In Gaza God Farms

Garden Of Weeds
By Mark Cantrell


Hate grows in the tended rows
Of coffins and body bags, all
Filled with its corpulent fruit.
Carefully planned,
The crop is
Meticulously nurtured
In the furrowed brows
And saline tears
Of despair’s thorny garden.
So flourish the tangled vines
Of petty prejudice, and
The foetid weeds of suspicion.
Foul rancour chokes
The lawns and flower beds of virtue,
Poison sours the becks and lakes
Of clarified reason,
Until the stench of bitter enmity
Reeks rank the air of sanity.
So we reap
The murdered harvest,
With crates of coffins, and fruits of bodies
Over-ripe to fertilise,
The next crop of hate and war...


Mark Cantrell,
Manchester,
25 July 2008


Copyright © July 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Category: POETRY

Guineas From Frogmore

THE FROGMORE POETRY PRIZE 2009

Sponsored by the Frogmore Press

www.frogmorepress.co.uk

THE winner of the Frogmore Poetry Prize for 2009 is set to win two hundred guineas and a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers. The first and second runners-up will receive seventy-five and fifty guineas respectively and a year’s subscription to The Frogmore Papers.

Shortlisted poets will receive copies of selected Frogmore Press publications. Previous winners of the Prize have been David Satherley, Caroline Price, Bill Headdon, John Latham, Diane Brown, Tobias Hill, Mario Petrucci, Gina Wilson, Ross Cogan, Joan Benner, Ann Alexander, Gerald Watts, Katy Darby, David Angel , Howard Wright, Julie-ann Rowell, Arlene Ang, Peter Marshall and Gill Andrews.

The adjudicator is Robert Seatter, who lives in London. He has worked as a teacher, actor, journalist and in publishing, and currently works for the BBC. He has published two collections, On the Beach with Chet Baker (Seren, 2006) and Travelling to the Fish Orchards (Seren, 2002).

Conditions of entry are as follows:

1 Poems must be in English, unpublished, and not accepted for future publication.
2 Poems should be typed and no longer than forty lines.
3 Any number of poems may be entered on payment of the appropriate fee of £3 per poem. Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to The Frogmore Press.
4 The following methods of payment are acceptable: cheque drawn on UK bank; British postal order; sterling.
5 Each poem should be on a separate sheet, which should not include the name of the author.
6 The author’s name and address should be provided on an accompanying sheet of paper.
7 The winner, runners-up and shortlisted poets will be notified by post. All shortlisted poems will appear in number 74 of The Frogmore Papers (September 2009), which will be available at £3.50 from the address below, and on the Frogmore Press website.
8 To receive a copy of the results, please enclose an s.a.e. marked ‘Results’.
9 Poems cannot be returned.
10 Closing date for submissions: 31 May 2009.
11 Copyright of all poems submitted will remain with the authors but the Frogmore Press reserves the right to publish all shortlisted poems.
12 The adjudicator’s decision will be final and no correspondence can be entered into.
13 Entries should be sent to: The Frogmore Press, 42 Morehall Avenue, Folkestone, Kent CT19 4EF.
14 The submission of poems for the Prize will be taken as indicating acceptance of the above conditions.

ENDS

Category: NEWS

Poetry Prizes

Torriano Poetry Competition 2009

First Prize £250 Second Prize £150 Third Prize £75
Adjudicators: Nancy Mattson & Mike Bartholomew-Biggs

THE winning poets in the latest Torriano Poetry Competition will all be published in Brittle Star magazine. As if that's not enough, the first, second and third prize winners will be invited to read their work at the adjudication ceremony.

The celebrations to mark the winners will take place on Sunday 1 March 2009 at the Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Avenue, Kentish Town, London, NW5. The deadline for competition entries is 31 January and the winners will be notified by 20 February.

No entry form is needed to submit work to the competition, the proceeds of which will go towards the Torriano Meeting House Support Fund. To enter, the following guidelines must be adhered to:

• Poems up to a maximum of 40 lines each to be typed on a single side of A4 paper
• Poems should not have been previously published
• Poems after or in the style of another poet should be so marked
• A separate sheet of A4 should contain the titles of poems, name, land and email addresses and phone number of entrant
• Entry fees: £3 one poem, £5 for two, £10 for five
• Cheques payable to the Torriano Support Fund

Send entries to: Diana Baggs, 1 Havelock Road,Walmer, Deal, Kent CT14 7TE. For further information email: june.english@btinternet.com

MC

Category: NEWS

Swarming Up

"Swarm" at the Beehive

Bradford's Beehive Poets has announced that its latest anthology of members work, "Swarm", is ready for release. Copies will be available at its next gathering at the New Beehive pub, Westgate, on Monday 12th January 2009, from 8pm. The readers for the night are Nicholas Bielby and Jeremy Young.

Bielby is editor of poetry magazine Pennine Platform. He is also a prize winner in the Arvon International & New Poetry competition, among others. Currently, he is preparing his third book. He is a lecturer in college and university.

After the headlines guests, members and visitors will be reading out their own works in the group's regular comment and feedback session.

MC

Category: NEWS

A Kiss Before

Presenting Valentine's Eve

THE Mad Chadd Word Club is daring poets to venture out on the dark night of Friday 13 -- and risk falling under the thrall of seductive verse on Valentine's Eve.


Themed as "soft and scary love poetry" the open mic performance event commences at 7.30pm, Friday 13th February at Jasmine Cottage, home of Uprise Arts. For information email info@uprisearts.com or visit www.uprisearts.com

MC

Category: NEWS

Private Poetry

New twists on David Lynch

THE Private Press seeks poetry contributions for its next anthology. Work submitted must explore the "twisted world" of David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Deadline for submissions is the 28th February 2009 and payment will be one copy of the chapbook. Poems will only be accepted through an on-line contribution form.

Visit http://zoo.f2s.com/privatepress/callforpoems.html for further information and to access the submission form.

ENDS

Category: NEWS

Be Aware!

Hell, No
By Mark Cantrell


Hell,
Is not a place,
Nor,
Is it other people.
Hell,
Is a state of mind.



Mark Cantrell,
Stoke-on-Trent,
3 December 2008


Copyright © December 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Category: POETRY

When Elections Come

Voting Rights
By Mark Cantrell


A vote is far too precious
To waste
Upon scoundrels.
Thus
Do our votes
Go disenfranchised,
Unless we are fools,
For no honest man
These days,
Is ever known
To stand.


Mark Cantrell,
Stoke-on-Trent,
29 November 2008



Copyright © November 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Category: POETRY