Poetry Forum

David L F Smith - all messages by user

6/29/2016 8:50:03 PM
Long live eccentricity	Recently joined poetry soup. Hope my eccentricities appeal. I attend the university of Life. There are always new courses for me to attend and don't expect my graduation party any time soon. I am 62 going on 18. I have a community spirit and am a professional turner upper. I am married . Have been for 27 years with the usual hiccups. Would not even get invite to Father of the year yet I have three children who have people skills and budding careers who still talk to me and play monopoly off line -funny that. One a civil engineer with a top job in asset management at 22. My other girl graduates this year with a double degree and job for next year. My finishes degree next year as electrical engineer. Spent 30 years as ECE Teacher. Self published book on state of childcare in NZ. - struggling with marketing but those who read it are positive about it. Have reached Presidency of Lions club. Then switched to Toastmasters and did same. Received wood beads as cub leader. Running metal collection project for my local Church. Play chatty chess. Read and follow current events and make submissions on issues I am passionate about. Would love to get into freelance writing. I work part time cleaning at night. Apart from that I am just another grumpy old man whom somehow my children manage to love to bits. I just wish they would appreciate my sense of humour more and stop say "that's embarrassing Dad" Did I mention I can cook.
6/30/2016 2:24:01 AM
Why, and who are you writing for	There are many reasons why I write poetry and each poem may have been written for a different reason. Feelings play a big part in my writing. When I first started writing it was to impress a lady. So looked for words that would best suit that purpose and my feelings towards her. Poems like "on stage" (posted) were to celebrate a special time and place and to acknowledge that to the people involved. For some of my poetry the message takes centre stage. Some is more like doodling. Some is for fun. Some is to experiment and fit a particular category. It is all for me part of growing and understanding. I have written some poetry as a record of feelings and motivations. Some poems are to release pressure and keep my sanity. I am now in the refinement stage and poetry soup is helping. Some poems are to reach out and connect with others. Asking questions of myself has helped maybe it could help you too.
6/30/2016 5:17:55 PM
The Ball	I spent 30 years working with preschool children and some of my best humour comes from those times. I particularly remember playing catch with a 2-3 year old. We started playing catch together. the ball kept coming back and forth, back and forth until I thought when is he going to drop the ball or get tired and stop. We kept passing the ball and just when I thought I would have to give my attention elsewhere he suddenly piped up "when are we gonna stop throwing this silly ball". I love children's sense of humour and when I worked with babies I loved making them laugh. Find someone to have a laugh with. A good way to make friends of all ages.
7/1/2016 7:20:14 AM
WOULD LOVE SOME FEEDBACK PLEASE	Will look them up David from NZ
7/1/2016 7:54:04 AM
Feedback appreciated. Constructive criticism okay,	Jmc86850 wrote: Kitty-cornered Jaguar She came tearing through the parking lot Finally she brought the car to a stop From fore to aft I count three lines crossed What worries me more is how near are the people Finally she brought the car to a stop The "other 2" tires again touched the ground What worries me more is how near are the people She doesn't touch street drugs, unless you count her adrenaline The "other 2" tires again touched the ground The proprietor of the establishment came out and she said She doesn't touch street drugs, unless you count her adrenaline Try to be calm he said rolling his eyes, take to the stage to find your natural high. The proprietor of the establishment came out and she said From fore to aft, I count three lines crossed Try to be calm he said rolling his eyes, take to the stage to find your natural high. She came tearing through the parking lot. edited by Jmc86850 on 6/30/2016
7/1/2016 7:56:55 AM
Feedback appreciated. Constructive criticism okay,	Can feel the beat of life on the street. Cool writing. "Life is full of stages" from David in NZ
7/3/2016 4:59:55 AM
Poll Question: Featured Poetic Forms...	I would be interested in being more familiar with different forms of poetry so features from time to time sounds good.
7/3/2016 6:13:09 AM
Disrespecting children	If you witnessed all the things I did in thirty years as an early childhood teacher you might conclude like I have that they are not getting the respect they deserve as beings of wonder and beauty that they so are. If anybody saw like I did the secret lives of five year old's documentary - intros were enough for me where adults were seen having a good laugh as they secretly watched them unknowingly lay their life bare - I am sure you would get where I am coming from. I know so many adults who see children as something bought and paid for and an investment to protect or in too many cases neglect. Would like feed back, maybe even a few poems on how others see this issue that I am passionate about. Shudder to think what comments would be about my secret life as a five year old and how they would have pigeon holed me.
7/3/2016 5:57:29 PM
MOUSE TROUBLE	True Story. Have been having mouse trouble and was talking to a family friend at church on Sunday. Said he had just the thing. A trap that comes already baited - caught mouse at his house night before. said he would drop it off at my house later. He has been to my house before a number of times, yet for some reason he turned into driveway 2 houses down and got stuck in the mud reversing out. Had to tow him out but not without help of another neighbour who used his jack to shift lift car sideways to anther neighbours drive. Can almost imagine mouse watching proceedings or even instigating them. Ah life where would we be without a few quirky adventures. May you all have a few of your own. As for the mouse, the outcome is not decided. Trap not yet touched. watch out for updates. David from NZ
7/3/2016 11:33:40 PM
Why I self published	I self published with Xlibris. Glad I did but there are things to know. I self published my book on the state of Early Childcare Education in New Zealand(non fiction). I did this because I wanted people to be properly informed of what life is really like on a daily basis for teachers and children and to highlight the lack of choice, the difficult issues, general lack of space, financial viability and impact on society as a whole. I wanted to to talk about logistics rather than statistics. Ever since first being involved in childcare I wrote to various magazines, put my career on the line but nobody was interested in having a discussion on the subject. I spent time with one of our previous children's commissioners highlighting my concerns. It became obvious that I would need to write a book. Traditional publishers did not see value. So I went to internet and logged on to Exlibris. International exposure then became an option. Before I went ahead I made sure my book was looking at the subject from a different angle than other books on the subject. I felt I had something unique to say. Everything was done on-line and by phone. I had control but access to really experienced people through all stages of the book. It cost but worth it. You have to watch all the extra's though. Making money was a secondary consideration. There was opportunity but my circumstances changed as did my budget. Print on demand is useful as book does not go out of print. Though self publishing is step to getting a traditional publisher which I am still trying to do. Also with self publishing you will have to be prepared to do some of your own marketing and getting some reviews yourself. I pushed for and got reviewed on Child Forum in NZ. Some Libraries have got it. Book stores are hard to get into and want a huge percentage. Still getting help from Xlibris but need to buy in books for book signing. Have got in small bookshop in Upper Hutt, NZ. The media is hard to crack. There are cheaper options for self publishing. The advantage with it is that it as new publisher you have control of material. Traditional publishers tend to want to package your work more and alter content unless you are an established writer. My book is now poetry soup classifieds. You can preview it on the link. One thing that I needed help with was with layout. If self publishing you need to get legal advice. You will mostly need permission from other people who feature in any photos. You can't just download images using your toolbar. Xlibris got me Images through Thinkstock which included images of children. This is a commercial site. There are hooks and barbs in self publishing. Do market research even on your title which may not be Unique. We do judge books by their cover so think carefully there. It was good having to work to a time frame and deadlines with Xlibris. Offering your book as a fundraiser which I am looking at is an option. Good luck and take your time to get your head round it all. David from NZ
7/4/2016 7:24:23 AM
Finally giving my writing a home. Feels damn good	Hi from David in NZ.
7/5/2016 7:41:14 AM
more woes for NZ Children	Sesame street is no longer free to air in NZ. Would be little opposition to view that wherever watched in world Sesame street set a benchmark for excellence in children's programming. I am sure there are many people reading this who have fond memories of this programme. It is greed all round that has led to this situation. The channel it was on got axed and replaced by adult oriented channel called bravo. There are infomercials running at times it was on. New channel also has heaps of reality programming. A petition has been launched to make them re-consider. Just read HBO has Sesame street behind a Paywall whatever that means. Children apparently have very little consumer power. Hope other counties have less heartless TV moguls and some children elsewhere can still watch the programme. If you have influence now is time to use it. Sesame street was and still is something for children everywhere to look forward to. One of a kind. Have a Sesame Street book that I used to read to our children. Had it out recently when we babysat friends children. Interested on others take on this. Hope just not me who cares. David from NZ
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