Poetry teaches East Cleveland students lessons about life

From the Cleveland Call and Post: "Poetry teaches East Cleveland students lessons about life"

The Silent Whisper poets

They write as well as perform poetry to help and encourage other teens dealing with the same problems. They settled on the name Silent Whisper because they believe… “If you stay silent, you can hear the heart speaking.”
...They address life and issues such as suicide, physical abuse, drugs, and alcohol.  “Sometimes, you can’t always hold everything in,” said Silent Whisper member Tanautica Bush, 17. “We just want to express ourselves through our life stories, let our peers know you can make something good out of every situation.”

Richard Blanco, Inaugural poet

Immigrant poet Richard Blanco was named to be the inaugural poet for President Obama's second inauguration.
Gay, Latino--and an engineer, to boot--he's the youngest poet yet selected for an inauguration.

Addie Whisenant, the inaugural committee’s spokeswoman, said Mr. Obama picked Mr. Blanco because the poet’s “deeply personal poems are rooted in the idea of what it means to be an American.”

Check in on what he's doing, or just check him out, on his Facebook page.

• Poetry by Richard Blanco
• bio

Erotic Haiku

There is a debate as to whether or not a haiku can be erotic, or erotica. The issue, of course, is that haiku is focused on seasons and the erotic is focused on intimate human experience. Most authors argue that erotic haiku should be classified as something else, possibly senryu. The other side argues that human events are usually considered seasonal references, and thus the erotic should be capable of capturing both the seasonal kigo of a haiku, as well as the erotic emotion.

This brings us to this week's Wednesday Haiku at Issa's Untidy Hut by local poet dan smith. It is a stunning, erotic piece that works to capture not only a seasonal kigo, but also the erotic spirit. Check out Dan's haiku, and then let's see your own erotic offerings!