Words from the Heart

I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing my friend and fellow poet, Dr. Pearl Ketover Prilik about her lastest chapbook, Rachmones - Poems of Compassion, which will be "coming soon."  Pearl is an gifted writer and it is a joy to share her interview with you all. I hope you will find something that touches your heart and soul in the following. ~~~ Pearl, I am really enthralled with your new book...the poems are so personal, yet so universal! Thank you for sharing them with me.  Thank you Linda, it means a great deal to me to hear that you enjoyed the poems.   Could you tell us a bit about who you are, what you do professionally and why you write poetry?  First of all, I think it was a wonderful intervention of the universe that this interview came to me via my commenting on a wonderful poem of your own. In what I term a “previous life-time,” I was a teacher of English and Reading in NYC and prior to that -- a long story in itself -- ra...

The 30 Poems in November Challenge has begun! My first poem is dedicated to my newest grandchild.  The prompt was to write a "day after" poem, which came from the Poetic Asides website. So many great poets share their work there. The 30 Poems in November Challenge is a fundraiser for the Center for New Americans, at which I teach.  This is a non-profit organization with a mission that " provides the under-served immigrant, refugee and migrant communities of Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley with education and resources to learn English, become involved community members and obtain tools necessary to maintain economic independence and stability. "  If you are interested in supporting my efforts, please visit my Razoo site: https://www.razoo.com/story/Linda-M-Rhinehart-Neas    All donations are tax deductible. Thank you in advance for all your support in whatever form it takes.   ‪ #‎ 30poemsnov‬ 

The prompt yesterday for Poem-a-day was to write a historic poem, then today, we were to write a poem about a moment. This is my combination of both.   At the Turn of a Dime    Pacific blue held them as the day at sea began like so many others. Each man had duties to preform, each holding tomorrow dreams within. In a flash of airborne light, their reverie cracked, like their ship, as bombs and planes came raining down upon them.    My Dad, the greatest hero of my life, stood at his station when his CO, a young man, barely old enough for war, ordered him to help put out a fire at the bow. Snapping to in rote military fashion, Dad ran down the deck to the fire hose. As he turned to douse hell’s fury on the deck, a kamikaze slammed like an errant meteor full force into the destroyer steel of his station. From the bow, he turned to see the crumpled iron; where he had stood moments before lay torn open as if th...

The April Poem-a-day Challenge is upon us. While some writers find it a challenge to get up each morning and write a poem, I find it to be a perfect meditation to get the life-blood flowing. Here are some of what I have created in the wee hours... Prompt: things are not as they appear poem.   Vista   Mountains backlit in the peachy-pink of a stormy morning’s sun – a valley ripe with harvest wrapped around a quaint village of red-roofed stucco houses that encircle an ancient church built by Crusaders in years forgotten.   He had promised that she would never forget this view, this landscape they loved. Good to his word, he built their home high on a hill and facing east, a window, on which the master painted the coup l’oeil from the memories of her heart.   LMRN © 2015 Prompt: a mystery poem    The Case of the Perplexing Postcards   They found the box ...