Author: poetryfest

Submit your Poetry to the Festival. Three Options: 1) To post. 2) To have performed by an actor 3) To be made into a film.

Maybe, There Is Still Hope – Poetry Reading by Melissa R. Mendelson

Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the poet:

What is the theme of your poem?

Even when we are at our worst, there is still a splinter of hope.

What motivated you to write this poem?

We have been invaded with horrific news day after day, and in today’s world, there is a lot of fear and a lot of hate. And I fear that would kill humanity, but then natural disasters happen. And we move past all that monstrosity and remember the most important thing: To be human.

How long have you been writing poetry?

I started writing poetry in middle school and really got into it later in high school.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Sam Waterston. Seems like an interesting guy, and he was great in The Newsroom.

What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

Words carry weight, but when spoken, that weight resonates more.

Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

I have written numerous short stories over the years. A lot of my short stories have been published by various Ezines such as Gadfly Online and Antarctica Journal, and recently, I have self-published a few short stories on Amazon Kindle.

What is your passion in life?

Writing
 

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson

Camera Operator: Mary Cox

INDIAN SUMMER – Poetry Reading by Vihang A Naik

Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the poet: 

FFP : Festival For Poetry

VaN : Vihang A. Naik

FFP ) What is the theme of your poem?

VaN ) I was exploring the theme of Summer with reference to India . As against to western poetry cannon of poetry. As you find summer related poetry more romantic which one would not find in India . In India and eastern countries one would find hot unbearable summer which would make you think of hell. The spiritual experience associated with Summer.

FFP ) What motivated you to write this poem?

VaN ) The impulse running underneath the is letting go of physical and realising the spritual.

FFP ) How long have you been writing poetry?

VaN ) I have now been writing poetry since more than three decades .

FFP ) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

VaN ) Dinner reminds me of the last supper. I wish i was with nine Disciples of Christ.

FFP ) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

VaN ) To me poetry is performance as well along with reading it out aloud with certain specific rhythm.

And Festival for Poetry has come out with indescribable idea for performance reading my some one who

for other field of arts. An actor. It is always exciting to see how your poetry gets performed.

FFP ) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

VaN ) I practice writing poetry in Gujarati language ( my mother tongue ) besides translations

I often translate Gujarati language poetry into English language besides my own Gujarati language poetry .

FFP ) What is your passion in life?

VaN ) The ultimate passion in life is to be human. I love this life where we are human beings.

Is it not true that when you wake up to see the world and switch on your television

and you see all nations torn apart and that centre cannot hold …

Vihang A. Naik : Indian poet writing in English. He also writes in poetry in Gujarati and translates from Gujarati into English language. He lives and works in Gujarat, India. He can be visited at http://www.vihang.org

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson

Camera Operator: Mary Cox

Read Poetry: ANNABELLE, by Fadrian Bartley

Object succumb to silence from an alley of dark void

Fouls air flowing through the old wooden window

The expression of fear on the face of an old woman in a rocking chair

One finger prick by a cushion needle, when utters a verse of old riddle

 

Reflection from the moon through a dusty curtain

With the sound of a rushing wind swiftly disturb

Something flowing in the misty air looking to be settled

Trapped to an object of affection, a gift the child find infatuated

 

Doesn’t breath, no eyes to see

No trace of heartbeat pattering

Hollowed look and strange eyes, rest in the hand of a little girl

Standing at the doorway with a length of hair blowing in the misty wind

 

A metamorphic grandma have seen

The child utters ‘’you are in a dream’’

The slamming window and banging doors, the frighten child scream

And dropped a strange looking doll on the floor

 

A prayer whisper from the old widows lips

While a thick dark cloud causes the sun to eclipse

Only to lid a candle stick, she spoke ‘’pick up the doll my child’’

Foot steps ascending from the wooden floor beneath, And the child was nowhere to be found

 

The silence patter with an heartbeat

A  leaking pipe dripping softly from the other side of the silence

Up the stairs on wooden floor

Are heavy steps from tiny feet’s

The turning sounds of an open door, there stand a doll with hollowed creeps

Read Poetry: MOST AWAITED GUEST, by Soma Raje

When will the destiny fix our meeting? 
 When I’ll reach the table of my most awaited date..  
When we will have our very first eye contact  
When I’ll actually trust the meaning of fate… 
 
 I’m sick of pinch-hitters, I’m tired of being second.. 
 I don’t want any mean eyes around. 
 Come, crossing them all and hold my hand … 
 
 I’ve been searching for you. 
 Since I thought love exists..  
I know you are somewhere around. 
 Can’t see you because of the cruel midst … 
 
 Don’t you worry, I will not settle for lesser 
 As no one else can be better.. 
 For you, I’ll give my best 
 As baby! you being my most awaited guest …! 
 
 SOMA RAJE 
https://justagirlnextblog.wordpress.com/ 

Read Poetry: PAIN, by Carmen Silva

Category: Pain 
 
 
Drown, drown, drown in pain 
As it floats out of my own soul; 
Deep, deep, deep down into the earth it goes 
As it pours out my mouth as overflows. 
 
Deep, deep, deep my fingers dig the ground 
As I try burying the hurt; 
Choke, choke, choke with the dirt, myself can’t breathe  
As too deep down I go, I go, I go.

By Carmen Silva 

Written Nov. 1st, 2017 
Email: carmensilva@yahoo.com 
Twitter: @Carmen_Silva2 
IG: @carmen_silva_actress 
Website: carmensilva.net 

Read Poetry: At The Coffee Mill Bistro, by Merv Nickleman

I certainly got my fill, at the Coffee Mill,  
At the Coffee Mill, when I ate their breakfast grill. 
A truly awesome place to state the truth, 
Probably the reason Justin Bieber visited Maynooth! 
 
There’s damn fine coffee and pie. 
Super friendly staff, easy on the eye! 
Don’t let the moment pass you by, 
Grab yourself the daily special Chicken Pot Pie. 
 
I visit there daily still,  
For their phenomenal soup with Basil and Dill, 
I guess I always will, 
My home from home, at the Coffee Mill. 
 
(Inspired by the lyrics of the song – Blueberry Hill) 
—-
My poem is dedicated to my home from home and the awesome gang at the Coffee Mill Bistro, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
 

Read Poetry: Im Zweifel zur Wahrheit, by Erich Ruhl-Bady

Genres: Hope / Philosophical

Explanation/Interpretation:

 

You get closer to truth if you use your ability to doubt.

Doubt and truth are much closer to one another than you think.

The opposite of truth isn’t the lie but the indecisiveness.

 

 

Im Zweifel zur Wahrheit

 

Der Kompass geht im Überfluss

So lieblich gern verloren

Es bettet sich der Schnellverdruss

In manche kluge Foren

 

Der Wert des Menschen Endlichkeit

Schafft Auswahl im Dazwischen

Auf Grübeln folgt Entschlossenheit

Impulse woll’n sich mischen

 

Zur Wahrheit des Entscheidungswegs

Der Zweifel kennt die Maschen

Wer zweifelt braucht nicht aufzugeben

Er kann sich überraschen

 

Read Poetry: Unchanging Penitence, by J.N. McGhee

Genre: Dark, Sad

Love + me will always = pain.
Disappointments and knowledge are the results I gain.
Mending gradually yet the heart remains the same.
Closets are filled to capacity with no vacancy to place the blame.
I hate myself, this flesh never seems to redeem.
Outward appearances capture strangers’ eyes; their conjured reflections evade my dreams.
I’m not good enough; I will never be seen for who, not what, I truly am.
Perfection, requirements, and preferences overwhelm me like a dam.
Scars, bruises, and blemishes leave their mark.
Constant remainders chipping away at me like tree bark.
Beating myself emotionally, physically, mentally has left sensations numb. Damaged beyond repair; I’m an invisible shadow.
No sense of place nor time.
Just a faceless phantom.
No matter what people do to me, for it will never come close as to what I do to myself on the inside.
 I’ll return to that broken mirror forever trying to piece that which I’ve lost…..a shattered image.
Refusing to accept that part of me has died.
But I’ll keep right on coming; believing the lies.

© J.N. McGhee

Read Poetry: Freedom Of Thought, by Sujoy Bhattacharya

Stealing warmth from twinkling stars the Yamuna
was sleeping wearing the blanket of mist  . A rejected
 love soul tormented by the burning spasm of dejection
dragged his languid body lashing his reluctant strides
 with the stubbornness of his decision to  end his life
 drowning  into the placid abysmal depth of the river .
The dreaming Yamuna awakened by the vigorous jerk
 of her sixth sense  glanced on the man standing on
 her bank . Reading his mind she requested Thor to
drink all her water for some time so that the man
 can’t commit suicide. The vanished river bewildered the
man to positive thinking and an ebullient life was saved .

Watch Poetry Movie: A Love Letter To My Best Friend // Mangoes

Mangoes is a queer, cinematic collaboration between Canadian spoken word artist, Andrew Warner, and Mexican writer-director, Sofia Auza. It explores the relationship between two friends with several mental illnesses through visual poetry and spoken word.

A short film about mental illness and a couple of friends.

Written and performed by Andrew Warner.
Shot, directed, and edited by Sofia Auza.