Reggies Poetry

This book contain's material's that you have heard about, or you know some one that it talks about. It touches a little about every thing from not using drug, to staying in school, your health, and every day living. Its about the things that you would see in every day life. This book is for grown ups as well as kids you will enjoy.Your mind is a terrible thing to waste so please keep it out of the trash, don't do foolish things

FROM THE PUBLISHER Reggie Marra's third volume of poetry, And Now, Still, in its depiction of family, loss, grief and resilience, carries forward the precise, direct and unflinching style that informed his poems on the consequences of war in This Open Eye (2006). This new volume juxtaposes humor, gentleness and a sense of redemption with the poet's eye for graphic beauty. Marra's poems and occasional journal entries invite us to share an intimate, ongoing healing narrative that is at once his, and at a deeper level, a story that belongs to all of us. REVIEWS "Openhearted, rich in detail, and wildly irreverent, Reggie Marra's And Now, Still celebrates the sacred everyday connections among the living, the dying, and the dead. This intimate moment, son holding father - 'I learn how heavy/ your living dead weight can be/ face to face, chest to chest' - is one example of the brave, unflinching nature of Marra's work. "And from the title poem these lines - 'I feel etched stone's/ temporary permanence, / time, laughter, conversation, / ...first and final truth/ lost shinanklefoot, / ...two key turns, a silent sister' - reminding us that all emerges from and gives way to silence, the mysterious center point, this moment. And so the poet mourns and sings. Lyric to narrative, journal entry to rant, his layered language, its poetic intelligence, invites deeper presence. A generous collection that defies being boxed, this book is a healing journey offered by a kind, resilient, skillful and eloquent guide." -Janet E. Aalfs, author of Bird of a Thousand Eyes, founder & director of Lotus Peace Arts, http: //www.vwma.org/ "When the soul needs to be fed or held, only music and poetry are capable. I have no idea if Reggie Marra sings or plays anything - but oh, the poetry." -Ian Percy, author, Going Deep: Exploring Spirituality in Life and Leadership "Reggie Marra's poetry speaks to me deeply of hope and joy, beautifully woven into the context of grief and loss. As a holistic nurse, reading Reggie's poetry reminds me of the humanity in every person. Through his life I see my life and the lives of the many patients I have touched. Reggie has the ability to gather precious moments and offer them as a gift to the reader. I recommend slowly sipping and savoring each word that it may touch and magnify your life." -Joanna Burgess-Stocks, BSN, RN, CWOCN, Patient Advocate

I hope you enjoy these poems and maybe fill a blank in your life. By making a card or sending with flowers to the one you love. Even for Birthdays and Mother's Day. Make that someone in your life happy and show them that they are special in your life. When you give a poem from the heart to the one you love their reaction is speechless. Also makes a great coffee table book. It's like a cookbook that you can use to make that moment special.

With humor and insight, The Beautiful Chaos of Growing Up takes you into the turbulent world of young adulthood. Capturing the newfound freedoms of college life and the dizzying adventure of the years that immediately follow it, this poetry collection reflects on the ups, downs, and in-betweens of the journey towards independence. In poems that explore the thrills and anxieties of college friendships and graduation, internships and job interviews, first dates and first apartments, lies a warmhearted, powerful examination of what it means to grow up.

A poetry collection and reflections from R. de Wolf for anyone, whether they like reading, poetry or not. A book to enjoy at leisure, pick up and put down and find a poem or short story to suit your mood. The occasional giggle is encouraged.

Killing America: Our United States of Ignorance, Fear, Bigotry, Violence and Greed is Reggie Marra''s fourth book of poems. As with his This Open Eye: Seeing What We Do (2006), Marra unflinchingly sees, writes and shares with the reader verbal snapshots of his country''s late 20th- and early 21st-century culture of violence as it manifests at home and abroad. His poems both grieve slaughtered school children, unarmed black men, ambushed law enforcement officers, church-, concert- and movie-goers, military veterans and victims of American foreign policy violence in the Middle East, and indict the leaders who refuse to act amid, or implicitly condone, the ongoing slaughter. Reviews "Killing America chills me, even after 25 years as a police officer and 15 years in counter-terrorism. We don''t see all sides of the violence we fight against, and these poems take no sides. Reggie Marra exposes the pain felt by fellow humans, the challenges we face when we take sides, and the compassion we need to see each other''s pain." - Christopher Rogers, Father, Husband, Retired Peace Officer and Bomb Technician "In Killing America, Reggie Marra gives us deep, disturbing images of War - at home and abroad. What I take with me, especially, are these lines from ''You Stood Up'' - ''your open heart / exposed the mask / of fear your mind / mistook for you, / so you stood up / and no one got hurt.''" - Waverly Nall, Father "Reggie Marra''s poetry is both raw and sobering, highlighting how violence changes everything it ''touches'' either by design or by default....Violence exists on a spectrum: inter-personal violence on one end and collective violence (military combat) on the other. Each of us is responsible for the violence we commit anywhere on that spectrum. "Marra''s work also illuminates how elected officials focus on gaining and retaining political power...If these elected officials don''t understand the nature of violence and its cultural implications, then their decisions (or indecision) will generate increased levels of unintended violence during their costly learning curve. The spectrum of violence can''t be eliminated; it can be minimized if understood. This book helps us do that." - Bob Killackey, Marine Infantry Officer, Combat Veteran, Husband, Parent, and now Public High School Teacher "In Killing America, ''The Sniper'' most resonates most with me, as it captures aspects of myself as a military officer (retired) and a parent. Reggie touched my soul as a basketball coach in my adolescence and continues to do so in my adult years." - Edwin G. Nall Sr., LTC(R), Father "What is the underside of the American dream?....[W]hat if the enemy is not from without, but within? What if America''s drive toward a unifying and international vision of democracy has become an ongoing war to glean supremacy over those without power on both U.S. and foreign soil? What if the victims of such a war were measured in data points-soldiers, civilians, students, teachers, men, women, children, the occasional politician-rather than empathy? "Reggie''s agonizing and precise language describes the carnage resulting from America''s efforts to destabilize dictatorships in Iraq or terrorists in Afghanistan, while shining an unbearable light on the victims of a million American bullets, of children dead, communities ravaged, and families of color pillaged... And what if the collective response from a fatigued nation was merely a shrug, the deaths of human beings simply collateral damage in a quest not for the accessibility of the American dream, but rather for the ongoing accumulation of power and money? Reggie''s vision is...a reveille to an apathetic American public who must rouse and feel and be damned if they will allow it to continue...." - Joan Hurley, 2008 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, Mother

Living Poems, Writing Lives engages a poet's vision, heart and craft in embrace of the art of conscious living. The integration of literary, psychological and spiritual perspectives takes the reader on an invaluable journey of self-discovery. Chapter-ending exercises and meditations, a 15-billion-year time line, and an extensive annotated bibliography complement Reggie Marra's unique perspective on the roles of poetic devices and imagination in promoting a culture of peace that begins with, and nurtures, an ongoing inquiry into the self. Poets who feel drawn to look within, and anyone charmed by poetry's allure, will find a home in these pages. CONTENTS Introduction 1 Structure: Knowing Our Foundations 2 The Line: Honoring Episodes and Building a Life 3 Imagery: Juxtaposing Words and Deeds 4 Point of View: Who Are We, Really? 5 Metaphor/(Simile): Life Is (Like) a Gift...a Journey...a Trial...a War? 6 Drama: Recognizing the Reality and Theater of Conflict 7 Diction: The Choices We Make 8 Punctuation: Personality and the Sentence of Life 9 Rhythm: Going With (and Controlling) the Flow 10 Revision: Interpretation, Truthfulness, and the Story of a Life 11 Theme: Big Pictures and Unifying Ideas 12 Texture: Integrity, Quality, and the Overall Feel 13 Completion: Illusions, Endings, and the Denial of Death Appendix I: Developmental Theory Appendix II: Time Line Notes Annotated Bibliography Index INTRODUCTION The various poetic devices that we use to write and interpret poetry have value beyond the world of the poet. Structure, line, imagery, point of view, metaphor, drama, diction, punctuation, rhythm, revision, theme, texture, and completion are as essential for living a conscious life as they are for writing or interpreting a great (or ordinary) poem. While the book focuses on conscious living, the exercises that conclude each chapter apply to both poetry writing and the search for the True Self, and include basic approaches to meditation. Each chapter first presents the application of its topic to "our poet," using examples from Shakespeare to contemporary poets; then to "our self," using, among others, the work of Ken Wilber, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Stephen Levine, and Thomas Merton. The annotated bibliography at the book's conclusion lists over 150 entries, including all references used in the book. Appendix I, a brief essay, includes a chart of selected developmental theories, including Piaget, Maslow, Kohlberg, Fowler, Beck and Cowan, and Wilber, among others, which are especially relevant for Chapters Four and Thirteen. Appendix II is a selective time line, which presents significant events, relevant to this book, that have occurred over the past 15 billion years (or so). The "spirit" and "self" components throughout this book have their foundation in the what has come to be known as an "all-quadrant, all-level, all-line, all-state, all-type," or "integral" approach. Living Poems, Writing Lives presents a unique path toward recognizing Spirit within. CHAPTER ONE: STRUCTURE: Knowing Our Foundations explores the possibilities of formal and free verse that are available to our poet, and uses the problem/resolution/uniformity of the sonnet as the primary example of formal verse. Other examples include the cycles and compression of the sestina; the progressive repetition of the pantoum; the self-imposed form of structured free verse; and the potential, freedom and danger of unstructured free verse. Our self explores her chosen and imposed structures as they apply to issues such as money, time, work and vocat

From the kid-like brain of Ted Scheu, one of the world's funniest poets for children, here comes a house-full of dreams, screams, groans, and giggles. Family life has never been more humorously or honestly portrayed in poems than in I Froze My Mother and other Seriously Funny Family Poems. In this collection of rhyming poems, children ages 7 to 11 will find answers to nagging childhood questions and problems. Now they can instantly freeze their mothers. Learn new words from their dad. Maybe trade their brothers. Or help their sisters share their secrets. The fresh, honest voices lurking within these poems combine with eye-popping Peter Lourie photographs to endlessly tickle gigglebones. Kids will zoom through this collection before their mother even thaws. I Froze My Mother is one of the funniest, freshest collections of poems for kids to tumble down the stairs in years. Give it a test giggle today. I Froze My Mother is a hilarious companion to Ted Scheu's other funny poetry collections, I Tickled My Teachers and I Threw My Brother Out'all from Young Poet's Press. I Froze My Mother inspired celebrated children's author and poet J. Patrick Lewis to write, ?Ted Scheu's ?seriously funny family poems? gleefully demonstrate that he is seriously off his noodle-?high praise for a children's poet. I Froze My Mother takes up where Jack Prelutsky left off...somewhere in outer space.'