Bhakti and I got back from an overnight sojourn to THE MULTIVERSE on San Juan Island yesterday. We went to the community/arts spot Ian, Jennifer and Gavia Boyden have created to showcase art and were delighted to be serenaded by original keyboard music while watching the Perseid meteor showers Sunday night.

Upon our return SIX POSTCARDS! (This with two weeks left officially in the 2018 Poetry Postcard Fest.

These are the images of the six cards and, best as I can tell, the poets are Charles Stobert, Linda Crosfield, Terry Holzman, Stanley DelGozo, Carmen Kennedy and one that was unsigned and postmarked in North Houston, Texas. They are, in part, poignant, touching, funny, personal and one touches on a shared experience of the poet and I.

The stamps include images of David Bowie, John F. Kennedy, Sarah Vaughn, an Andrew Wyeth painting, the American flag and a furry white Canadian animal of some kind, perhaps a goat, festooning the beaver card. Two are from my group and three are bonus cards, one of the benefits of being the person who runs the postcard fest. The six bring my take so far 23 cards.

What a delight this fest continues to be. How does it get better every year? There has been some confusion as to whether this is a poem-a-day event like some other poetry writing events, or if one can write the cards in bursts. The confusion might be because of the name and because the registration starts July 4. Rather than change the established name, it occurred to me this year to change the pronunciation of the main word from the month (August) to an adjective:

1. inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic:an august performance of a religious drama.
2. venerable; eminent:an august personage.

If one signs up on July 4 and gets a list July 5, there are 56 days to write an original poem on a postcard to everyone on one’s list of 32 names. I love the notion of 56 days of August. (The month.) August now means poems get the top level of consciousness for this one time of year and that time has expanded to almost two calendar months. I envision the fest will have 1,000 participants some day, but I am grateful all year round for this project, the work I receive, the way I stay in touch with old friends and make new ones and the work it allows me to generate and how that work shows me what I think. Thanks for being part of the fest, if you are a part and if not, you may want to consider it. I look forward to hearing about the processes/methods people used in 2018 and to sharing my own.