Cape Canaveral Poet Laureate

Good afternoon, everyone!  I hope everyone is staying healthy, safe, and sane.  Today is World Poetry Day and I figured I would share some Chinese Poetry with you.  These are pretty trying times for people all over the world, so we should band together as the human family and appreciate all the art the world has to offer.  Hope you enjoy! And remember our small businesses as well during these times and support them to the extent you can while self-quarantining or social distancing. Be well!!! Wolrd Poetry Day 2020

(Photo courtesy of City of Cape Canaveral) On Friday, October 4, during our wonderful Friday Fest, the City dedicated its new mural, One Giant Leap for Mankind,  by artist Anón .  You can find his work on Facebook or at this link:    https://anon.myportfolio.com/?fbclid=IwAR2ESNmbrfCul2xcC5gS8vuGBbBjd2xExQ1SzMUaKH-DGcXSV5recZBfFDc I was honored to be part of that event and meet the artist, who, aside from being talented, is a super nice guy.  He brought his wife and new child to the dedication.  His mural served as inspiration for a new poem in the form of a song.  This song is comprised of four mono-rhymed quatrains (meaning each stanza is four lines long with a rhyme scheme of AAAA, BBBB, CCCC, DDDD, with perfect and loose rhymes).  The title is based on the location and topic of the mural.   The first line is from JFK’s famous speech that set us on our lunar path. The trajectory refernces the conical path portrayed on the m...

At tonight's City Council meeting, the City will be making a presentation of a Proclamation to members of the Brevard County Historical Commission commemorating City Resolution 1969-30, which commends the historical Apollo 11 Moon Landing of July 20, 1969, and declaring June 21, 2019 through September 23, 2019 as the Summer of Space in Cape Canaveral.  Here is that Proclamation: I will be reading the historical proclamation at the City Council meeting.  As a writer, it is important to understand language usage.  Looking at this proclamation, we can examine its structure and learn about how the City uses structure to make this proclamation. This type of writing is generally called a "resolution" because it shows that the signatory is resolved to perform an action. The first thing we can see are statements that begin with the word "whereas".  These are generally referred to as "recitals" or the "preamble".  As used in recitals, wh...

On Friday, June 7, 2019, the City of Cape Canaveral hosted the Ribbon-Cutting ceremony for its new dog park, Rover's Space.  In honor of the event, the City invited me to read some poetry I had written for the occasion.  Both of these poems are Acrostic Poems .  This means that the first letter in each line spells out a message, in this case, "Laika", the first dog in space.  Acrostic Poetry is a neat way to expand the meaning of your poem, kind of like leaving a secret message!  Please feel free to post an example of an acrostic poem that you have written.  The City asked me to write something focusing on "man's best friend", and here are the two for grand opening of Rover's Space: Ad Astra Per Amicitia Like the twin stars of Procyon Amiability gleams lucently Interconnected, loyal, roving Keenly reeling mirthfully Adjoined, dog and best friend Friendship * Loyalty * Love -- Unleashed "Let's be friends" A child says to a ...

As part of April's National Poetry Month celebration, the American Academy of Poets declared April 18, 2019 Poem in Your Pocket Day.  The City asked me to participate and tote a poem in my pocket to share.  In selecting a poem, I wanted it to be fun and relevant.  Ultimately, I chose to carry "Why Viking Lander? Why the Planet Mars?" by Ray Bradbury.  While best known for his novels (Farenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, I Sing the Body Electric, etc...), he was also a prolific poet.  This particular poem was first published in Star*Reach #6, a sci-fi comic book series.  He first recited it at the 1976 San Diego Comic Con.  What a neat idea: combining art, narrative writing, poetry, and fandom!!!  It was later republished in his Poetry Anthology called "They Have Not Seen the Stars: The Collected Poetry of Ray Bradbury" (Stealth Press, 2001),  (available from the wonderful Brevard County Libraries).    The poem is better to read yo...