Two Moonrise Press Authors at Village Poets Reading at Bolton Hall, August 27 and September 24

 Two of Moonrise Press authors will be featured at upcoming Village Poets Monthly Readings held on Sundays at 4:30 pm at at  Bolton Hall Museum, located at 10110 Commerce Ave, Tujunga, Los Angeles, CA 91042-2313. Beverly M. Collins will read her work on Sunday,  August 27, 2023, at 4:30pm.  Suggested donation $5 per person for the cost of refreshments and to donate to the Little Landers Society that manages the Bolton Hall Museum, a Los Angeles Historical Landmark built in 1913.

Beverly M. Collins is one of 3 Winners in the Wilda Morris June 2021 Poetry Challenge (Chicago), a 2019 Naji Naaman Literary Prize in Creativity (Lebanon). Collins is also a prize winner for the California State Poetry Society, twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize and short listed for the Pangolin Review Poetry Prize (Mauritius). Her photography can be found on the cover of Peeking Cat 40 (UK), displayed online by The Academy of the Heart and Mind, printed on Fine Art America products, iStock/Getty Images, Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Spectrum, and others.  Website: https://beverlym-collins.pixels.com   www.facebook.com/bevelymcollinsnow Instagram@beverlymcollinsartist

Her book Mud in Magic was published in July 2015:

ISBN  978-0-9963981-0-7 (paperback), $15.00, 96 pages.

ISBN 978-0-9963981-1-4 (e-book, E-Pub format), $8.00

Beverly M. Collins’s "Mud in Magic" is her second poetry book, filled with the wisdom of experience, Her skillful and often aphoristic or narrative poems portray a scene or a character that we could encounter on our streets, in our cafes. The poems are organized into three parts: Thought Bistro (Part I), Tinder Flames (Part II), and Elixir Café (Part III). The beauty and wonder of daily life fill these pages and delight the readers.

Marlene Hitt's second full-size poetry volume, Yellow Tree Alone. Selected Poems will be featured during the Village Poets reading on Sunday, 24 September 2023 at 4:30 pm.  Written between 1998 and 2022, these 129 poems bring together the fruit of a lifetime of wisdom and creativity.  The title is borrowed from the last poem in the book, a description of a bright yellow tree, lonely in a vast empty field - a symbol of the loneliness of the poet, often misunderstood by those around her. It is a universal condition of every poet, every creative and inspired soul that reaches beyond the mundane, beyond their immediate surroundings, transmuting the chaff of experience into the gold of words.  Marlene Hitt's poetry perfectly exemplifies this alchemy of creative craft.

182 pages (xviii pp. prefatory matter, and 164 pp.); 6 in x 9 in. 

ISBN 978-1-945938-34-4, paperback, $22.00 plus S & H 

ISBN 978-1-945938-35-1, ebook, ePub format, $10.00

Cover photo by Karen Winters, cover design by Maja Trochimczyk

Yellow Tree Alone

 

Yellow tree

Stands glowing

In sideways light

Regal and glorious

Her beauty

Her message

For life’s meaning

Wasted

With no one

To see that golden

Radiance

She sings

To no one

Who’d hear her

But the Sun, Ra

The Giver of Gold

ABOUT MARLENE HITT

Marlene Hitt was the first Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga (1999- 2001). She has been a member of the Chupa Rosa Writers of Sunland- Tujunga and the Foothills since its inception in 1985. Her critically-acclaimed first poetry collection Clocks and Water Drops was published by Moonrise Press in 2015. In addition to publishing numerous poetry chapbooks, she has authored a non- fiction book Sunland-Tujunga, from Village to City. Her poems appeared in Psychopoetica (UK), Chupa Rosa Diaries of the Chupa Rosa Writers, Sunland (2001-2003), Glendale College’s Eclipse anthologies, CSPS California Quarterly and Poetry Letter; three Moonrise Press anthologies (Chopin with Cherries, 2010; Meditations on Divine Names, 2012; and We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology that she co-edited in 2020 with Maja Trochimczyk). 

Most recently she was one of 12 poets invited to contribute to Crystal Fire. Poems of Joy and Wisdom (2022). Her work appears in Sometimes in the Open, a collection of verse by California Poets Laureate, and The Coiled Serpent, anthology of Los Angeles poets, edited by Luis Rodriguez (2016). She served at the Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga as Museum Director and docent for many years. Ms. Hitt was the history writer for the Foothill Leader, Glendale News Press, North Valley Reporter, and Voice of the Village newspapers. She has been honored as the Woman of Achievement by the Business and Professional Women's Club, Woman of the Year by the U.S. Congress, and many congratulatory scrolls by the City and County of Los Angeles, and the State of California. In 2019, Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga presented to Marlene and her husband Lloyd, a Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing their support of poetry in the Foothills.

Moonrise Press Poets in the Altadena Poetry Review 2018

On Sunday, April 29, 2018, over 60 poets published in the Altadena Poetry Review 2018 edited by Pauline Dutton and Elline Lipkin, gathered at a special event at the Altadena Library. In the photo above there are four Moonrise Press poets: Beverly M. Collins (Mud in Magic), Dorothy Skiles (anthology Meditations on Divine Names), Marlene Hitt (Clocks and Water Drops, and anthologies Chopin with Cherries and Meditations on Divine Names) and Maja Trochimczyk, publisher and editor. Also present, not yet published by Moonrise Press, is Pamela Shea, Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga. 

Marlene Hitt published Clocks and Water Drops in 2015. here's a poem from the book:

The Old Clock

As old as time. As old as my time

is the clock on the mantle at home;

mahogany brown, sloped sides,

its pendulum swinging with no thought of its own.

It sits on a faded pea-green footlocker,

Grandpa’s, from the war,

My eyes look back at it now;

clock, box, shadows,

see time swing back and forth.

Grandma lies in my brother’s room,

cancer taking her away by small bits.

Back and forth, time, predictable,

with no choice for anyone,

tick, tock, tick, tock,

one way then the other. Stop, I plead.

Its pendulum measures

whether I can stand the sound or not.

Back and forth, it subtracts the minutes

of my Grandma’s life. 

In one dark corner stands Death,

not even bothering to sit down,

a creature glaring,

a bandana slung loosely around his neck,

wears a Stetson, a Cowboy Death in boots,

lasso in hand to catch her.

He will own her, not I anymore.

Back and forth. It is the clock I remember,

pendulum monotonous in the night.

(c) 2015 by Marlene Hitt

Beverly M. Collins published Mud in Magic in 2015 as well. Here's the title poem from this wonderful collection:

Mud in Magic

It is to spend time on a funky junction,

overlook the “how” and become

“I don’t know.” It is to wear an early-bird

coat with full feathers when the entire

event is late. It is to find that one has tricked

the trickster, turned the tables on the

bait-and-switcher...and got a free ticket.

It is to take life too serious. Put the squeeze

on what is not right-for-you, feel it sting

the palm of your hand like a bumble bee

on the blind side of an apple...but win the bushel.

Mud in magic can be welcome, as “loud”

at the library, “quiet” at an amusement park,

fun as a root canal one day before the feast.

It can murk up the view of a clear day then dry

quickly. It is the moment a way with words does

not win one a way with other things wanted.

It is to select a fall-from-grace, show that taste

buds are dull or absent from the mouth altogether.

It is to be drunk on foolishness, shame one’s way

up the side of the nearest mountain, then watch

the seeds evolve into practical moves.

Proof in the face, some stumble and win the race

one  foot behind the other; however triumphant 

or tragic. The low-down on high-life appears

that dry desert has hidden moisture

and there are obvious bits of mud in magic.

(c) 2015 by Beverly M. Collins

Maja Trochimczyk read her poem "On Squaring a Circle" that first appeared in Into Light: Poems and Incantations (2016). 

On Squaring the Circle

It is a simple square that contains the circle —

four ideas, four words —

— Sorry — Forgive — Thank — Love —

No need for explanations,

long winding roads of words

leading into the arid desert

of heartless intellect, auras

of geometric shapes floating above

your head — a scattered halo

of squares, sharp-edged cubes

prickly triangles, and hexahedrons

No, not that. Instead let us find

the cornerstone. Simplicity.

Sorry — to erase the past

Forgive— to open a path into the future

Thank— to suffuse the way, each moment

with the velvet softness of gratitude

Love — to find a pearl unlike any other,

a jewel of lustrous shine — incomparable,

dazzling, smooth, pulsating sphere

A dot on the horizon grows

as you, step by step, come closer

until you enter into the shining

palace without rooms

where inside is outside,

the circumference is in the point,

the point in the circumference—

where movement is stillness

and stillness dances within —

traveling to a myriad planets,

suns, galaxies, with unheard-of

velocity, everywhere at once

Love everyone — Respect everything

*     *    *

So that’s how you square a circle

(c) 2016 by Maja Trochimczyk

Moonrise Press Poets in the News - California Quarterly, Pushcart Nominations, and More

There are lots of news about our very active poets published by Moonrise Press: Beverly M. Collins (author of Mud in Magic), Marlene Hitt (author of Clocks and Water Drops), Margaret Saine (author of Lit Angels), as well as Susan Rogers, Lois P. Jones, Maja Trochimczyk, and Dorothy Skiles (published in Meditations on Divine Names and in  Chopin with Cherries  anthologies). Lets review them in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent news.  

Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

CALIFORNIA QUARTERLY VOL. 44 No. 1 (SPRING 2018)

The California Quarterly vol. 44 by 1 was edited by Maja Trochimczyk. This volume features almost 60 poets, including Marlene Hitt, Kathabela Wilson, Lois P. Jones, Susan Rogers, and Margaret Saine - all published by Moonrise Press in the past, as well as Deborah P. Kolodji, Madeleine S. Butcher, and William Scott Galasso.  Cover by Abby Diamond - a portrait of a local yucca in a bud, ready to blossom, using her technique of "torn paper mosaic." (Her work can be found on Etsy: AbbyDiamondArt).

Copies of the CQ may be obtained by ordering online at CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety.org , or by mailing a request for a specific​ issue together with a check for $10.00 per copy. Do not forget to name the specific issue you are requesting (this one is 44/1) and submit your order to:  CSPS VP/Membership 2560 Calabria Ct, Dublin, CA 94568. Every poet is invited to join the CSP Society, online or by mail. First fill out the form on the website, then print it and send with payments by mail to: 

CSPS Vice President - Membership, 

2560 Calabria Court, Dublin, California  94568

The editor comments: "When editing this volume first I thought I should have a theme of spring, new life, renewal, then i realized that poets submitted mostly about the fall (what was currently written), so I had to revise my theme into the "cycle of life" - in its physical natural beauty and spiritual depth.  I'm thrilled to have encountered so many new wonderful poets, and to be able to publish the work of talented friends. I used some haiku, including two of mine, as comments on shorter poems, and wrote a new poem to close the issue."

You can find the table of contents of the California Quarterly, Volume 44, Number 1 on Poetry Laurels Blog: http://poetrylaurels.blogspot.com/2018/04/california-poetry-in-california.html

Photo of maples in Warsaw by Maja Trochimczyk

ARBOR COSMICA 

                      ~ for my children

No fear, no hate, not even a mild dislike*—

we leave our heavy burdens, shards of memories

broken, all too broken, at the bottom of crystal stairs

beneath clouds of white camellias, petals swirling

through air like the snow of forgetfulness

Perfect symmetry of blossoms

points the way — up, up, always up

rainbow crystal stairs, revealed

one by one as we ascend — inwards,

outwards — dancing spirals of our DNA

We get to know this place — these depths,

these heights — for once, for all lifetimes

With each step, pure notes resonate

and expand into clear, spacious chords —

the music of the spheres rings out, wave by wave

expanding from our open hearts

Each chord — harmonious, different —

each melody in this vast symphony

sweetly twines around another, and another

until all are One Song, One Wisdom —

of stem and flower, of leaf and root

in this Cosmic Tree of humanity

Arbor Cosmica —

We have been here

all along without knowing

(c) 2018 by Maja Trochimczyk

Photo of a maple in Warsaw by Maja Trochimczyk

DOROTHY SKILES AND SUSAN ROGERS NOMINATED FOR PUSHCART PRIZE

The editors of the 2017 issue of the Altadena Poetry Review nominated Dorothy Skiles and Susan Rogers for the highly regarded Pushcart Poetry Prize. The full list of nominees included:  Thelma T. Reyna, Cathi Sandstrom, Dorothy Skiles, David Slavin and Alicia Elkort. Nominations for this prize are submitted by editors of poetry books and journals who can present up to six names/six poems for recognition from the year of publications. On April 16 at 7 pm you can listen to their poems at the Altadena Public Library.  

Meanwhile, the same and other local poets will have their work published in the Altadena Poetry Review 2018, the cover is above and the reading will be on April 29, 2018.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE ANTHOLOGY PRESENTS MOONRISE PRESS POETS

Ami Kaye of Glass Lyre Press edited another wonderful anthology, entitled Collateral Damage. In her words: "the mission of the Collateral Damage project is to raise funds and greater awareness about children with basic survival needs, for programs that protect and educate children and foster child advocacy. This book will highlight children traumatized by school shootings and gun violence, children who are abused and exploited, and those caught in the crossfire of wars and political strife. .. As current custodians of this world we need to protect the future: our children. If we work together we can harness the strength to speak up for those not allowed a voice; turning away is not an option anymore."  The cover is by Tracy McQueen and the poets include: Ambika Talwar, Kathabela Wilson, Martin Willitts, Jr., and Maja Trochimczyk. Their work appeared in Chopin with Cherries Anthology in 2010. 

MAJA TROCHIMCZYK'S INTERVIEWS IN EUROPE

Photo by Arturas Morozovas from Delfi magazine, Lithuania.

Earlier in the spring, Maja Trochimczyk had the pleasure of talking about her immigrant experience, family war-time traumas, and life in general to two journalists from Europe. Polish-Lithuanian journalist Witold Janczys wrote a story based on her interview for a Lithuanian publication, Delfi, the largest portal in Baltic countries. Polish music journalist and broadcaster Ewa Szczecinska from the Polish Radio recorded an interview to be broadcast in installments - the series has just began - in Polish  Here are the links, and a photo from the Lithuanian publication - translated from Polish into Russian!

 https://www.delfi.lt/multimedija/u-nas-i-amerikie/u-nas-v-amerike-ceny-tozhe-rastut-no-i-zarplaty-uvelichivayutsya.d?id=77319547

https://www.polskieradio.pl/8/380/Artykul/2082339,Maja-Trochimczyk-Zycie-pomiedzy-Polska-a-USA

BEVERLY M. COLLINS CELEBRATES THE BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Beverly M. Collins and Maja Trochimczyk at Phoenix House Venice with their books.

On Saturday, February 24, 2018, eminent poet Beverly M. Collins visited Phoenix House Venice residential treatment program for adult men to celebrate Black History Month with poetry.  An accomplished, prize-winning author of two books and hundreds of poems published in a variety of journals, Beverly read her poems and discussed their inspirations. Some of her witty and wise verse has been collected in two books Mud in Magic (Moonrise Press, 2015) and Quiet Observations (2006).

Beverly M. Collins with her 2015 book Mud in Magic

Beverly was joined in the reading by Maja Trochimczyk (poet and Senior Director of Planning at Phoenix House who organized the event) and two patients from the treatment program who read excerpts of their excellent work in progress. The audience of nearly 50 men was very attentive and interested. The afternoon ended with the listeners using one word to describe what they love the most in life: family, sports, art, sunsets, etc... At the end of a poetic afternoon, Beverly and Maja donated books of poetry to Phoenix House.

http://poetrylaurels.blogspot.com/2018/02/black-history-month-at-phoenix-house.html

Meanwhile, Maja Trochimczyk wrote and posted for everyone spring holiday wishes, for all ways of celebrating the spring, from Easter to Spring Equinox: