The Road Less Traveled

As we complete the transition through the Winter Solstice, the sun begins to warm and energize the seeds we planted throughout the past year. Instead of creating the usual list of past accomplishes I prefer to look forward on the road that lies ahead. I never traveled the usual roads of my generation, no matter how hard I tried, and finally accepted and came to love the less traveled road.

With that in mind I look forward to realizing long held dreams by continuing to take one more step, place one more stone, write one more word, create one more positive thought to manifest four particular projects: The Amy Lowell Traveling Scholarship, The Moth Poetry Prize, The Secret Language of Intimacy, and Field of Poetry bookings.

I applied for the Amy Lowell Traveling Scholarship in October by submitting my book, The Wandering Crane Vol. II, Dance of Joy, plus 20 other pages of my poetry. Last year there were only 295 applicants making the odds of winning in this poetry competition very favorable. And because my dear friend, Terry Travelute, helped me edit those additional 20 pages I think my odds of winning have gotten even better. The most exciting part of this competition is the prize: $60,000, with the caveat that you must leave the continent for an entire year and come back with three new poems. If they like those three poems you may earn an additional $60,000 and leave for another year! Becasue of all relatives and friends I have, the places I could go are limited only by time. If you have a connection for me I would love to consider it! The winner will be announced inMarch.

The Moth Poetry Prize is another competition I have entered requiring only one unpublished poem. This is an international competition with thousands of submissions making this much more competitive than the Amy Lowell competition. The poem I submitted is, The Whirlpool, inspired by a request from my very long time friend, Cokey Collier and, again, edited by Terry Travelute. I cannot publish it yet but you will get to read it after the prize is announced in March. March may be a very good month! The prize is the largest cash prize for a single poem in the world and, of course, is from Ireland. The amount: €10,000 ($11,000+)! Yes, I will have to travel to Ireland to pickup the check!!

The third project I am manifesting is a collaboration with Saumitra Chandratreya. Saumitra is from India, and an abstract artist specializing in printmaking on various fabrics. He was so moved by my poetry he asked to collaborate on an art installation based on my poetry. Needless to say I was honored by his appreciation of my work and now excited by our mutual creative process. The working title is The Secret Language of Intimacy because the 23 poems chosen are emotional interpretations of individual relationships. We are creating up to 48 4’x6’ hanging panels of fabric with Saumitra’s designs on front and back and another transparent panel hanging in front printed with the poem that inspired his design. In other words, I have taken human emotions, interpreted them into the art of poetry and Saumitra takes my interpretations and reinterprets them into his abstract art form. The panels will be hanging in a large room for the viewers to walk in and around interactively experiencing the emotions I originally felt by those who inspired the poetry. Another part of this project is the creation of a crowd funding site to raise the resources needed to create and market this installation around the world. Stay tuned for more on that at another date.

The fourth, probably not the last, project coming out of the box is my installation A Field of Poetry. I have presented this installation across the country over the years but intend to market it more diligently to schools and other interested venues for poetry month next April. If anyone has advice and/or knows anyone I should contact, let me know. You can find out more about this on my website www.leprechauninc.com/field-of-poetry

This has not been my typical short missive but I wanted all my supporters to know what I am up to. You know I am always busy, never boring and always have an iron in the fire. I ask everyone to please send positive energy to help manifest these dreams that have been germinating from the first day I took this road less traveled.

I look forward to seeing and hearing from all of you throughout the new year to share the love of life we all crave!

Happy Winter and Happy New Year!

Kevin