Poetry Postcard Fest

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 15

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Katie

From the ashes of what fire
did the family name of Phoenix
flutter forth, what history sired it
and does your clan
live up to its name
re-emerging from
whatever disaster the times
heap on your homes
– challenge your lives with
to be reborn and renewed
tempered by the flames?
These bonfires fed with prunings
from the olive grove in Crete
likewise strengthen the tree
for a more fruitful future…

© Andrew Wilson, 2023

This photograph was my favourite of all the ones I took in Crete during lockdown in the Winter of 2020. Katie’s card (below) was all about Summer and making the most of it…

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 14

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Shari

Each stranger’s name and address
is like a mini detective challenge
I follow police protocol
and locate you on a map
so I know you are in Seattle
home to the PoPo Fest
Beyond that
your name gives me nothing
but for no better reason
than that you are
one “O” short of a monsoon
I picked this picture of
Indian shoes some years past
at the Leeds Asian Festival
so blinging I couldn’t resist…

© Andrew Wilson, 2023

Shari was quick out of the blocks, her postcard poem being my fourth to arrive – which means she had no more idea about me than I had about her… Her card was beautiful, her poem short and sweet…

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 13

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Amy

Do you believe in coincidence
because what are the odd
of two Millers at 6 and 7
in the chart?
Could you be related even
brother and sister, wife and ex
just plain friends joined by
matching nomenclature
calling to remind that
sign-up is beckoning for the
Poetry Postcard Festival
and leaping into un-poet like
action – registering almost
simultaneously like
quantum entangled pairs
I choose not to believe
in coincidence…

© Andrew Wilson, 2023

Amy’s card was my 16th to arrive and her poem talked of a trip to the mountains – perhaps depicted in this wonderful original watercolour below…

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 12

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Christopher

Can you surf in the Gulf
on the outer edge of the Keys
is there enough fetch to raise waves
suitable for surfing and
which way does the wind blow
or is it calm enough
to paddleboard- the latest craze!
I took these brightly coloured boards
at St. Ives in Cornwall
where surf and art mix
I thought they were surf boards
but looking now I am unsure
perhaps kayaks – another way
to breast the brine
I savoured their beauty in the sun
too old to try them out…

© Andrew Wilson, 2023

Christopher’s poem was a fine metaphor of the various times of data, and night, on the peaks, seen as music – perfectly prompted by his card – Maurice Baquet playing Chamber Music…

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 11

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Peggy

To live by a great water
is to have a special sense of place
and you live in a place of
Great Spirit by the Great Water.
The moods and music of water
change every moment and
as well as the water
the reflections of great clouds
and huge skies dwarf
our mortal constructions
and remind us of the power of nature.
We lived six months in lockdown
with this stunning view of
mountains and Mediterranean
in Crete, winter of 2020
– I for one loved the cloud mountains…

© Andrew Wilson, 2023

Peggy reflected on the use of Cannabis to blunt the pain of harsh winters in areas where liquor was the only sucquor…

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 10

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Cecil

If I were a West Coast biker
I would roar into Lincoln City
on my Harley hog down the 101
El Camino Real – The Royal Road
swooping up and down the hills
over bluffs between Pacific beaches.
My tattoos might inspire fear
by association with terrible tales
but if I was like this biker
from West Yorkshire
hanging out in Hebden Bridge
famously home to hippies and lesbians
I would have you know
my bark is worse than my bite
I am a big softie at heart
too shy to let people get close…

Andrew
© Andrew Wilson, 2023

Cecil may or may not have received my card before writing his postcard (below) – coincidentally, I sent my card on the 17th of July and his was the 17th card I received – on the 25th of August. His poem (which I am not allowed to show you) referenced nothing more frightening than a predatory Robin in a nature documentary – enough to make his wife hide her eyes – I do hope my card did not scare them…

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 9

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Rachel

Passing the end of this street
I saw these sun-painted shadows
depicting the neighbouring houses
chiaroscuro – light and shade.
Morning sun swinging round
is what we notice both
creating and destroying shadows
but at eventide
it is the shadows winning
steadily reclaiming surfaces
for the night. I started
seeing shadowplay everywhere
best of all – shadows invaded
by reflected sparkles
from third-party windows
Chiaroscuro…

Andrew
© Andrew Wilson, 2023

Rachel fulfilled the PoPo brief perfectly, an epistolary postcard poem that referenced the picture on her card (below), and since she had presumably received my card, also referenced my theme of light and shade – perfect! I only wish I was allowed to show you…

Hold onto your hats! Myrtle and High Street Bellingham WA


Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 8

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Amy

This might seem like
sending coals to Newcastle
a picture of mighty mountains
to a woman who lives on a fiord
with her back to
mountains of her own
but these mountains have
never known the touch of glaciation
these mountains in Crete
where we spent lockdown
may be capped with Winter snow
but from their tops
you could see Africa
if only you were young enough
to climb and not locked down
so every day we just
admired from afar

Andrew
© Andrew Wilson, 2023

Amy’s card was only my second to arrive from Group 15 which I belonged to – I was the only non-American on the list! Her card was glittery and featured a drunken fairy and the mossy rocks which I imagine abound in the Washington landscape… I only wish I could share her poem!

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 7

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Julie

Wish you were here
is the common cry
of the holiday postcard
sent to a friend or relative dear
but I know nothing about you
beyond your evocative address
but I send this photo
with only a little fear
that you will not appreciate
the struggle of nature
to make this wild garden.
An upcycled tyre for a container
a Harts Tongue fern
a moss garden
what’s not to like…

Andrew
© Andrew Wilson, 2023

I wish I was allowed to share Julie’s beautiful response to my poem (perhaps she will see this and slip it into the comments) – she had received my card and it turns out that she had been thinking of the recuperative power of nature so no worries there! I cannot say where she lives either beyond naming the evocative address as Thunder Road… I can share the selection of beautiful skies Julie sent and which I am guessing she took herself…

Poetry Postcard Fest Follow Up Post 6

humanist55

The Poetry Postcard Fest is a challenge which encourages poets to write an unedited poem on a postcard and send it to a stranger. Organised by the Cascadia Poetics Lab, who organise the participants into lists of 31 + yourself for you to address your offerings to. This was my first year and hearing about it just in time to register, I was on List 15. The lists are sent out in early July and you have until the end of August to send out your missives – to date I have received 20 of 31 possibles and now that we are into September, it is allowable to share the cards and poems you sent and the cards but not the poems you received. I will share these in the order of sending and I will miss out those which I have not yet received in case they arrive soon…
Although the original poem is to be sent as written – crossings out, blots and all, I have typed them out for people who can’t read my writing and I am allowing myself to edit if I feel like it…

Dear Kim
I have a grandson who is a rapper
and recently dropped a song
about the question “Where are you from?”
Because the micro-aggression
implicit in the loaded question
is that your national identity
depends on where your ancestors are from
and not where you live
Nation, State or City.
But I like to ask that question
to know the many layers that
make up a person, present soil
and deeper roots
I see your name is from Poland?
Andrew

© Andrew Wilson, 2023

Kim wrote about my being British and having a friend who lives near me whose accent she loves to listen to and in response to your question, Kim “Im reet enuff, thanks!”
She sent a card of a painting by one of my favourite artists, Gustav Klimt – more famous for his portraits and of course, The Kiss, he only painted landscapes when on holiday…