Your poem is too long - Places Where You Can Get Inspiration For Writing

 You know your poem is too long

If you cannot recite it

Think how long it takes to read

When you start to write it it

Is your poem far too strong

Or week and namby pamby

It should leave you with a smile

Like happy, dancing Bambi.

-ende.-

copyright Angela Lansbury written Friday 31 May.

You can amuse yourself when waiting for a bus, train or plane by writing a poem. The short forms are rhyming couplets and haikus.

A classical verse form such as a sonnet can help you restrict your rambling on and on like an endless ballad.

I have a list of poetry forms and example in my book Poetry Workbook by Angela Lansbury. Available as an ebook from Lulu.com

https://www.lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/poetry-workshop/ebook/product-1j9r862q.html?page=1&pageSize=4

https://www.edinburghexpert.com/blog/grave-concerns-vi-unmarked-graves-of-historical-figures-in-edinburgh#:~:text=McGonagall%20was%20buried%20in%20a,of%20his%20burial%20is%20unknown

Useful Websites

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/houses-buildings/places-with-literary-connections

https://www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk/

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Meet Authors. Writers and Would be Writers Win a Place At Swanwick Writers' Summer School in England

This is the main historic building of The Hayes Conference Centre. A cabinet inside displays items and stories about WWII and the great escape. Some bedrooms are in the main building.

To the right is the modern dining room and the conference hall. More meeting rooms are in other buildings, mostly linked by covered walkways or internal corridors. Visitors and speakers come from as far away as Singapore, Australia and the USA.


Flag of the USA



Flag of the UK

Do you want to learn how to write poetry, plays, novels, short stories? Or maybe you can do one but not the others. Have a go.

The cost varies. to encourage students and those on a low budget, sponsored places are provided, given to those who win various competitions.

Win a Place - Swanwick Writers' Summer School: Find out how you can win your way to Swanwick Writers' Summer School. Known for short simply as Swanwick.

Activities go on all day. Everything from exercise of the mind and body, yoga and dance and prayers to start the day, organized workshops all day, an outing mid-week, or a walk, performing a play, reading your poems, busking and sing alongs, quizzes, talking about your work in progress, meetups with Facebook friends, members of the Romantic Novelists' association, talks and workshops on copywright and writing blogs and marketing and spelling and grammar - until 11 pm or midnight every night. 

Forthcoming dates:
8-14 August 2020.
Pack your poems to read out at the open mic (microphone) night, or write more on the course. bring or buy a bottle of wine or soft drink to share, with some to spare for the last night pre-dinner party on the lawn.

It starts Saturday tea-time and ends after breakfast on Friday. I have gone there on the train, paid for the seat on the coach from the station to The Hayes Conference Centre. When I had heavy books, or preferred to drive, and leave home when ready, also I have driven up from London on the Saturday and back on the Friday.

You can see me in the front row on stage in one of the pictures on the Swanwick website. On the last night there's a party on the lawn.

I am on the far right.

Venue
The Hayes is a conference centre surrounded by flowerbeds, fields and a lake, for those who wish to contemplate nature and get away from it all.

Accommodation is at various prices. Food is included, tea on the Saturday of arrival and dinner, breakfasts until the last morning. Free parking on site. One year we drove on north to Scotland and spent time at the Edinburgh Festival.

For a budget alternative, or if you cannot spare the time, if you have friends and family in the area or are touring, drop in just for the day or one or two days and overnight elsewhere on just a day pass overnight one or two nights at the conference centre. Write to ask if they have a room free at a reduced price for a shorter stay.

Where
The Hayes Conference Centre
Swanwick
Derbyshire
England

Useful websites
https://www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk/
visitbritain.com

 About the author
Angela Lansbury
Author of 20 books. travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Another Burns Night! Be Prepared! Tartans, Poems And Photos

Problems
I went to a Burns Night and did not wear tartan. I forgot.

Solutions
Now I have been invited to another Burns Night organized by a different group.

Costume
This time I have time to find a costume, such as tartan. One person says, 'I don't need to. I'm not a Scot.'

Which Tartan?
Which tartan? Tartan shops will sell you the tartan of your clan, going by your name or ancestors' names. But my complexion suits a different tartan. Some people object to your wearing tartans of a clan you don't belong to.  You may think it's amusing, or homage, like wearing the country's flag even if you are not from that coutnry. But others think it's misleading, like wearing the old school tie of a school you never attended, or a policeman's uniform when you are not a policeman.

So which tartans can you wear?

You can have your own tartan made up, for a price, after applying for approval and receiving it. There's Jewish tartan.  What will be next? Moslem tartans. Catholic tartans. Indian tartans? Japanese tartans? Chinese tartans. American tartans?

Burns Poems
Instead of or in addition to wearing a kilt, or tartan, I can also print out Burns' poems. And a picture of Burns. Alternatively, save paper by photographing the poems, the photo of Burns, and keeping them to hand on a laptop or mobile phone.

Burns Night Photos
If the people at the second event overlap with those at the first event (at least I am at both) I can show photos of the previous event as a nostalgic reminiscence. This time I will be ready to take a group photo at the start of the evening, a picture of the haggis, and a Scottish whisky.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Poems About Holidays and Advice from Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia and London

Benjamin Franklin

Problem
What to do on holiday? Write poems about problems and solutions.

Answer
Today's poem from me to you is a poem on packing.
http://comicpoemsbynutter.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/packing-list-poem.html
Read on - I'll give you this link again at the end.

Story
I was in Philadelphia, USA, on a press trip. A fellow travel writer, an American, said he was going on local radio to talk about the destination. I said, "Ask them if they'd like an English writer with an English accent to talk about the destination, museums, shops, restaurants, history and so on. I'll speak after you, refer back to what you said, and cover anything you haven't already covered. He was happy to do that and said they agreed. So I told everybody at home, and the tourist board, that I would be on American radio.

I sat next to him as he talked, waiting for my turn.

At the end he passed me a note:
"She says I've covered everything. You are not needed."

I was disappointed and embarrassed. I quickly wrote back:

"I have a poem on Philadelphia's attractions. Would she like that? She hasn't had that! That's new!"

He told her, and grinned at me, and whispered, "Yes - but have you got a poem?"

I didn't have a poem, but I was prepared to make it up as I went along. I started writing rhyming couplets immediately.

Unfortunately I did not get a recording of what I said. But I can reconstruct the gist of my poem. We had just visited the big exhibition on Benjamin Franklin. I started with something like this:

"I'm a Brit in America, what must I see?
Lots of things which fascinate me
A historic city, where should tourists being?
At the exhibition of Benjamin Franklin!

"He said 'early to bed and early to rise'
Makes shops wealthy, tourists happy and wise
As Philadelphia's buildings grew higher and higher
He invented lighting conductors to prevent fires ..."

By the time she had checked my name again, and announced me, I had two verses.

I added something to appeal to listeners:

"The building I'm in is made safer by him
The building you're in is made safer by him
People worldwide are indebted to him
Don't you want to know more about Benjamin Franklin?"

Whilst I was reading them out, I touched my reading glasses and thought of another verse.

"He invented bifocals, I don't know how
I'm indebted to him, I'm using them now
He did so much for you and me
Come to Philadelphia - so much new to see!"

At the end, she asked me about myself, travel writer, author of ten books, lived in the USA in Rockville Maryland, then what I had seen and liked in Philadelphia, such as the Hop on and Hop off bus and the trip down the river on the Duck tour on the converted amphibian WWII army vehicle and the USA - Elvis museums, homes of famous Americans such as poet Edgar Allan Poe.

We now have a Benjamin Franklin Museum in London, England.

Tips
Write a poem, at least a title and one couplet, each day of your trip and each destination.

Websites
http://comicpoemsbynutter.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/packing-list-poem (My poem on packing)
http://comicpoemsbynutter.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/benjamin-franklin-poem-by-angela (view the Benjamin Franklin poem without comments in the middle, plus a verse about the UK museum.)
https://www.visittheusa.com
http://www.visitphilly.com
http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/benjamin-franklin-museum/ (USA museum in Philadelphia)
http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/ (Benjamin Franklin house in London, England)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share links to my posts on travel and poetry.

Remembrance Sunday, UK , USA, Australia and worldwide

Events took place on Friday, which was the 11th hour of the eleventh day of eleventh month. Two friends of mine were in Aldi supermarket in Pinner. (German - reconciliation with Germany, how appropriate.) Just before eleven they finished shopping and went onto the rooftop carpark to collect their car, which is where they always park. They heard a cannon and church bells ringing. Then the silence. Then another cannon and the church bells ringing again.

Two minutes of silence today, Sunday at 11 am mark Remembrance Sunday. H M The Queen was always is at the Cenotaph in London.

Sunday (this year the 13th November) is a day when people are off work and can attend and watch in person or on TV.

Back in the Nineteen Forties and Fifties people would have been listening to the radio. (Remember how people bought TV in 1953 to watch the coronation.) Nowadays, you can watch the internet on portable devices such as laptops and iPads and smart phones. Some people can set alerts on phones and watch on their watches. How the world has changed.

If you missed it, you can watch it again on TV. Expect to see members of the Royal Family, all the armed forces, the British Legion, elderly people in wheelchairs, parents and children.

In London at dusk poppies and poems are projected on the Elizabeth Tower housing Big Ben.

In Scotland commemorations take place at St Giles.
In Wales, events are in Cardiff and other cities and towns.

Is the rest of the world doing the same at the same time? That would be difficult to co-ordinate. South Africa and some of Western Europe is either on the same time zone or only an hour or two different. But the rest of the world, such as Australia, is on different time zones. (Australia and New Zealand are also in different seasons.) But we all have the media to keep us in touch.

In America November 11th is a national holiday. The word holiday sounds irreverent. But I remember that holiday originally meant holy day.

If you want to read about the relationship of Veterans Day and Remembrance Day you have many sources to consult. Memorial Day in the USA in May is for those who died. Remembrance Day place of honour is given to survivors who march to remember their fallen comrades, those who serviced injured physically or mentally, and all who served, whether as volunteers or conscripted. Nowadays the commemoration is not just for WWI or WWII but all wars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/remembrance-day-canada-ottawa-national-war-memorial-1.3846939
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-37952921
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37962381
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3930522/Kate-joins-Queen-senior-royals-Royal-Albert-Hall-annual-Festival-Remembrance.html
https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/remembrance/ (Australia)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Boston, USA, poems in the rain, and poems on the train

Into every life a little rain poem must fall. First we had rude rhyming graffiti in toilets. Some were humorous. I bought a book of them. I remember one: "My mother made me a gay." Riposte: "If I gave her some knitting wool, would she make me one?"

Then in London we had Poems on the Underground. You can read them while you are sitting, if you look across and up. Or buy the book from the London Transport Museum or on line.

Picture from Wikipedia.

In Singapore quotations appear on posters which you read as you walk along the corridors from one line to the next at interchanges. The most familiar one is: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao Tsu.

Poems appear to attract your eye to messages suggesting that you move along the train, in Singapore and London.

In London we have have poems reminding us what to do. The same goes for Toronto in Canada.

Boston Poems on Pavement
When I say pavement, writing in England, pavement refers to what Americans call Sidewalk. To Americans pavement is what we call tarmac, in the road itself.

Now in 2016 in Boston, USA, poems are appear on pavements when it rains.  What a great idea to brighten rainy days.

How do they do it. Using stencils and water-repellent spray. So you cut out the letters of the poetry on a large card or sheet of metal. Spray over the stencil.

Umbrella Poems
Another idea I like is poems on umbrellas. I've seen quotations about into every life a little rain must fall. You can order customised umbrellas through websites.

I love Ralph's umbrella poem about a smile being an umbrella and even a broken umbrella protects you from the rain.

POEMS AND RHYMES
The first poem or rhyme I ever heard about rain was:

The rain in Spain 

Fall mainly on the plain. 

I think that was from an elocution class.

Upon us all
A little rain must fall.

Everybody wants happiness
Nobody wants rain
But you can't have a rainbow
Without a little rain.

Here's one I have just composed:

Sun and Rain, Snow and Rainbow
by Angela Lansbury

Without the rain the ground would harden
The rain does my work and waters my garden
It's not as good as the warming sun
Not as bad as snow - though some think skiing's fun

Even if it rains for hours and hours
Afterwards we have trees full of fancy flowers
Water for the vase, washing dishes in the sink
For washing pretty clothes, when thirsty you can drink

You'll need a lot of rain
Because when drought comes again
You can't deny it,
Governments buy it

Running to the station you can shelter from the rain
Use the handle to grab bars above on the train
Or lean on it like a walking stick
In the park use the point to shove aside a brick

If you don't think it'll rain
A small, compact one will do
Or a can't lose, bold, big one
For cuddling up for two

They've dammed the rivers, walk round the reservoir
Water is needed wherever you are
So make the best of the rainy weather
With a happy quotation on a bright red umbrella.

Angela Lansbury
2016 May 22 copyright

QUOTATIONS
Into every life a little rain must fall.
You can't have a rainbow without rain.

WEBSITES SIDEWALK POETRY
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/05/19/boston-hidden-sidewalk-poetry/
http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2016/05/boston-raining-poetry-sidewalk-street-art-invisible-graffiti/483512/
WEBSITES POEMS ON TRAINS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poems_on_the_Underground
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/30/transport-for-london-poetry-etiquette-commuters

WEBSITES POEMS ABOUT UMBRELLAS
http://hellopoetry.com/words/1017/umbrella/poems/
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/my-umbrella/
For primary school teachers or parents:
http://thisreadingmama.com/free-rainy-day-pre-kk-pack-updated-expanded/

QUOTATIONS WEBSITES FOR PERSONALISING UMBRELLAS
http://www.bestsayingsquotes.com/quote/all-of-those-moments-will-be-lost-like-tears-in-the-rain-1858.html

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.