World Poetry Celebrates Donna Jean MacKinnon!

 

 Ariadne’s Notes?:The World Poetry Café radio show, 100.5 FM CFRO on Nov.7  is honoured to welcome two wonderful writers, poets and authors. Calling in at 1:10 pm PST is the author,  historian and archivist Donna Jean MacKinnon!  Calling in from New Westminster is the amazing Ruth Kozak who will be talking about her latest trip to Greece! I will be promoting them separately. Also, opening poems by Malik Ahmed, Vancouver and Pieter-Joris Morssink, Australia . A new Big Bessie story by Sharon Rowe read by Victor Shwartzman was also featured .

A young poet and writer who wants to bring the old history from Dubai wrote in to ask our guests about suggestions. He felt that there was a lot of attention on the future  but not as much on bringing the past to life. Dubai is our 129 the country that listens in at times! 

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE SHOW!

Donna Jean MacKinnon writes:

“I am working on a local historical novel set in Vancouver 1884-1913 – a woman’s story because so much of what there is in local historical lore is male-oriented. The poem just came out of me one night after I’d been working on my manuscript and had gotten to a new phase/realization.. I’m very humbled by the form of the novel as well – but am enjoying the process immensely. . . https://historicalresearch.blog 

 

Revise Revise Revise 

The manuscript

a bed sheet fresh from the line

snaking out above the yard.

 

I grab it by two corners and 

Shake out the wrinkles 

Trying to get it to 

Lie flat

 

A smooth logic to gain dominion over 

The peaks and valleys of redundancy 

actions and characters that don’t work or fit

To find the fabric of its logic 

 

Or maybe it’s more like making toffee 

twisting and turning

Creating a heat of its own

A shape of its own

A texture 

Seeing what sticks and solidifies

 

Never mind the polishing yet to come

The burnishing stone I need

To smooth out the sharp angles

Edges too jarring

Characters too simple

Actions illogical

 

To bring out the lustre 

To make it shine and sparkle

To emulate the masters 

Who so humble me in this endeavor

 

To shape and nurture

With poetry 

 

To give the story life

By Donna Jean MacKinnon (C), Vancouver B.C. Canada. All rights reserved.

 

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