HarryG's blog |
Someone recently asked me whether I had ever written any particular line or phrase of poetry that I was rather proud of. After a bit of thought, I chose this phrase from a poem entitled "My Yesterdays" I wrote back in 2005: "... knowing now my yesterdays outnumber my tomorrows." "My yesterdays outnumber my tomorrows" is a memorable line, I think, that is a sobering realization that one must face during middle age. How about you fellow poets? Do you have a favorite line / phrase of yours that you are proud of having written? Cheers! Harry |
With literally hundreds of thousands of books published each year, it is next to impossible for an unknown author to get his book recognized and widely read. His book simply disappears into the vast swamp of new books. Most new books sell only 100 - 200 copies, mostly to friends and relatives of the author. With fame and fortune nearly impossible to obtain, why then do writers (whether of poetry or prose) keep publishing their work? For my take on this situation, I offer a new free-verse poem written today:
Cheers! Harry |
Well, I did it. Today I wrote a political poem addressing the issue of gun control in America. I hope readers will find it to be thought-provoking.
Please let me know what you think by reviewing it. Harry |
I wrote a new humorous rhyming poem entitled "One Dead Skunk".
I find humorous poems are difficult to write and rarely receive the respect they deserve. I guess because they deal with a humorous subject many readers seem to rate them less highly than "serious" poems. Please check out my new poem. It was based on a true event, written with a bit of poetic embellishment. |
Today I posted a poem that uses a variety of words that all end with -ise, -ies, -ize that have the "eyes" sound to address a serious subject dealing with an all too common family tragedy. I invite you to check it out and see if you can spot all the "eyes"-rhyming words as not only end-rhyming but also internal rhymes. Hopefully the content will strike a chord with readers as well.
Best wishes, y'all. Harry |
The above free verse poem which I wrote yesterday has a playful use of words devoid of their usual prefixes so they have changed meaning. Reading this poem requires a bit of thought to spot all the words lacking their usual prefixes and to translate them into their changed meanings. I hope the readers will make a game of it. Happy hunting! A tad bit of poetic license may have been involved in the writing of this poem. Have fun! Harry |
Yesterday my portfolio of some 483 items had 442 of those items receive a total of 531 total views. 531 views! That has to be a personal best (or most) for viewings in one day for my portfolio. I appreciate everyone who reads my work. |
Wow! The 482 items in my portfolio have received a lot of views yesterday and today. Yesterday 256 items in my portfolio received a total of 333 views. Today so far (as of 3:35 PM CDT) 230 items have received 253 total views. It appears that someone has read most of the items posted in my portfolio in the past two days. I surely do appreciate all the reads, whoever you are! Cheers! Harry |
I noticed that many of my older poems had links to older books of mine or to links that were no longer working posted at the bottom after the poem. I decided to add a link to my author's page at Amazon.com showing all ten books I have available there as paperback books and as e-books through Kindle. Therefore, I have been editing older poems all week to add the new Amazon link and delete older links as needed. I have also made corrections in a number of these older poems at the same time. Here is the updated link: Please check out my ten books: http://www.amazon.com/Jr.-Harry-E.-Gilleland/e/B004SVLY02/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 Editing these older poems has resulted in renewed interest in reading these poems, with the result that my portfolio has received over 100 viewings for three days in a row: Tuesday, May 24 = 115 items received 125 total views Wednesday, May 25 = 88 items received 119 total views Thursday, May 26 = 197 items received 263 total views First, I'd like to thank everyone who has read my poems. Additionally, I'd suggest that anyone with older poems with links included might want to ensure those links are still appropriate and make changes to the links as needed. Cheers ... and thanks for reading my work. Harry |
Yesterday my portfolio once again had a 100-plus viewing day. I had 106 items viewed a total of 135 times. After going several months without a day with my portfolio views hitting a 100 times total, yesterday was the fourth >100-views day in the past week. I'm not sure why the sudden increase in views, but I am appreciative and hope those viewing my storoems and poems are enjoying the reads. Many thanks, whoever you are. Cheers! Harry |