help me win $5000 to fund my art!
this will only take a minute!
how? help me have the most meaningful conversation! now and continuing a month from now!
STEP 1: i want to know: what do you want a poem about? and/or what do you consider poetry?
STEP 2: join the conversation on
gravity.com: http://tinyurl.com/2ew5vp3.
just log in & answer the question.
takes 3 minutes or less!
END RESULT: help me win $5000 to keep writing poems & teaching poetry to the elderly!
NOTE: YOU HAVE TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON GRAVITY. ANSWERS IN OTHER PLACES DON’T COUNT!
tell your friends, your lovers, your frienemies, anybody, everybody!
thank you!
yours in poetry & gratitude,
silvi
p.s. once you join, you can comment again and again! so when you want poems about something else, tell me! when you have more thoughts about what poetry means to you, tell me! when you have questions about poetry, ask!
Filed under Uncategorized | Tags: CEYA, definition of poetry, gravity.com, institute on aging, maker faire, on demand poems, poetry, poetry on demand, silvi alcivar, the poetry store | Comment (0)the poetry store does weddings.
wedding #1: march 6, 2010/sun valley, idaho
i had never before imagined my own wedding, and suddenly, there i was, imagining myself someday having a wedding like this: a cozy lodge with a little bar and just a few tables, candles lighting the place, the magic of mountains and winter cold outside, a single barefoot musician playing acoustic guitar so beautifully that even the little kids stopped running, sat down, crossed their legs, craned their necks upwards, and watched.
what an honor it was to be sitting at a wooden bar on pieces of wood fashioned together to make a chair, sitting with my red royal, my carbon paper, my pre-prepped frames, learning about so many people and their relationships to each other, witnessing their love and admiration for the newly married couple, a & j. what an honor it was to invite them all to receive a special gift from the bride and groom—a poem, about anything they wanted, as a “thank you for coming to our wedding and being part of this day.”
for hours i talked to people and wrote poems, delighting in the fact that everyone asked for a poem for, or about, someone they loved. some poems made people laugh. some made people say, “wow.” and almost everyone asked, “how do you do that?” (to which i always say, “i’m not sure, but i feel really blessed that i can.) some poems even made some people cry. a best friend of the bride told me she went somewhere private to sob a little after reading her poem and she said her husband got choked up too and instead of crying he just said something like, “well, damn.”
admittedly, the song a & j danced to (an original by the barefoot guitarist) marked the fifteenth time in the night i almost cried. but it wasn’t just the music that got me. it was the love in the room amongst forty-five people who did not all know each other before hand, a love that was more than wedding day cordial; it was palpable, like honey dripping from people’s lips. i mean, i was a perfect stranger, hired to write poems, and yet every person i talked to felt like a friend.
in a toast, a’s brother said she was the kind of person who was comfortable anywhere—hobnobbing with socialites or drinking a beer on the back of a pick up. yes, that was precisely it, what made the night feel so perfect—a & j and the kind of people they surround themselves with, people who are genuine, easy to laugh, open. what a gift.
and what a gift this poet got from the magic of strangers meeting over a typewriter to celebrate love and friendship.
plus, i’ll never forget seeing the rocky mountains rising like teeth cutting tough skin. the guy sitting next to me on the plane telling me they called these the sawtooths. yes, i thought, perfect, like the remnants of some giant carcass spread over sun valley, the mouth of a great whale open wider than nature would ever allow.
it strikes me now that’s what the night was–love open as wide as human beings know how to allow.
note: the poetry store wedding services include writing poems on demand, providing frames and/or paper, creating a book of the poetry written at the wedding for the bride & groom to keep, creating poetry center pieces, creating poetry gifts, typing invitations and/or invitation address labels, and any thing else your heart might desire that fits into the scope of what the poetry store does, and, of course, that fits into a typewriter. prices vary depending on what services you’d like. interested in having the poetry store become part of your wedding? just ask.
Filed under Events | Tags: poetry, wedding favors, wedding gifts, wedding poetry, weddings | Comment (0)your valentine wants a poem.
the corporate holiday is here again. do something different. send your valentine* a one-of-a-kind poem. about anything you want.**
*including, but not limited to: love (requited or not), gratitude, friendship, birds, coyotes, jellyfish.
**don’t think you have a valentine? here is a list of potentials. pick one: your lover, want to be lover, jilted lover, secret crush, not-so-secret crush, mom, dad, baby (especially your soon-to-be born or christened), brother, sister, cousin, niece, nephew, children (biological, adopted, and/or given up for adoption), mom, lover (new, old, jilted, wanna be), ex’s (yes, all of them), crush, co-worker, boss, landlord, aunt, uncle, santa, satan (i.e. paradise lost), lover, old friends (yes, all of them), new friends, soon-to-be friends (yes, poems help you keep & make friends!), boyfriend, girlfriend, friendfriends (yes, all of them), acquaintances, fracquaintances, sculptor friend, painter neighbor, poet lover, your writer sister, reader dad, computer techie crush (see also: anyone who has ever said, “i’m as creative as a roll of toilet paper.”), anyone is your life celebrating a birthday, wedding, anniversary, bar/bat mitzvahs, or reunion, you dog, cat, bird, lizard, fish, grandma, grandpa, and (did i mention) your lover!
Filed under Uncategorized | Tags: corporate holiday, coyotes, dogs, hallmark holiday, jellyfish, love, love poems, Poems, poetry, san francisco valentine's event, valentine, valentine's day, valentine's day poetrry | Comment (0)the poetry store at
yes, it’s true. the poetry store, along with two other on demand poets, will be writing poems this sunday from 11am-4pm at SFMOMA’s koret visitor education center. this is a family event, so if you’ve got little ones, or can steal your friend’s for the day, bring them by and we will happily write you poems, free of charge and so much fun!
here’s more info from http://www.sfmoma.org/events/1569:
Join in the museum’s 75th anniversary festivities! Connect with San Francisco’s unique history of design, poetry, film, and cafe culture with hands-on activities, family-friendly films, a Poetry Cafe, live music, and more.
11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Koret Visitor Education Center
Let art fuel your imagination, then set your ideas on paper and perform your poem with the help of local poets. Live jazz adds to the inspiration.
Family Film Screenings: Early Cartoons
11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m.
Phyllis Wattis Theater
This program features animated classics first screened at SFMOMA in the early days of the museum’s film program, from Winsor McCay’sGertie the Dinosaur (1914) to Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie (1928), one of the first appearances of Mickey Mouse.
11:30 a.m.
Walt Disney, The Skeleton Dance, 1929, 6 min.
Walt Disney, Steamboat Willie, 1928, 8 min.
Winsor McCay, Gertie the Dinosaur, 1914, 12 min.
12:30, 1:30, and 2:30 p.m.
George Dunning, Cadet Rouselle, 1947, 9 min.
Anthony Gross and Hector Hoppin, Joie de Vivre, 1934, 6 min.
Walt Disney, The Skeleton Dance, 1929, 6 min.
Walt Disney, Steamboat Willie, 1928, 8 min.
Part of Museum free family days. Program and admission are free.
Filed under Uncategorized | Tags: children events san francisco, kids activities, Poems, poetry, SFMOMA | Comment (0)the poetry store is a holiday shop
the poetry store is here to help you meet all your crafty* holiday gift giving needs.
this season, take back the sweater you got your mom, the tie you got your dad, the underwear you got your boyfriend.
instead, stuff stockings with poems, decorate mom’s mantle with an illustrated poem, refresh dad’s nightstand with a framed poem, fill your book-loving boyfriend’s books with book mark poems, and order poems by post for your friends far and wide.
trust me, people love poems.** and who doesn’t want a custom gift made especially for them?
*bonus: the poetry store helps you look crafty, even if you’re not crafty at all!
**people who love poems: moms; dads; babies (especially the soon-to-be born or christened); brothers; sisters; cousins; nieces; nephews; children (biological, adopted, and given up for adoption); moms; lovers (new, old, jilted, wanna be); ex’s; crushes; co-workers; bosses; landlords; santa; satan (i.e. paradise lost); moms; old friends; new friends; soon-to-be friends (poems help you keep & make friends!); boyfriends; girlfriends; friendfriends; moms; acquaintances; fracquaintances; sculptors; painters; poets; writers; readers; computer techies (see also: anyone who has ever said, “i’m as creative as a roll of toilet paper.”); people celebrating birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, bar/bat mitzvahs, reunions; dogs; cats; birds; lizards; fish; grandmas; grandpas; (did i mention) moms!
Filed under Events, Uncategorized | Tags: crafty, custom gifts, great gifts, holiday shop, moms, Poems, poetry, stocking stuffers | Comment (0)
