Postcard Poems Story aired: Thursday, July 17, 2003
Postcard poems are poems 14 lines or under (something that could fit on the back of a postcard), descriptive of a place, pretty much written in the present tense, as though the person was sitting there writing it on a postcard. It doesn't have to be about a vacation spot, it could be a backyard or an office even, if that's where the poet is writing from.
The deadline for submission is Friday July 25, 2003.
How to Submit:
Mail a postcard poem to:
Here and Now WBUR, 3rd Floor 890 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA 02215
You may also email a poem to us at letters@here-now.org. Please include the phrase "postcard" in the subject line.
Here are some examples from our roving poets:
Building Molly Saccardo
Just before the crashing of the waves--sand, wet by buckets of water, grows to a gritty complex of bridges, turrets, towers and tunnels. Yellow shovels and blue trowels shape the structures. Small hands pat, pat the sand in place. Construction began with two young boys. They enlisted a dad to haul water. Three more boys and a big brother couldn?t resist the dig. Now a mom adds seaweed and shells to the dwellings. Like an orchestra, each member performs in harmony for the whole. Like symphony music, the majesty will fade with the departure of the players.
Postcard to Billy Collins Jim Behrle
You'll think I'm kidding. Here the days last 30 seconds and the nights a year. Everything is as can be expected from birds, trees, stars. Billy, I saw your face in a puddle, lit with laughter. I figured you'd be mad, these lines long and untangling, squirting like suid legs off the postcard like yarn, which I just miswrote as "yawn."
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SPECIAL FEATURE:
View detail of Jim Behrle's "Postcard to Billy Collins."
