

         and ice.

We are on the comet!

The Philae lander

up close and personal
     with a comet. .

Taking

     its temperature,
Sampling
     its dust,
Viewing
     its inky black landscape.

 

© 2014 Catherine Giordano

On November 13, 2014 The Philae lander separated from the Rosetta lander and after 10 years in space it made a near flawless landing on a comet.  It began sending back information about the comet. 

Unfortunately, the harpoons that were supposed to stick the lander to the comet failed to deploy, and the comet began to bounce.  Its third bounce wedged it into a crevice where it could not get enough sunlight to charge its batteries. 

 Philae is silent now, but if it should happen to feel the sun on its face once again, it may awaken to send back more data.

Poetry Woman

A Blackout Poem

by Catherine Giordano

I thought this rare edition of Volume 1 Number 1of Poetry--A Magazine of Verse from 1912 would be a suitable canvas for a black out poem.

There were only a limited number of words to work with, but I think I eked out a small poetic sentiment.

Blackout poetry is an example of found poetry, just as my new print poems are examples of found poetry. There are many other techniques.

I wrote a brief introduction to found poetry explaining the various techniques.  Click to read it:

Found Poetry: The News Print Poetry Project

The verse reads:

Poetry
       Woman
   One Unknown
          Symphony of 
                                   Grace
                                                the motive

Don't worry. A priceless historical artifact of poetry was not defaced to create this poem.  It was all done digitally.



The original magazine cover

Thank you for sharing, liking and tweeting.

Thank you for reading and commenting..

       



Over and Over Again

© Catherine Giordano 2014

by  Catherine Giordano

After doing well over 400 news print poems, I thought black out poems would be easy for me. 

Blackout poems are not easy for me! I have spent over two weeks trying to find text in the Orlando Sentinel to use. Today I found an interview with a restaurant owner and transformed it into a (sort of) love poem.

It took over two hours to "find" the poem in this text. A news print poem, once I have selected the text I am going to use, usually takes about 30 to 60 minutes. I didn't realize how lucky I was to do my first blackout poem so easily.  (CLICK HERE to see the poem.)

Blackout poets: I salute you. 

I wrote a web article about my experiences doing news print poetry. If you have a moment, take a glance at it.  It's

Found Poetry: The News Print Poetry Project

P.S.: If you are interested in learning to write poetry, I have recommended a couple of books on the lower left-hand side of this page.

Found Poetry Explosion

A head full of found poetry

I finished the News Print Poetry 2012 Project on December 31 2012, and although I occasionally added a new poem in subsequent years, I considered the project done.

 Well, nothing is ever done.  This week I did more.

• I wrote an article  about Found Poetry on HubPages and I included a blackout poem that I did especially for the article.  CLICK HERE.

• I discovered found poetry that incorporates a strong artistic visual element and I created a pinterest board devoted to it. CLICK HERE.

• I discovered other books (besides mine) devoted to found poetry--The found Poetry Review is an annual collection of the best found poems. CLICK HERE

One things leads to another; the journey is never over.

She Shot Her Husband

A man shot dead on a bed.

A woman in custody.

Her husband shot dead

in Ormond-by-the-Sea.

She shot her husband.

Found dead on a bed

with a gun beside him.

An autopsy

will be conducted.

No decision before then.

© Catherine Giordano 2014

No particular significance to this poem  It’s been a while since I did a new poem and I was attracted to this story by the rhyme and slant rhyme.

Please share this poem: tweet, "like" and "+1"

Please "follow" so you don't miss any of my reviews.

Please click the amazon shopping cart (above left) to buy from amazon.com

Or Murder She Did.

Read the newest 

Murder She Wrote

by Jessica Fletcher