FRiGG | Fall 2011/issue 34/"The Man from TSA— Unrequited Love Did Not Stop Glenn Close" and Other Poems

My comments about my five poems published in the Winter 2011 issue of Frigg.
These poems are about present-time experiences and the memory of past experiences (childhood, family gatherings, regular trash-collection pickup—kinder, gentler times (nostalgia perhaps?) and the effect the craziness of today’s world can have on our psyches.

http://www.friggmagazine.com/issuethirtyfour/splashpages/ElizabethPGlixman.htm

The world is transforming. Changes are everywhere. All is in flux. I've been reacting to many of the changes by writing poems, some are humorous. Comedy and tragedy are siblings.

Is it tragic that change is in the air? Probably not but like all transformation letting go of the past is not easy. What to keep and what to let go?

Frigg is a gem of an online magazine. If you haven't read Frigg you are in for a treat. Enjoy the the covers and layout designed by EnoaraF.

Two previous covers out of 34.

Check out Frigg's Archives

http://www.friggmagazine.com/volumeonearchive/archivedirectory.htm

Can Poetry Help to Create Peace in this World? Can the Arts in General Promote Understanding and Peace Between Cultures?

Midas Public Relations

News for release: 21 October 2011

POETRY TOWARDS PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE

Promoting dialogue between civilisations through poetry –

Dubai forum comes to London

"Seminars and themes presented at The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain's Prize for Poetic Creativity’s literary and intellectual symposium in Dubai (17-18 October) were discussed yesterday evening at an event held at The Mosaic Rooms, London.

The Dubai forum, entitled "Poetry Towards Peaceful Co-Existence", was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, who attended the opening session. The London forum was programmed to complement the subject areas debated in Dubai. The two events were linked by author and broadcaster Paul Blezard, who flew from Dubai to London, to participate in both Forums.

In his opening speech in Dubai, Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain, Chairman of The Foundation, highlighted the role of poetry in promoting dialogue between civilisations and said that the decision to hold the event in Dubai reflected the Emirate’s leading role in bringing about peaceful coexistence and understanding between people from different cultural backgrounds.

Speakers who took part in the London event were:

· Rosie Goldsmith, journalist and broadcaster, chair

· Sarah Ardizzone, award winning translator

· Sharmila Beezmohun, deputy editor Wasafiri magazine

· Paul Blezard, Literary director, The Firebird Poetry Prizes

· Christina Patterson , writer and columnist, The Independent

· Rhona Wells, assistant editor, The Middle East magazine

The London panellists discussed issues of translation and interpretation, poetry and performance, as well as debating the role poetry can play in today’s world, and its impact on different cultures globally.

The Dubai Forum was attended by Arab and foreign academics and poets from five continents. Sessions discussed the impact of Arabic and world poetry on human communication throughout the ages, and readings from an international line up of poets included prolific writer and poet Yang Lian from Beijing; Egyptian poet and writer Yaser Anwar; poet and cultural critic Kirpal Singh from Singapore; American poet, essayist and professor Brian Turner and the International Kristal Vilenica Prize 2009 winner Luljeta Lleshanaku from Albania.

The head of The Foundation, Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain, himself a prominent Kuwaiti poet and businessman, well known in Kuwait, the Gulf area and the Arab world, established and fully financed The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain's Prize for Poetic Creativity.

Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain, Chairman of the Foundation, said: “I am delighted with the response to the Forum in Dubai. Academics and poets travelled from far and wide to take part in the symposium, and the result was three days of inspiring speeches and debate. Speakers were in general agreement with the theme of this year’s Forum – that poetry can play a role in developing cultural understanding in a time of political, social and economic change around the world.”

Video footage from the London event can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XsWlsmF8ZQ

Spirit Poem

This poem was published in 3 A.M. Magazine in 2002. It is about the seed of creative possibilities that lives inside all of us.

Spirit

In the where we are world
intangible and tangled
a space of movies in holy time
without intermission
there is no waiting to rewrite the script.
It is happening as the popcorn crunches
in our mouths
as gunshots and diplomats talk
pulverizing the seeds of the living.

I am the seed they are trying to kill
created from an inner space of infinity
from musical strings a universe Einstein
could not imagine but longed for.
The Theory of Everything is in the oscillating ringing
the waves of unified motion
the tender inquisitiveness of time.

Vibration is all there is and time knows this.
Chords of sounds sunbathing on legs, arms,
lips, eyes, and inward in to ecstasy
grandiose and microscopic.
Wide open sounds that tenderize sunburns
and dance as the black holes pop open
when the journey is over
and we are sucked back into the beginning of time
where we see ourselves
in silence.
The seed they try to kill
waving undulating holding an infinite space
where fear is not found is the dream maker
of this dream time.
It will never be destroyed

Earth light beams into waters
that are in touch with feeling.
Waters that rush still
intoxicating inlets
with a happiness our human minds
would dance on the head of a pin to find.
Minted green foliage grows
light bound untangled
with all, lives in peace birthing choruses
with the bark of its neighbor.
Earth light is the director of sprouting seed souls
creator of the trunk and the roots.
It digs down
humming to earth.

In this where we are world change
sits in each quark of non linear time
rejoicing in the
freedom
of a creative mind.
Whirlpools of possibilities swim
as seed in little husks and kernels that
go dance or slide or ride
in the earth's decay, in it rise
in the soul's ability to multiple
and divide
with help from the chorus master who lives
sleeps and breaths
in each of us.
harmonizing all in creative reverie.

Elizabeth P. Glixman
copyright © 2002 all rights reserved