The WEbook Poetry Vote begins accepting submissions today! From June 15 through July 31st, WEbook poets are invited to submit their very best work to be considered for publication in a single volume. WEbookers will spend the month of August voting for their favorite poems, and the votes will determine which poems get published.
In honor of this venture, WEbooker of the WEek will be shining the spotlight on WEbook's top poetry talent. First up is Maia06, author of the poetry collections Apple Picking and Time Enough for That, among other works. Maia06 uses poetry to express "not just love and angst, but humor, observations, opinions, you name it." To find out more about this far-reaching poet, WEbook asked a few hard-hitting questions.
Q: What's the story of your life, including your history with writing?
A: I was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI by an extremely supportive father and a mom who practically survived on books and poetry. She used to recite “Jabberwocky” to me when I was still in my crib, and when I wanted to read “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe when I was four years old, she helped me with any words I didn’t know. There was no such thing as a book that I was too young for, so I was an avid Agatha Christie fan by the second grade. She read me poetry by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Nikki Giovani and the Plains Poetry Journal almost daily, and I loved every word. After that, it’s pretty simple; if you love reading, if you love words, you will write. Poetry speaks to me.
Q: We all feel misunderstood sometimes -- poets perhaps more so than "normal" folk. If you could set everyone straight using only six words, what would you say?
A: The world is bigger than you.
Q: What is the last word in the last poem you wrote?
A: Know
Q: If you could ban a single word from all poetry for the rest of time, what word would you choose?
A: Pain
Q: What is your favorite line from your favorite "famous" poem?
A: One? Seriously?! Okay, then this one: “…for the leaping greenly spirit of trees” from a poem by E.E. Cummings
Q: Please write a short poem about the worst day of your life.
A: I already wrote that one. It’s called “Time Enough for That”:
This morning I stood up
directly under the cabinet door.
Corner met cranium sharply
and a very dirty word fell
out of my mouth
as a coffee cup hit the floor.
I watched a mother cradle
a dying infant on a day-time
made-for-tv movie
meant for happy home-makers
to fill nap time.
I folded the laundry.
I recalled this was the day
last year,
the phone call came.
They didn’t say,
but they should have said,
nothing will ever be the same.
I started making dinner.
Chicken pieces browning on the stove,
snap peas steaming open.
At the kitchen table I chop
a Vidalia into tiny and tinier bits.
I cry and cry over the onion
Do you have a line on the wonderfullest writer on WEbook? The fantastickest feedbacker? Or anyone else who goes above and beyond to make WEbook the best writing, reading, and publishing community on the internet? Drop me an email, or visit my profile and send me a message with the title "WEbooker of the WEek" to nominate your favorite WEbooker and he or she will have a shot at joining the ranks of the immortals -- and getting a free WEbook T-shirt to boot.
Sign up for WEbook today and start reading, writing, and feedbacking.
-- Melissa
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