Posted in Creativity, Culture, Poetry, tagged creative writing, modern poetry, Poetry, Writing on 15 Mar 2024| Leave a Comment »
what if this
is heaven
where love rains down
on dreaming fields
to feed a soul’s desire
what if this
is hell
where acidic hates flood
shanty-clad plains
to burn flesh bone-deep
what if this
is both
where the ebb and flow
is merely a response
to our intention
k
Posted in Creativity, Gardening, Poetry, tagged context, creative writing, gardening, history, modern poetry, Music, Poetry, praetorius, renaissance music, Writing on 17 Aug 2023| Leave a Comment »
Walking my garden paths
fingers inspecting leaves
snips cutting spent blossoms
I hum a tune born
four centuries past
across continents
and seas
I wonder if the author
as he wove his tapestry
of notes and voices
imagined his music
would live beyond his life
persist through time
as empires rose
and fell
I wonder if he
as the ink dried on
quavers and triads
imagined his melodies
would grace the flower-scented air
of distant gardens
in a land
unknown
Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged creative writing, Creativity, modern poetry, nonsense poetry, Poetry, Writing, writing tips on 03 Aug 2023| 5 Comments »
do not put vowels
in the dishwasher
as they are made
of air and intention
and will likely melt
consonants are built
of sturdier stuff
and may go in
the upper rack
punctuation is best stored
in the garage with
nuts and bolts and
other fasteners
words once crafted may be
machine-washed and tumble-dried on low
but avoid fabric softener
unless the water is
especially hard
take time assembling
phrases and sentences
aligning them to the meridian
in a clean well-lighted place
free from excessive drafts
paragraphs benefit most
from a finish on the line
in springtime when the
breath of the waking world
begins to blow
non-fiction requires precision
and regular maintenance
so for peak performance
tune to 4° before
top dead center
patience is recommended
when assembling fiction
to ensure tight seams
and a proper fit
stir poetry
over low heat
until reduced
by half
k
Posted in Poetry, tagged aging, creative writing, modern poetry, Poetry, quiet living, Serenity, Writing on 08 Jun 2023| Leave a Comment »
he took the time
looked up at day’s end
at sun-fired clouds
watching
slow subtle shifting
rose red orange
spark flame ember
glowing rusting cooling
he took the time
enjoyed the splash
of shadowed flights
on the sunset canvas
hard-edged jetliner dark-winged crow arrow-fast songbird
from farthest to nearer to near
all the layered worlds
sunlight to twilight
that lay between
his eye and the heavens
he took the time
not for the beauty
filling the space
between his heartbeats
but to give time its due
not to be spent filled wasted
but lived in
a constant transition
a string of nows
reaching
from dark to dark
without end
Posted in Poetry, tagged creative writing, humanity, modern poetry, Poetry, unity, Writing on 10 Nov 2022| 3 Comments »
we are
eight billion quilts
fashioned of threadbare cloth
stitched by blind hands
in a darkened room
uniquely alike
consistently different
or
are we
eight billion pieces
of patchwork pain
and remnant joy
a masterwork revealed
only when we see
not the threads of our lives
but the pattern of our existence
Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged creative writing, modern poetry, Poetry, Relationships, Writing on 31 Oct 2022| Leave a Comment »
she’s a night owl
and I rise before dawn
which gives us both
a few hours alone
to miss each other
Posted in Creativity, Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged book marketing, creative writing, marketing, novel writing, self-publishing, Writing on 13 Oct 2022| 2 Comments »
“Has John read your books?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean? You guys talk about books all the time.”
“Well, sure. But not about my books.”
The above snippet of dialogue is verbatim from this past weekend, and it is Exhibit A in the case of Why I Absolutely Suck at Marketing.
In general, I do not know which of my friends have read any of my books. Yes, there are some exceptions to this—beta readers for a certainty, those who’ve expressed an opinion about a title—but if pressed, I know of only eight people who have definitely read one (or more) of my titles. And two of them are dead, so I’m really down to only six. That small list gets longer if I include people who I know have bought my books; but have they read them? One acquaintance told me flat out that she bought my books but did not read any of them, so I don’t take equate purchases with readers.
Why am I so in the dark on this topic? Because it is how I was raised. And it’s also my nature.
A big lesson of my youth was, “Don’t show off.” My father was insistent about this. “You have talents,” he would tell me, “but don’t get cocky, don’t show off, because there’s always going to be someone out there who’s richer or smarter or more talented than you are.” The subtext, coming from the grandson of a charcoal burner (yeah, it’s a real occupation), was essentially “Pride goeth before a fall.” Humility, my dad felt, consistently won over more people than braggadocio.
This fit well with my introverted mien. I have absolutely zero desire to “show off” and put myself in the spotlight (this blog notwithstanding), so self-deprecation and “hiding my lamp under a bushel” aren’t second nature; they’re first nature.
As a result, there are people who know me who don’t know that I’ve written nine novels (and counting). I don’t introduce myself, saying, “Hi, I’m Kurt. I’ve written nine novels. Heard of me? Want to read one?” In this age of self-publishing, being an accomplished novelist isn’t as big a deal as it used to be. Folks who learn of my bibliography might smile and nod, but the look in their eye betrays their unspoken reservations about the probable quality of my work.
None of this is to say I’m not proud of my books—I am—but there are just too many variables to the “Hi, I’m a writer” gambit. Nearly 20% of Americans didn’t read any books in the past year (print, e-book, or audiobook), and about half of the population has read fewer than six titles (and which ones do you think they’re going to buy? Mine?). Then there’s genre-preference, with “historical”-anything being at the low end of the popularity scale (and my stuff all being “historical”-something or other). Taken as a whole, there is absolutely no reason for me to expect that anyone I know is going to enjoy my books; the odds are simply against it.
Marketing is essentially nothing but “Look at me!” show-offery, and that is totally antithetical both to my attitude and to my nature. So, I suck at it.
However, this whole cover redux journey I recently began is nothing but marketing. Sort of. So, I’m a little conflicted. And a little anxious about the whole idea.
Still gonna do it, though.
k
Unraveling Time
Desert Wind
Ploughman's Son
Ploughman King
The Year the Cloud Fell
The Spirit of Thunder
Shadow of the Storm
The Cry of the Wind
Beneath a Wounded Sky
Cryptogenesis: A Memoir
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 