APRIL 20, 2017

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman, Bob Philpot, Katherine Flotz, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Palmeri, Caren Von See, Diane Stratton, Hardarshan Valia, George Miga, Amy Brailey, Rebecca Juergens, Luneil Morrow

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the April 6, 2017 minutes was first given by HARDARSHAN VALIA and was seconded by CAREN VON SEE.

NEW BUSINESS:

BOB PHILPOT, in response to SHARON PALMERI’S request for information pertaining to writing or publishing, brought several books and CD.’s pertaining to both subjects.  The first book was Writer’s in Wonderland, by Kathryn Camp. The second and third were part of the Great Courses Series were “Building Great Sentences,” and “How to Publish Your Book.” He also brought an issue of Writers Digest magazine.

SHARON PALMERI passed out several illustrations from a column called “Poetic Asides,” all three written by Robert Lee Brewer.  The first was “Seven Revision Filters for Poets,” the second, “Poetic Form: Madrigal,” and the third, “Poetic Form: Interlocking Rubaiyat.” These articles were taken from past issues of Writers Digest magazine and were shared in honor of National Poetry Month.

TRIBUTE TO FAMOUS POETS:

SHARON PALMERI asked the members if they had brought any poems written by their favorite poets.  CAREN VON SEE responded with two of her favorite poems.  , “Lines Written in Early Spring,” by William Wordsworth, 1770-1850, and “Eleqy on the Death of a Mad Dog,” by Oliver Goldsmith 1728-774.

LUNIEL MORROW read one of her favorite poems, “Flirtation,” written by Rita Dove, 1912-2002.

DIANE STRATTON read a poem entitled “My Kingdom,” written by Louisa May Alcott.  This was the only poem she had ever written and it was written by her when she was 13 yrs. old.

HARDARSHAN VALIA brought several articles for Poetry Month as well as two poems, “Your Feet” written by Nobel Prize winner, Pablo Neruda,  and an Indian Poet named Neeraj who wrote an untitled the poem in Hindi, which Valia Translated into English for us.

READINGS:

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read four of her poems.  The first, “I Finally Had a Thought,” a two-stanza poem that explained why her poetry thoughts were taken away.  The second, “Backward Poet,” a four-stanza poem that tells how she can now write “inverse.” The third, “The Chosen Word,” explaining how “a poet feels when he or she chooses the right word for a poem.”  The forth, “Just the Sound of it,” a poem that explains Onomatopoeia.

CAREN VON SEE read her two-page memoir entitled, “Memories.”  The story begins with memories of her father, explaining of his love of colors and images as he painted on canvas.  As the story continues she finds that most of her family members motivated to creativity, something she feels she must have inherited, especially in writing.

REBECCA JUERGENS read the last two pages of her novel, In Angelic Arms.  In her search for Evan she finally discovers Evan was the angel sent to her so that, “My soul moved within my body, and I was completely overtaken with emotion. Every feeling filled my being, joy, peace, grace, mercy, love – so much love.

AMY BRAILEY read her three-page short story entitled, “A Grave Situation.”  The story begins with Thomas loving to hang around old graveyards, “to enjoy the peace and quiet.”  When he is invited to visit the Antietam National Battlefield with his Aunt, he finds a new interest in history, especially when visiting the battlefield at night.

SHARON PALMERI brought her ten-stanza poem entitled, “The Dream.”  The poem was written by Sharon when she was 16 years old. The poem tells of a dream she had that terrified so much that “I wanted to scream, to shout out loud, but could not utter a single sound!”  The dream showed her the future of the earth being doomed in the year 2002. She admitted that she was a little nervous that year and glad when it ended.  

The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN