Speechless – poem by Bruce Whealton">Speechless – poem by Bruce Whealton
Published March 10, 2010 | 
">Bruce WhealtonSpeechless
Shyness can be like writer’s block
and vice versa…
There are times like this,
right now, when I know,
I have something to say.
I can feel it…
The desire is strong
and yet, I feel speechless…
nothing comes out,
It’s almost like I lost
my capacity to use language.
And all I have
is this internal dialog.
I go to write something
and some critical voice
stops me -
“That’s boring!”
“Start over!”
No, don’t say that.
You think anyone will listen
when that’s the best
you can come up with?
Don’t bother.
And so I say nothing.
You can find my poetry by me at: http://brucewhealton.us
Wow! 9 of my Dark/Horror poems being published">Wow! 9 of my Dark/Horror poems being published
Published January 4, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonI just got news that I have 9 more publications to add to my credits! Nine, that’s a pick me up for the day/week. Aphelion, the Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy is going to publish in February, my poem “The Angel of Death Offers Consolation.” In addition to this, I am having 8 other poems, similar dark poems published, including the following: “Shelter,” “A Warning,” “The Lingering Scent,” “The Name,” “The Great Escape,” “A Modern Day Van Helsing,” “Sensuous and Strong as the Serpent,” and “Becoming.”
That poem appears again below with the introductory information that goes with the poem.
“Courtland Smith died after being shot by an Archdale police officer. Smith had
called 911 threatening suicide, and adding that he had a gun and had
been drinking.” For a full story read here:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5880002/
This poem is inspired by the Angel of Death series of poems by Jean Jones. Read more of the Angel of Death poems by Jean Jones here:
http://wsmagazine.net/VolumeXIVNoIV/books-published-by-word-salad/book/4-the-angel-of-death-by-jean-jones/4-other-poetry-publications.html
The Angel of Death Offers Consolation
The Angel of Death approached
Courtland
as he stood holding a drink
alone, crying, hoping no one would see him.
“Let’s go for a ride.”
“Who are you?”
“Someone who loves you,
who understands you
and what you are going through.”
“I can’t see your face.”
“That’s ok, I can see you.”
So they got into his car
and began a long talk
as Courtland drove through
the dark streets.
Observers would have said he was alone
in the car but Courtland would have
told them differently…
he would have told of a beautiful woman
riding with him.
“They don’t understand you
and won’t take you seriously…
Go ahead…
Call 911 and tell them what you are going to do!”
“I can’t do it.”
“Go ahead, call them, you’ll see.
They don’t understand you like I do…
No one ever will…”
So he did call 911.
The Angel of Death kept speaking to him
as he drove,
as he became more
desperate.
“There’s only one way you can be
with me forever,” the Angel of Death told Courtland.
“I can’t do it,” he answered.
“They’re not going to take you seriously
just because you cry.
Make them understand the depth of your pain…
Tell them you have a gun with you
and you’re ready to end your life now.
Then they’ll listen.”
So, he told them 911 operator
just what the Angel of Death had said.
The next several moments
he spent listening to the 911 operator
in one ear
and the Angel of Death in the other,
until all he could hear
was the soothing hypnotic voice
of the Angel of Death.
When he came to a traffic light
he didn’t hear the police man telling him
to stay in the car.
“Do you really want to be with me,
forever?” the Angel of Death asked him.
“Then take this and go.
Go ahead. You can do it.
They’ll remember you now!”
The next
sounds to be heard
were from the police.
Four gunshots.
“Shots fired.”
“Man down.”
Poem by Bruce Whealton
August 31, 2009
Jean Jones Reads "Aftermath" at the Bottega for Word Salad's Anniversary Celebration">Jean Jones Reads "Aftermath" at the Bottega for Word Salad's Anniversary Celebration
Published October 25, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonHere, in the video below, we have Jean Jones reading his poem “Aftermath” from his “Angel of Death” collection. You can find Jean’s collection here on Word Salad: http://wsmagazine.net/VolumeXIVNoIV/books-published-by-word-salad/category/4-other-poetry-publications.html along with other poems by Jean and some by myself.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=170WhgNiyW0[/youtube]
Word Salad's Aniversary Celebration – Scott Urban Reads">Word Salad's Aniversary Celebration – Scott Urban Reads
Published October 25, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonWord Salad Poetry Magazine celebrated 15 years in publication by holding an event at the Bottega in Wilmington, NC. Word Salad started in Wilmington in 1995. In this video Scott Urban reads a few different poems, including poems from the collection Puncture Wounds, which features poetry by Scott Urban and Bruce Whealton.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb1w3lE7x5s[/youtube]
Eternity – Poem by Bruce Whealton">Eternity – Poem by Bruce Whealton
Published October 20, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonEternity
My friend said the spiritual world
exists outside time…
That’s hard for the the mind to grasp.
Sometimes, I think I understand.
I’ve heard that heaven
is about peace and perfect bliss
and infinity.
There have been times,
I do remember,
though not in many years,
but I do remember
where time seemed to stop
or lose all meaning
and for that moment
I didn’t perceive things
as a sequence of events -
there was just that one moment
and in that moment,
I felt both completely at peace
and I felt complete bliss.
That’s a place where I want to return…
again and again
and forever.
By Bruce Whealton
October 10, 2009
Reflections on my Wilmington visit and a poem">Reflections on my Wilmington visit and a poem
Published July 21, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonThis vacation/visit to Wilmington, NC was so wonderful. It was so great to connect with friends that I’ve not seen in so long. It was great to see Jean, who was a wonderful host and to connect with Thomas. I met a new friend, Ryan Miller, who had heard things about me from Jean. On Friday he asked how long it had been since Thomas and I last saw each other and we both said nine years. I couldn’t believe it. Nine years! I certainly hope that I never go nine years again between seeing good friends.
Also, as I reflect on things, it is important to put things into a certain context. These last years have been difficult and my self-esteem and sense of worth has been very, very low. I’ve often felt alone and unlikeable among other things. Loneliness has been a theme as I think of these years lately. That probably made me more sensitive to negative feelings or a lack of recognition or to jump to conclusions that are negative and such. It’s easy to lament things lost, the past and to be almost pathetically nostalgic.
Meeting friends that have known me and were so glad to see me did challenge those negative feelings and make me feel good and like I do have friends. While that’s true, those feelings that of extra sensitivity to rejection probably made me sentimental in remembering a certain past, if that makes sense. Maybe that’s what this next poem is about…I thought about a title of feeling welcome but so far I’m not sure. The title I have implies my efforts to escape, through my own efforts and changing my thoughts, feelings of lonliness.
Escaping feelings of Loneliness
Why does time have to pass? Why do things change? I still remember Dusty at the Coastline Convention Center - poet, singer, host... because as a new poet perhaps I needed to feel welcomed. A place a person a memory and my tears... Returning to Wilmington I found there's a new place to go for poetry. I went there Sunday, late afternoon, and felt so unnoticed almost a vibration of a certain loneliness I had come to associate with my life lately, though I was with a good friend and we just walked out... Maybe I just missed a time and Dusty and how she always made me feel welcome... maybe I needed that more than ever before this time in my life - Yes, that is it!
by Bruce Whealton
July 21, 2009
My poems appeared at Childe Bryde">My poems appeared at Childe Bryde
Published May 24, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonRecently, three of my poems appeared at Childe Bryde – a publication about women and equality. The link to my publication is here: http://childebryde.art.officelive.com/bwhe.aspx
and the poems appear as follows:
[inspired by readings from an interpretation of Genesis in the publication, "The Woman's Bible," by Elizabeth Cady Stanton.]The Fall of Woman
Why was man so stupid, in the beginning, in Eden? You, God, gave him directions, Guidance. The serpent approached the woman, thinking, "If I can convince the woman, the man will follow." With cunning he tricked her and she did eat of the forbidden fruit and her husband did follow. She said "eat," and he ate. It was so simple. Confronted by God, he blames the woman, subjugating himself, as if he lacked the will. The first and greatest curse on mankind, male and female, was to allow man to be in charge of things from this point. >>>>Guide me, Mom
I am an infant - your son, in your arms, God, nourished at your breast, warmed by your milk, Mother. Don't let me go. As man or infant, and son, I come to you. Lying back in your arms, listening to your heart and my heart together. Speak to this boy, this man. I don't know what to do. I'm afraid I'll make a mistake. Tell me where to go, and what to do. Take my hand, Guide me. >>>>>Mother, Protector
Mother, I am vulnerable, food for predators. Protect me as a bear protects her cubs. Devour the enemy, that would devour me. >>>>>In Search of Sophia
I come to you - Sophia - bright, dazzling white, surrounded by translucent angels. My eyes never leave such a sight. You are the Wisdom of God! The manifestation of the Divinity! Can I know the point where earth ends and heaven begins? the place where we all go? you've painted the earth in darkness, God. mere shadows of what once was, hope is but a curse here. You've shut all doors to the past and to my future. I only see a stairway. >>>>Prayer for Comfort
“Now lay back in the chair, resting your feet in the chair in front of you, begin with a few deep breaths, breathing in relaxation breathing out tension becoming more and more relaxed.” Sister Jean was guiding us in a new way to pray. I had come for comfort and consolation - I was grieving and needed a mother a heavenly Mother who would hold me in her arms. She continued, “Now begin to feel yourself resting in the arms of God. Let go relax deeper and deeper you drift into re-lax-a-tion. Feel yourself supported in the arms of a loving compassionate God... Held close, softly. A God that listens and understands and cares. Look into her eyes” - Did she say 'her' eyes? I asked myself... that was what I was hearing. “Tell her what you are feeling.” Take all the time you need now, to be with your God, in her arms, comforted in a state of complete relaxation.” This is what I remember... Like it was yesterday. Someone from church reminded me of this. © 2009 Bruce Whealton
After the Fire – poem by Bruce Whealton">After the Fire – poem by Bruce Whealton
Published April 25, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonAfter the Fire
I remember a red photo album that I kept of the first girl I ever loved - Celta - and there was this fire about two or so years ago, back in early 2007, in one of the rooms in the apartment where I was living... it seemed so chillingly ironic because that was how she died, back on New Years eve of 1990, in a fire. I was told she didn't suffer and that it was quick but they wouldn't open the casket and as strange as it may seem at the funeral I really wanted to open that casket yet I was also terrified of that very idea. I remember crying so uncontrollably at the funeral... I don't even remember crying before that ever. If I did I don't remember. And through the next year of 1991, I just remember crying or wanting to die or go away somewhere in my mind... I've been thinking about this just recently, I believe this is a fear I still face, that nothing remains, no matter how important or valuable or how loved, I just seem to see people and relationships disappear (like a bad dream) or in a vampire movie or show, where the vampire just turns to ashes. Like the photo album that I held while it was still burning, in that fire, a couple years ago. It was strange that it had to happen in just that one room. If the curtains went up in flames in the kitchen they could have been replaced... just as the clothing I lost can be replaced but not those photos... not when the negatives are lost... and several years of my poetry was gone as well, when the computer was destroyed in that fire. I don't even know where Celta is buried now... I went there once way back in 1991, after she died... I was crying so hard at the funeral that her mother told me not to come to the burial... and so I didn't... but I went to the cemetery later... found where she is buried in a a mausoleum, which probably cost more than a years rent where she was living when she died. I don't even know what her mother's last name is or how to reach her sister and ask for some photos of Celta - why do people just seem to disappear? For a while after Celta died, I would see and visit her mother but at some point, for reasons I don't know that stopped. I still have a vague image of Celta in my memory and I do still remember those moments where I felt a powerful sense of love – those moments that remain. I'm not holding onto this past - I was able to love again – but knowing I was loved is comforting. By Bruce Whealton April 25th, 2009
Posted in Bruce Whealton, Online Poetry | 
Bruce Whealton, mausoleum, new years eve | 
Leave a commentFlipping Book for realistic looking Books/Magazines for the web">Flipping Book for realistic looking Books/Magazines for the web
Published March 17, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonPeople have been publishing poetry magazines on the web for some time. During this time, the online version of a magazine, made me think that perhaps the name “magazine” didn’t fit for what we were publishing. I’m very open to new ways of looking at things but a magazine just didn’t quite seem like the word to describe an online publication of poetry. That has changed. I found a new tool, or application, that creates online books and magazines on the web. They run in the Flash player on the web. I wasn’t worried about that because 98% or thereabouts, of all internet users have the required version of this software, necessary to run these applications, installed on their computer, and so they are going to see what I publish just as I intend it to appear.
So, this tool, or type of tool (there are different designs that implement this in very similar ways), presents on the web page, an interactive application that looks like a magazine or book. You can have a cover, and then open up the book to different pages. When you open up the book/magazine (let me use book as a general term to refer to magazines or books in this format), you see a two page spread. One can even include the sounds of turning a page. One can drag the corner of a page or click on the next button to move to the next page. I find it very exciting and creative. I feel I can be creative with this application or type of application.
To see an example of how this works and how I implemented this on Word Salad please click on this link here: http://wordsaladpoetrymagazine.com/VolumeXIVNoIV/books-published-by-word-salad.html
I setup two categories. The first category will be for the different versions of Word Salad that are published on the site, specifically, Volume XIV, No IV, the winter 2008-2009 edition. I will be adding other editions as well, in that category. I’ll post the next upcoming edition as a book/magazine in this format, soon after the newest edition of Word Salad comes out next on March 21, 2009, and then I’ll add other previous issues as options that you can view here. The other category is titled “Other Poetry Publications.” Here I have published two collections of poetry by Jean Jones and one by myself. These are not complete yet, as new pages are being added. These collections by Jean Jones, for example, which were published by St. Andrews press, have additional poems included.
Again that link is: http://wordsaladpoetrymagazine.com/VolumeXIVNoIV/books-published-by-word-salad.html
Allow me to add that this software, needed to implement this, is not free. So, we are asking for donations or to support us, please purchase a print version of Word Salad on our Lulu.com storefront here: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=2331883
Joomla and Word Salad">Joomla and Word Salad
Published March 17, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonI am going to try to explain, in terms that are not to technical or boring to poets, what Joomla is, what a Content Management System is, and why I chose that to publish Word Salad. Joomla is a Content Management System (CMS). There are many different CMS that have been developed. For this discussion, I won’t get overly technical or pedantic about why I chose Joomla over other CMS or what makes Joomla a good CMS. Instead I’ll just explain what a CMS is and why I thought it would be good for Word Salad. A CMS is different than the original static websites that represent the way web sites were designed and developed from the beginning. A static website is made up of static web pages, that is pages that do not have any interactivity and the content on each page does not change. To update a static site, one either edits existing files or creates new files – when I say files, I mean web pages. A CMS system creates the pages dynamically from information, aka data or content that is in a database.
Updating a CMS involves entering information into form fields just like entering an email message on the web or using a social networking site, like facebook.com, or updating a blog. The software takes the information that is in the database and displays it to the user when a page is requested. All the stories, data, content, or information is saved in the database. New content can be added to the website without having to create and edit web pages and then upload them for each and every edit, change or update. So, this is what we call a dynamic website. Dynamic websites are contrasted with static websites, by allowing in the dynamic website user interactionwith the site, new and fresh content can be added as often as desired. The presentation in Joomla, which is the name of the CMS application that I chose for Word Salad, is controlled by Templates. By changing the template, which can be done by just making a simple selection using the administration software, and you change the entire layout and presentation of the content on the site.
This makes it easy to update the site without having to start from scratch with a new design. By selecting different templates the entire look of the site can be changed whenever desired. While, Word Salad, the publication, is only updated, or published with a new issue, and new content, once every 3 months, there is still a great benefit to being able to update, edit and create content in this fashion, without having to ever start from scratch as it were. In addition, for community sites, like “Poet’s Place” where users can update the site content as often as desired or whenever someone wants to contribute to the community, this can be done by anyone registered at the site, and as often as desired.
Poet’s Place is an online community website that I created some time back. Please visit the site here: http://WordSaladPoetryMagazine.com/PoetsPlace/
to join the community. What you do is click on the link, “Register/Join the Community” from the menu on the left. It will ask for your name, username, password, and an email address. That’s all it takes to join. You’ll get an email asking you to confirm your registration and when you click on the link, you are instantly a part of the community. You can post articles, news, announcements, web links, and more. There is even a place to share your own poetry and get feedback.
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