Weighed Words - Solace in a Book

A monarch drops by

09/24/2015 By Ellen Beals Leave a Comment

Just when I was thinking how the garden looked tired and that beauty was fading from my back yard, I received this visitor. … [Read more...]

Happy Autumn! Big congrats to Solace in So Many Words contributor Joe Meno who has a new book (his ninth). It's called Marvel and A Wonder (from Akashic Books). It's gotten great reviews from various readers, from MTV News to Library Journal. Booklist gave it a starred review: “Evoking William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy, Meno’s suspenseful, mordantly incisive, many-layered tale can also be read as an equine Moby-Dick. As he tracks the bewildering seismic shifts under … [Read more...]

Commiseration

09/17/2015 By Ellen Beals Leave a Comment

Last week was National Suicide Prevention Week. I should have posted this poem then. No matter. I offer it to anyone who has screwed up, to anyone who feels shame so deep they don't know how to get out from under it. I'm rooting for you. Commiseration This poem is for those who have whispered in desperate urgency: “Let me get away with it this time.” Perhaps finished this invocation with a promise to change: “Lord,” you may have called upon a power … [Read more...]

Gone fishin’

09/05/2015 By Ellen Beals Leave a Comment

Happy Labor Day . . . see you later in September . . . I am off for a long weekend. Peace, love, and solace P.S. Don't forget I am always looking for new stuff to post here -- hit me up at weighedwords at gmail. … [Read more...]

Call for submissions and a little inspiration (maybe)

08/31/2015 By Ellen Beals

Over the weekend I became aware of the Poetry Center of Chicago's call for submissions "Poets Look at Paintings" so I thought I'd share that info with you. What is sought are ekphrastic poems -- deadline is September 21. If your work is chosen you will be expected to read on November 18 when the Poetry Center will host a reading event. In 1974 "Poets Look at Paintings" was the Poetry Center's first-ever live event. The event this fall will revive the original concept: … [Read more...]