Miriam's Iris
Chopin w/Cherries Blog
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Welcome to my world...  Reading "The Music Box" from "Rose Always" - February 2010. Photo by Jola Maranska-Rybczynska.Poetry is a way of life, a shortcut to the sublime, the heart of matter. An avid reader of poetry since my Polish childhood, I started writing in English. The flexibility, richness and focus of this language never cease to amaze me! Since 1995, I have kept a personal poetic journal and gave all sorts of poems to my friends. I like illustrating them with my photographs, taken mostly in my garden and neighborhood of Southern California. In 2006, urged by my daughter, Anna, I decided to share my work at public readings and through publication. I had written countless of articles on music and four books of music studies. Poetry is something else. In April 2010, I was selected to serve as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga for 2010-2012. I'm absolutely delighted with this title! I decided to spend my two years of service with a motto: "Poetry ... in pursuit of happiness" At the award ceremony, my reading included a poem I wrote especially for this occasion, What I love in Sunland. You may download the poem in Word format here. For more photographs from the event, see its Picasa Photo Album. My planned activities include public readings, appearances at civic ceremonies, participation in art festivals and community events, and a publication of an anthology with work by local poets. I already wrote an occasional poem for Councilman Paul Krekorian's Awards Ceremony for Local Volunteers ("Mountain Watch" published in San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly and in The Voice of the Village) and rode in the Fourth of July Parade. My Poet Laureate page will include the updates. I'm listed in Poets & Writers and belong to Poetry Society of America, Poets on Site, Emerging Urban Poets, and other groups. Since 2007, I have published a number of poems (list of poems) and participated in many poetry readings and events.Samples of poems from my three books may be found at: Rose Always, Miriam's Iris, and Chopin with Cherries (Cosmopolitan Review, February 2010). I also published three online chapbooks (Glorias & Assorted Praises, Poems for My Friend, and Poems and Stories). Other poems appear in various places, including a set on "Immigrant Experience in Poetry" by The Cosmopolitan Review: "Dragonfly Days," "Rivers" and "An Ode of the Lost." See also a poem-in-photos album My Hat Collection, "Look at me..." in Loch Raven Review, (2010), A Monument of Time plus Memento Vitae in Clockwise Cat (2009), and "Rivers" with "Claremont Concert" in poeticdiversity.com, August 2008. That journal also made me its Artist in Residence in 2009, but that's another story. Some photos are in my Sunland Season Album.
If you want to know more, see the list of published poems, events and readings, and photos from recent events, as well as Picasa albums from Chopin with Cherries I, Chopin with Cherries II, and the famous Spiritual Quartet (with Lois P. Jones, Taoli-Ambika Talwar, and Susan Rogers). My most recent event was reading poetry to kids at the 7th Annual Celebrate Puppetry Festival (Poetry for Puppetry Album).
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