Welcome to
Today’s Poets Newsletter
Vol. 1 July 2024
Pull up a chair and stay a while.
Hi…. I’m Barbara (Fischer) Binstock, Poetry Editor
& Publisher, and designer of all our great poetry
anthologies and poetry books for poets since 1963..
I’m so glad you stopped by. Pull up a comfortable
seat. Have some tea or coffee and sit back and
browse our poetry many wonderful pages of excerpts
from our published poets and writing inspiration.
I hope you’ll log in and leave any questions or comments
that you’d like to to share with our readers.
After 60 years in poetry, I have so much to tell you!
There was no internet when I began, nowhere near as
many books to help improve your writing or achieve
success with self-publishing. You’ll especially benefit
from my commentary about poems I put before you to
help you learn to improve your writing.
I’ll be adding and new inspiring poetry information
every month. Just click your Bookmarks tab now to
easily visit this J. Mark Press poetry website often.
The articles I’ve written and classes I’ve taught are
based on questions and mistakes I get from newcomers.
I know you’ll find lots of help and inspiration on upcoming
pages of this web site. Click “favorites” up at top and add
this page so you can return effortlessly, to where poets
have fun with poetry every week.
This site has our poetry anthology contest guidelines
and lots of links to our other pages.
When I see that poets are sincere, I try to help them
to become their best and publish their writing in
beautifully illustrated anthologies with many other
well-written intellectual expressions.
When I encounter vain persons who’ve made no
attempt at learning to write something worthwhile,
but calling themselves ‘poets,’ for lack of anything
good to say about their accomplishments, I send them
a callous rejection.
Being a ‘Published Poet’ seems like an easy title to brag
about. But, Impatient people, who decide to
self-publish (or who publish in vanity publications that
have no literary standards), make a mockery of true poetry.
They ruin the enjoyment of poetry for everyone.
Those half-baked published poets cause readers to say
they don’t care for poetry or they don’t ‘understand’ poetry.
People will not seek out more poetry to read after being
introduced to enough half-baked poets. It is sad that such
poets and their publishers diminish the general interest in
poetry, depriving the world of a thriving community of
patrons for poetry.
Why is it so difficult to become a published poet in
respected media? Many people with hammers aren’t
ready to be carpenters. I takes knowledge of the craft.
Many people who write poetry aren’t ready to be
‘published’ yet for the world to see.
But don’t be impatient. You can become embarrassed
forever by publishing your immature poetry prematurely.
Once people read your name as the author of a poem,
it may stick with them, favorably or otherwise!
I want to share something really inspiring with you. If not
for my World Poetry Showcase website back in 2003 I
never would have discovered what became of this admired
poet/pen-friend.
Before it’s browning paper turned to dust…
I decided to show this poem by Emilie to the world.
About about 50 years ago, I took my
5-year-old son on the Long Island
Railroad to Central Park, New York City.
On the train seat, heading for home,
I found a “Little” magazine, (as the literary
mags were called), “The Coffee House Review.”
In it was this poem that lived with me since.
Skimming through The Coffee House Review, I spotted a poem,
*CLOCK OF THE ANIMALS by Emilie Glenn.
I was publishing poetry anthologies back then, and one of
our poets who really stood out was Emilie Glenn, (who read
her poetry in person in a neighborhood known as Washington
Square, Greenwich Village, NY). We had already published her
poems “The Redhead in Washington Square” and
“This China Hour.”
I was so thankful to have met Emilie a few months later at a
writer’s group in the Village in NYC. She said, “You’re Barbara?
You are so beautiful in person.”
At the same time I was saying “Emilie? I can’t believe how
beautiful you are in person.” And we had a good laugh about
how deceiving pictures can be without the soul connected.
No “FaceTime” back then. Pictures were usually black & white
due to high cost of color.
I had just taken my little one to see the magical “Clock Of The
Animals” at the Children’s Zoo in Central Park, (like my father
had once taken me to see).
Recently, due to the power of Google, a friend and publisher of
Emilie searching for more about her life found our website and
this poem that I was preserving here online for all time.
The woman informed me that Emilie left our world at the
age of 84, having left hundreds of poems behind that she
has compiled in a biographical manner.
*CLOCK OF THE ANIMALS
by Emilie Glenn
Hurry Mother hurry,
The clock in the park
Is dancing the animals
To music box tunes
Better than the best cake
You ever baked,
Mother hurry,
Monkeys with mallets
Are striking the hour
On their big bell,
The bear and the hippo
Are dancing round and round,
Playing the tambourine and the horn.
The penguin and the goat and the elephant
with drum and pipes and squeeze-box,
Kangaroo with a baby in her pouch
Not so fast my darling
Never rush time away,
Turn each moment precious in your palm,
You will never be holding it again,
I remember the Town Clock
Of my Bavarian Village,
Painted people marched around it in double row,
And the bell was struck by an angel,
Or so it seemed to me.
Mama, waiting for the hour,
Looks up at my animal clock
As if it’s telling her something sad,
Will I be looking up at another clock
With my little one,
My face pulled down sad
My face pulled down sad
Remembering mine.
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