How to use this Page

Walk On
by
Greg Pincus

When thumbtacks are strewn on the paths we must tread,
When sharp, jagged rocks are behind and ahead,
When we have to walk over freezing, slick snow,
When puddles of liquid hide dangers below,
When we cross hot pavement or scorching, red coals...
These are the times that will try all our soles.


And you're thinking "he really went there in National Poetry Month and on Poetry Friday?" And, well, yes... he did! If you're still craving more, the good news is that you can see what else is out there, too, if you head on over to No Water River to see this week's Poetry Friday roundup. There's great stuff posted there (including Renee's description of what Poetry Friday is and how to be a part of it).

And if you want to get all my poems emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe:

THE POET TALKS BACK
by
Gregory K.

You tire of my puns and jokes?
My meter makes you groan?
You think my rhymes are over-ripe?
My wordplay makes you moan?
There’s little I can say except it really could be worse…
I could become a backwards bard and only write inverse.


I'm posting an original poem each day in April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and I post all year round, because poetry is NOT just for April!) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

The moment finally came! Signing a copy of HUNGRY at Cobb Mountain's very own coffee shop and bookstore, The Bookkeeper. Bill made pistachio Home Worlder cookies, with five tentacles rather than six, but who's counting! Pipecleaner tentacles were made with googly eyes. There were green alien Italian sodas to drink and a t-shirt giveaway.

My good friend and writing partner, Mary, helped in my presentation as Commander Pggsbtk, (otherwise known as Deborah's grandmother Pig's Butt). Mary and I did a "spit and greet," and she ably assisted applying Pggsbtk's beauty secret to transform Tom, one of the Bookkeeper's visitor's, into an alien. There were wonderful screams of pain from the bathroom as the beauty secret did its job. Norm, Mary's husband, made a certificate for the kids that said they were officially part of the invasion force and were not to be eaten.

Since then Mary helped me at an assembly at school in which a sixth grader named Tristan outdid Tom with his screams from the back of the stage. He was very brave as he went out on his mission to terrorize Earthlings with his new alien face. One of the pleasures of all of this is being a teacher and a writer. The kids at school have been genuinely excited for me.

I signed books at Funtopia last weekend as a fund raiser for Minnie Cannon's sixth grade science camp. Over 200 dollars was raised!

My family, community, friends, collegues, and church (even Episcopalians can appreciate hungry aliens) have been so supportive. All I can say is a humble thank you to everyone who have made the last two weeks so memorable.