"Poetry and Business" book released, work by Heather J Kirk included!

An interesting new Anthology has been released, "Poetry and Business" edited by Jonathan Cook. The exciting news is that they have included one of my poems, titled "Smoking Cigars". The original idea for the poem was based on a Mandeville flower bud, with its petals wrapped around each other like tobacco leaves. Its center must be awfully sweet because ants made a line up the wall to get to the sugary nectar of the bud.

The picture I took must not have been very good, because it has disappeared off of my hard drive (deleted as I tried to make more space). The best I can do is a partial opening one...so you can get a partial idea. Plus the pretty open bud of the mandeville it self.

http://heather-kirk.pixels.com/featured/pink-mandeville-on-black-heather-kirk.html

But back to the book 'Poetry and Business - Volume 1 (2016)," edited by Jonathan Cook. It is very cool that out of all the poems included they chose to quote from mine on their website."...filled with the verse of commerce from poets around the world. David Olsen explores the 'stagnant air of exhale secrets'. Heather J. Kirk tells of 'life in pennies by the hour'."

And since this is "Volume 1," they already have a call out for next year! Read more and find out about the call on the "Poetryand Business" webpage:  http://poetryandbusiness.com/?page_id=72

You can purchase the book on Amazon here
http://astore.amazon.com/photographi0b-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=11
Poetry and Business: 2016 (Volume 1) . Click on the book to find a long explanation of the book concept there, but here is my favorite part, because otherwise you may miss it!

"Poetry and business are often seen as natural enemies, battling over the direction of of human life. In this battle, we are called upon to choose sides. Will we be efficient, or will we be creative?

The truth is, we don't have to accept the idea that poetry and business will always be at war. We don't need to choose sides. The choice between authenticity and productivity is a false choice. If we are not creative, we cannot be efficient. If our visionary fire sits outside a productive engine, it will simply burn itself out.

Inartful poetry and inartful business arise out of the same impatience: Their approach is too direct. Artful poetry and deft business both rely upon metaphor, the discovery of sacred value within mundane objects.

Poetry and business are well suited to one another because they turn each other aside from straight and easy paths. They corrupt each other’s purpose, but in doing so, they lead to a higher purpose. They seduce each other onto strange paths that curve in unpredictable arcs that, wandering through the landscape, lead to enlightening experiences before they arrive at their destination.

The time has come for poets and marketers to take a turn at the plow together."

 

Heather J. Kirk
Art by Heather J. Kirk www.heather-kirk.artistwebsites.com
Literature by Heather J. Kirk http://www.photographicartistry.citymax.com/Books.html

The missing blog…

I stayed up late last night and wrote a fun, fantastic blog, then dreamed about a blogging seminar, woke up in a panic and rushed to take it down.

Blog Rule Number 1: Keep them short: 250 – 300 words.
My personal opinion is that it’s difficult to develop an interesting article, and make an educational, philosophical, spiritual or humorous point in so few words – but I’m a writer. I like to start with a theme, go what appears to be wildly off course, and then bring my reader back to where we started making a purposeful point.
Two phrases pop into my head when I tell stories – although the source is only one person and I should get over it. But maybe they apply in the blogging world.

A) Your stories are too long. B) You are too hard to follow. And from others: “Your humor is a bit dark” or the “I don’t get it” look.

Yet writing classes say “Don’t spell everything out. Trust your reader to be intelligent!”

As I write I find this to be a bit dull. So why write it? Because there may be a lesson in it for other business owners.

Ultimately the decision came down to the fact that what I say personally can affect me professionally.

Rule #2: Once something gets on the web it is difficult to impossible to pull it back.

Rule #3: Humor does not always translate well in the written form or across cultures (in the widest sense of the word).

So what I thought was hilarious at 3 am before going to bed was potentially not as funny to those reading it at 8 am at work. (Nah! It was really good and the five of you who got to read it are lucky.)

I’ll cut the missing blog into manageable sizes in future posts – with backdating - including the meat of the story, but leaving out the ‘random acts of thinking’. (329 words – not bad…for me)

by Heather J. Kirk