Shadow Poetry, Haiku, Senryu -- OH MY!!

I'm not certain if poetry is regaining popularity, or if I'm simply more aware of poetry. Back in the dark ages when I was a high school student, reading and studying the classic poets was required. I learned to love classic poetry back then. That interest continued in college English, and then reality set in. Just about everyone reading this blog will identify with that reality. I got a job, became embroiled in earning a living and paying the ever-present bills, got married and created more bills. For many years, poetry and my appreciation of it was very far down on the list of priorities. Then came retirement, my golden years of rediscovering those early interests in poetry and prose.

I can't remember how Shadow Poetry and SP Quill were discovered. Maybe one of the poets whose work I reviewed said, "You should check out Shadow Poetry and submit poetry reviews to them." Whatever or whoever encouraged the association, I'm grateful. Shadow Poetry has a very appealing website, rich with poetry submitted from around the world. Poetry contests are ongoing and their chapbooks are quite esthetically pleasing. SP Quill is a hard copy journal published by the editor of Shadow Poetry. Editor Marie Summers, assisted by her husband James, releases this journal quarterly. (She is a fine poet in her own right.) My poetry reviews are featured in SP Quill and I've discovered several wonderful poets through my association with this group.

SP Quill features formalist poetry, free form, and haiku. So many writers accomplished in haiku and senryu submitted to SP Quill that Summers introduced a new hard copy journal, White Lotus. My curiosity about and appreciation of haiku is a direct result of reading White Lotus. Both cover and contents are soothing, pleasing, and beautifully rendered, in keeping with the spirit of haiku.

As a bonus, both journals published by Shadow Poetry feature excellent pen and ink drawings pertinent to content. You can learn more about both journals and the poets featured in them at www.shadowpoetry.com.

I believe the interest in poetry is making a comeback. The recent increase in new poetry journals is evidence of that resurgence. I enjoy thinking that hidden in the pages of these journals might be our generation's Plath, Coleridge, Longfellow, or Browning. My next few blogs will introduce journals I consider noteworthy. Most feature my reviews or my poetry or both, but tooting my horn is not the purpose here. My purpose is to introduce poetry readers and poets to journals they might not discover otherwise.