Thinking About Basho – Published in The American Poetry Review
November/December 2016, Vol. 45/No. 6
~~~
(http://aprweb.org/issue-index/2016-november-december)
The Hackney Literary Awards — Tender
(First Place —The 2016 National Poetry Awards)
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(http://hackneyliteraryawards.org/winners)
Tender – Published in the Birmingham Arts Journal
July 2017, Volume 14/Issue 2
Published in conjunction with the Hackney Literary Awards
(First Place, National Poetry Awards, 2016)
~~~
(http://hackneyliteraryawards.org/winners)
The 46th New Millennium Writings Literary Journal Awards — Words
November 9th, 2018 — Announced on January 20th, 2019
(Poetry Finalist—The 46th New Millennium Writing Contest, Poetry Awards, 2018 — Listed as “Bracha Sharp”)
~~~
(https://newmillenniumwritings.org/writing-awards-46/)
If These Could Talk — Published in The Weekly Avocet Journal — Issue # 465
The Weekly Avocet, October 31st, 2021, Issue # 465
Haiku — (“Brown leaf in the rain…”) — Published in The Weekly Avocet Journal — Issue # 472
The Weekly Avocet, December 19th, 2021, Issue # 472
~~~
Reviews:
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[Thank you, also, to these Weekly Avocet Journal contributors/poets for their kind reviews!
”I really liked your haiku…imagery and the positive message it conveyed to me. The latter is especially important in these rather difficult times…got some ideas to use in my writing. Thanks.” — Jack Maze, Poet
”I very much enjoyed your haiku in today’s Weekly Avocet. It’s like a small prayer. Lovely!” — Connie Green, Poet]
Pigeonholed — Published in The Avocet: A Journal of Nature Poetry — Winter - 2021 -22
The Avocet Journal, Winter Issue — 2021-22
Understanding and The Rain is the Earth Today — Published in the Birmingham Arts Journal
October 2021, Volume 18/Issue 1
~~~
(https://www.birminghamartsjournal.com/published.html)
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[Note: This recording was made specifically for The Birmingham Arts Journal (BAJ)’s readings and reception for their 20th Anniversary celebration on Thursday, October 27, 2022 at the Leeds Theater and Arts Center. This work was featured in the January 2022 issue, and I was, along with the poets and creators from the BAJ’s last six issues, invited to read my work. Featured submitters were invited to “read your poem(s) or a brief passage of your prose or show and tell us about your art or photography. The reception and reading will be quite casual. We want to honor your work as we celebrate with each other…We'll be well prepared with food, drinks, and desserts. Just come on and bring family and friends. What - Reading/Reception for the Birmingham Art Journal http://birminghamartsjournal.com Why - To honor written, spoken, and visual art and their creators. When - Thursday evening, October 27, 2022 Reception, networking 6:00 - 7:00; Reading 7:00 - 8:30 Where - Leeds Theater and Arts Center, 8140 Parkway Drive, Leeds, Alabama 35094 Congratulations on having your work published in The Birmingham Arts Journal.”
To thank the BAJ for publishing my work and to be there, in spirit, this recording was made specifically for their celebration. *(One may NOT share, copy, or save this recording or the accompanying artist’s statements without express, written permission, first. Thank you, in advance!)*
The poet’s statements, each of which were read by one of the BAJ’s readers during the ceremony, before the recordings were played, and that accompany each of the poems are as follows: "Understanding" is a poem about working one's way through anxiety and/or depression, but it's also just as much a poem about leaving that state and entering a flow state, either through visualizing oneself out in nature--lying flat on the ground and therefore, both mentally and physically grounding oneself, for example--or via the actual act of going out into nature and seeing oneself and one's challenges as infinitely smaller, when compared to the grandeur and majesty of the natural world.
It is also a more general contemplation into the felt, everyday experiences that we can have, and the deeply-felt emotions that such experiences can evoke--leaving oneself and yet inhabiting oneself, at the same time, grounding and yet soaring, process and yet growth, living in the moment and yet working towards the next goal and/or goals. All of these, in turn, create a multi-sensory and yet deeply-felt internal state, which I hope comes across to the reader; a way to soothe myself to sleep, a way to move through the brambles that we encounter, every-so-often, a way to get myself unstuck, through the retelling, to myself, and to others.
In this way, poetry transforms the writer and the reader--from one's internal states, to writing them out, to sharing them; from there, a braided thread is created and strengthened.
"The Rain is the Earth Today" is a poem that seeks to unite simplicity with depth. In standing at the back door and looking outward, into the world, which was covered in rain--a "fine film of quiescence" as the poem describes--I sought to depict, in deeply-felt sensory terms, how the rain looked, as it poured down.
In my desire to forever capture that moment, the poem becomes like a snapshot in time; rain that is always falling, covering the round globe that we call Earth, covering the stratosphere and beyond.
The world, itself, becomes the rhythm of rain and encloses the writer and reader in a mutually-shared experience, where everyone can find their place in the rain, where all makes sense and is in alignment, and where the muted, dewy drops are enlarged; a magnification of the rain for the writer and the reader, as if seen through a wide-angled camera lense, where all goes according to a laid-out Plan, where nature and human beings blend into harmony, and where all find out how and where they synchronistically belong.
"Today" thus becomes an ongoing path through the magic of that experience, even long after the rain has stopped falling down.”]
The Heron — Published in the Trouvaille Review
March 20th, 2022
~~~
(https://www.trouvaillereview.org/home/the-heron-by-bracha-k-sharp) / (https://www.facebook.com/trouvaille.review/posts/512707887088037)
A Question — Published in Sky Island Journal
April 30th, 2022, Issue 20/Spring, 2022
~~~
(https://www.skyislandjournal.com/issues#/issue-20-spring-2022/)
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[https://www.facebook.com/skyislandjournal/photos/a.493247261028535/1629125680774015/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/skyislandjournal/photos/a.493247261028535/1627926147560635/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/skyislandjournal/photos/1582930535393530
https://www.instagram.com/skyislandjournal/]
After the Questions — Published in ONE ART: a journal of poetry
May 11th, 2022
~~~
(https://oneartpoetry.com/poems/)
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[Note: This poem was kindly nominated by the ONE ART Journal’s editors for their nominations regarding the Orison Book's Best Spiritual Literature (formerly The Orison Anthology) category; congratulations to all of the nominees! (https://oneartpoetry.com/2022/10/12/one-arts-nominations-for-best-spiritual-literature/) and (https://oneartpoetry.com/2022/05/11/after-the-questions-by-bracha-k-sharp/)]
Haiku — (“From my balcony…”) — Published in the Scarlet Dragonfly Journal
August 2nd, 2022
~~~
(https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/)
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[Note: This is an absolutely lovely online journal, catering to the various poetic forms of Japanese poetry. It is a delight to read, so please take some time to look around and to enjoy all of the wonderful Japanese poetic forms that this journal showcases! The images and stylistic word choices from all of the poets featured in here are truly beautiful to read—and to enjoy! Take a stroll through this journal and have a look at its poetry here: https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/biographies/]
Waiting for the Gift — Published in Wild Roof Journal
November 2nd, 2022, Issue 17: November 2022
~~~
(https://wildroofjournal.com/)
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[https://wildroofjournal.com/issue-17/]
[https://wildroofjournal.com/issue-17-gallery-1/]
[https://wildroofjournal.com/podcast/#roundtable_december2022.]
[https://wildroofjournal.podbean.com/e/22-wild-roof-roundtable-discussion/]
[https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ELXLZlwtkZK8nIB1U36xs]
[https://www.instagram.com/wildroofjournal/?hl=en]
~~~
[Note: I am extremely grateful and it is an absolute honor to be one of three poets chosen from the Wild Roof Journal (WRF) journal's past/latest issue, Number 17, (wildroofjournal.com/issue-17/) for their roundtable poetry discussion. All of the poets/pieces in this issue, as well as in the past ones, have been such strong contenders, and so I am truly honored! Thank you, again, to the WRJ's Editor and to all of the other readers who discussed my poetry during this roundtable, and congratulations to the other poets chosen, as well! You can listen to and check out the whole podcast, below, and you can listen to the entire audio discussion, here: https://wildroofjournal.com/podcast/#roundtable_december2022
~~~
There is also an individual video, highlighting my poem on the WRJ YouTube page, which you can view here, as well: https://youtu.be/vZIZ05jYCWc
~~~
Podcast clip of previous contributors reading their poems; my “Waiting for the Gift” recording appears at 40:53 minutes in; Episode #25: https://wildroofjournal.com/podcast/ and https://wildroofjournal.podbean.com/e/25-wild-roof-contributor-reading/]
“Open The Window, Open The Window And Open It Wide!” I Say — Published in Boats Against the Current Poetry Magazine
January 9th, 2023
~~~
(https://boatsagainstthecurrent.org/poetry)
A Calculation — Published in the Rogue Agent Journal
April 1st, 2023, Issue 97 — Eighth Anniversary Edition — April, 2023
~~~
(http://www.rogueagentjournal.com/#issue97-section)
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[https://www.facebook.com/rogueagentpoetryjournal/posts/693468069447974]
Haiku — (“Concentrated flight…”) — Published in ONE ART: a journal of poetry
~~~
April 2nd, 2023
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[Note: I’m very grateful, surprised, and honored to have this haiku of mine read by the Editor of ONE ART (which appears nearer to the end of this episode, around 52:40 minutes in), on this most intriguing and thought-provoking podcast, alongside so many other wonderful poets and their haiku being read! My many thanks—and you can listen to Episode 15 HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-poetry-space/id1675796320?i=1000610934680]
Reunion and In the Middle of Things — Published in The Closed Eye Open
April 13th, 2023, Issue IX
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(Click on the link above, on the same page, to view the full Issue in its entirety; it will open up into the journal’s Issue IX PDF, for easy viewing! The poems appear on page 25.)
~~~
(https://theclosedeyeopen.com/)
Tapestry — Published in ONE ART: a journal of poetry
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May 11th, 2023
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[Note: For the best/correct line-length viewing experience, the use of a laptop or a computer works best, over a phone, where the line-lengths are more likely to be compressed—thank you, and enjoy!]
_____
[The artist’s work appears here: https://www.danellerivas.com/gallery/el-camino-de-esmeralda/]
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[Note: I am also deeply grateful to the Editors for including me, along with so many other fantastic poets, as a “Representative Poet” on their website! You can find the names here, on this page: https://oneartpoetry.com/submissions/
~~~
I am also very grateful to the editor for mentioning this ekphrastic poem of mine in his mini craft essay, along with some other ekphrastic poems which have also appeared in his journal—thank you! https://www.cleavermagazine.com/dabble-in-ekphrasis-a-writing-tip-from-mark-danowksy/]
A Consultation — Published in Thimble Literary Magazine
June 23rd, 2023, Summer 2023 Issue, Vol. 6 No. 1
~~~
(https://www.thimblelitmag.com/author/bksharp/)
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[https://www.thimblelitmag.com/2023/06/23/issue-reader-vol-6-no-1/]
Although I Am Not-Bird, I Still Sang Its Song and Review — Published in Stone Poetry Quarterly (Formerly the Stone Poetry Journal)
~~~
August 3rd, 2023, August, 2023 Issue
(https://stonepoetryjournal.com/august-2023/)
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[https://stonepoetryjournal.com/]
A Selection of Poems (Six haiku and one poem — Conflagration) — Published in ONE ART: a journal of poetry
~~~
October 5th, 2023
Haiku (“This still summer heat…”) — Published in the Scarlet Dragonfly Journal
~~~
(Notified on) October 9th, 2023
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[https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/2023/10/page/5/]
The Naming of Things — Published in Autumn Sky Poetry DAILY
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November 7th, 2023
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[https://www.facebook.com/AutumnSkyPoetryDAILY/posts/865467788800691 and https://www.facebook.com/AutumnSkyPoetryDAILY/posts/865409118806558]
During the Bath — Published in Poetry Breakfast Journal
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January 17th, 2024
Supplication — Published in Wild Roof Journal
March 12th, 2024, Issue 25: March 2024
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[https://wildroofjournal.com/
https://wildroofjournal.com/issue-25/
https://wildroofjournal.com/issue-25-gallery-2/]
Portrait — Published in Amethyst Review
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March 14th, 2024
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[https://www.facebook.com/AmethystReview/posts/912194900704252]
I Am Reminded and Treasure — Published in ONE ART: a journal of poetry
~~~
March 31st, 2024
