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When Words are not Enough - Suzette Richards's Blog

About Suzette Richards

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Mission statement: I don’t use AI to generate or even tweak my poetry, because I am a better poet than it.

Poetry has been my passion since my retirement from an accountancy based career a dozen years ago. I currently live in South Africa and this rainbow nation has inspired many of my poems. I also have British nationality and embrace their grammar and spelling, but I read widely and am not fazed by strict grammar rules: A pavement/sidewalk; glasses/eyeglasses; judgement/judgment, et cetera; they are one and the same to me when I read poetry. To date, I have self-published a number of books, including the poetry anthology by international poets, © Time, 2014 ISBN 978-0-620-60578-6, and have been cited in many international publications, both poetry journals, as well as in scholarly handbooks. Some of my short stories have been published in international electronic publications, and one of my novellas had been short-listed for an Afrikaans SA publication.

I serve on the Board of Advisers, of Taleemi Baithak.

I have a number of poetic forms to my credit, notably, Suzette Prime (listed here on PoetrySoup), as well as Suzette sonnet.

My most recent books which include examples of my poetry as well as notes regarding poetry - available directly from me:

© The Eutony of Words, 2018 ISBN 978-0-6399382-0-2
© Docendo discimus, 2021 (Revised 2023) ISBN 978-0-620-95432-7
© Flight of Thoughts, 2023 ISBN 978-0-6397-8880-7
© Downtown - Poetic Devices, 2023 ISBN 978-0-7961-1968-1
© Rocking Poetry, 2033 ISBN 978-0-7961-2824-9
NEW: moonwake - Suzette Prime poetry, ISBN 978-1-0370-1836-7(PDF). It is a collection of 61 Suzette Prime poetry spanning from 2012 (when I designed the poetic form), up till now.

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When Words are not Enough

Blog Posted:10/19/2024 10:22:00 PM

Hi Soupers

A plus factor of being a Premier Member is that one can post images (and a lot more besides) with ones poetry. There are some members who excel at their craft and graciously share these with us. Thank you Suzanne Delaney for the Life Time membership gifted me last year April.

Poems by Suzanne Delaney | Quotes (poetrysoup.com)

The first thing I did was to return to my poem, Circumlocution (24/7/2021), to update it with the Venn diagram. Posting it in the poems field just did not do it justice. I already had the picture on hand (produced using my Publisher program) as I had posted it earlier on one of my websites. I left the description of the poetic form in the poem field as it was before the ruling by PS regarding poems only …

Circumlocution - Venn Diagram (poetrysoup.com)

I was rather pleased with my new found toy of being able to generate images with Microsoft DALL-E 2. After writing the Suzette Prime poem, Verismo (12/4/2023), I used the opening stanza as an image prompt. The end result was spliced together in my Publisher program, resulting in a rather pleasing end product. Searching the Internet for a suitable picture to enhance my poem would not have had the same result.

Verismo (poetrysoup.com)

I returned to many of my older poems and either enhanced it with mostly copyright free images found on the Internet, or designed my own. One of the examples where I used a copyright free image was with my tanka, A Tree (6/4/2023).

A Tree (poetrysoup.com)

Returning to an earlier monoku, morning has broken (26/4/2021), I designed the image shared. It is a photograph of my Shih Tzu taken at the dam in front of my house in a private nature reserve. I combined the monoku and the photograph in the age old fashion of haiga (although paintings are the traditional medium used).

morning has broken (poetrysoup.com)

Fast forward to the present: I enhanced my latest haiku, cherry blossoms scent (19/10/2024), with a generated picture of an ikebana and included my haiku in the fashion of haiga, with a rather pleasing result. The image at the beginning of this blog was one of a group of four images generated from a single prompt, but I discarded it as a candidate for the haiga as I found the tones too sombre.

cherry blossom scent (poetrysoup.com)

Many of my watercolour paintings decorating my home include my haiku and tanka, but not all of them. Sometimes one or the other medium of expression is sufficient onto itself.

Happy quills & illustrating!

Suzette

Post Comments

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Constance
La France

Date: 10/20/2024 8:12:00 PM

Suzette, you create such beautiful blogs, I love them. I was gifted a Life Time Membership years ago from a lady, called, Linda Marie, now gone to Heaven. It has been the most amazing gift ever given to me, has opened the door so my poetic voice could flow, love Constance

Suzette Richards
Date: 10/20/2024 10:41:00 PM

I remember Linda Marie - such a loving soul. She was one of the winners in the very first Suzette Prime contests I ran here (in 2012). Your poetry has gone from strength to strength (especially this past year and a half), Constance. Thank you for the kind compliment - much appreciated.

Ink
Empress

Date: 10/20/2024 11:26:00 AM

I love verismo the most, beautiful. And i love the cherry blossom scent. Katana and ikebana two words that sound exotic. And i love your blog title. Hope you are doing well dear Suzette Sending you light always

Suzette Richards
Date: 10/20/2024 10:43:00 PM

Mmmmmm ... I think that 'cherry blossom scent' sounds better than '...blossoms'...I will update the poem in the poem text field. Thanks :)

Suzette Richards
Date: 10/20/2024 10:36:00 PM

I wish I could pin Verismo - I was in a happy place when I wrote and designed the picture. Sara K helped to tweak the final line and this is what makes the poem. Thank you for your visit. I am well, thank you. Hugs, Su

Andrea
Dietrich

Date: 10/20/2024 9:24:00 AM

Verismo is so pretty.

Suzette Richards
Date: 10/20/2024 10:33:00 PM

It is also my favourite, Andrea :)

Andrea
Dietrich

Date: 10/20/2024 9:23:00 AM

gosh, you are such a techi. I am the oldest at the ESL school and everyone catches onto all the new programs so easily. I feel like a dinosaur. Mechanical and technological things were my downfall on the SAT test. Other than those things, I scored very well. I eventually adapt when I am forced to learn something but it sure doesn't come easy. You are blessed to know how to do all these cool things for yourself. I barely have figured out how to post videos and pictures!

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 10/21/2024 3:48:00 PM

My handwriting is so awful looking I myself cannot always read what I took notes on. I wrote extremely fast!

Suzette Richards
Date: 10/20/2024 10:32:00 PM

I grew up in a household where mathematics ruled the day and the forerunners of accounting progammes where hotly debated. My only regret is that I cannot seem to master calligraphy, something my daughter excels at. So, I have to rely on computer apps to do the script on my haiga ...

My Past Blog Posts


When Words are not Enough Date Posted: 10/19/2024 10:22:00 PM
Gratitude blog Date Posted: 10/17/2024 4:20:00 AM
Mamba 16 – Honouring Africa-centric haiku Date Posted: 10/12/2024 11:24:00 PM
Han Kang - Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 Date Posted: 10/10/2024 7:31:00 AM
AI is NOT a teaching aid for poetry Date Posted: 10/5/2024 7:17:00 AM
Message from Eileen Date Posted: 9/22/2024 9:34:00 PM
Pie-in-the-sky - NEW CONTEST Date Posted: 9/15/2024 12:42:00 AM
The Enigma of Rhyme and Metre Date Posted: 9/2/2024 11:09:00 PM
Back when tigers used to smoke Date Posted: 8/25/2024 12:26:00 AM
MOTHER SAID with Refractory Rhymes - NEW CONTEST Date Posted: 8/15/2024 11:25:00 PM
Collective nouns - senryu - A Heads-up Date Posted: 8/14/2024 11:38:00 PM
My Contests and Questions Date Posted: 8/5/2024 12:13:00 AM
Collective Nouns and Senryu - NEW CONTEST Date Posted: 7/24/2024 11:51:00 AM
9 is not PRIME – List of Punctuation marks Date Posted: 7/22/2024 11:06:00 AM
Happy Birth Date Nikola Tesla with The Tesla 3-6-9 Date Posted: 7/10/2024 12:03:00 AM
9 is not PRIME – New Contest and Selection Process Date Posted: 7/5/2024 9:38:00 PM
Poetry Should be Felt – Suzette Prime Date Posted: 7/5/2024 12:13:00 AM
Poetry should be Felt – A HEADS-UP Date Posted: 6/27/2024 10:04:00 PM
Suzette Prime contest - relaxing the NO punctuation rule Date Posted: 6/18/2024 9:51:00 AM
Voir dire Date Posted: 6/12/2024 11:48:00 PM
Poetry should be Felt – NEW CONTEST Date Posted: 6/5/2024 12:40:00 AM
Closet Drama Defined Date Posted: 5/23/2024 4:54:00 AM
Poetry seen through the colour wheel Date Posted: 5/19/2024 2:43:00 AM
Happy Mother's Day Date Posted: 5/12/2024 12:09:00 AM
Curtains - NEW CONTEST Date Posted: 5/5/2024 1:28:00 AM

My Recent Poems

Date Posted	PoemTitle	Form	Categories
10/22/2024	The Space between Stars	Free verse	introspection,
10/21/2024	twilight silence	Tanka	nature,
10/20/2024	Swans	Pleiades	bird,
10/20/2024	Lost and Found Teeth	Limerick	humorous,
10/19/2024	cherry blossom scent	Haiku	art,poetry,
10/18/2024	wAlls In dAlI	Ekphrasis	art,philosophy,
10/15/2024	Here we go again	Limerick	satire,
10/15/2024	Haunted Cemetery	Rhyme	halloween,humorous,
10/12/2024	My Truths	Verse	literature,myth,relations
10/10/2024	Jumping the Shark	Free verse	analogy,
10/10/2024	BALLAD OF ELEANOR RIGBY	Ballad	music,
10/8/2024	Life is a garden	Suzette Prime	analogy,birth,death,flowe
10/2/2024	Avarice	Enclosed Rhyme	analogy,
9/28/2024	Stranded in Peace	Quatrain	nature,
9/26/2024	Insidious AI	Concrete	integrity,poems,poetry,po
9/13/2024	Pie-in-the-sky	Verse	satire,
9/3/2024	The Scent of Words in the Air	Shape	inspiration,poetry,
8/15/2024	The Co-dependent	Pantoum	addiction,
7/25/2024	a loveliness	Senryu	language,nature,
7/10/2024	Mother said ---	Verse	humorous,mother,
7/8/2024	The Earth from a Distance	Sonnet	nostalgia,
7/5/2024	Lingering Dusk	Free verse	allegory,analogy,flower,n
6/14/2024	A Child of Light	Other	daughter,
6/5/2024	Cave canem	Suzette Prime	fear,
5/31/2024	Layers of Life	Enclosed Rhyme	life,remember,
5/13/2024	Love Lauded in Song	Free verse	romance,
5/13/2024	The Truth in Time	Sonnet	horse,mythology,
5/9/2024	Silence of the Sea	Other	peace,
5/6/2024	Love	Sonnet	love,pain,
4/6/2024	From Purgatory to Paradise	Haibun	africa,nature,
2/23/2024	The Last Leaf	Tanka	autumn,feelings,friend,im
2/20/2024	To everything there is a season	Other	life,nature,seasons,
1/29/2024	On a Thesaurus Diet	Suzette Prime	analogy,nature,philosophy
1/23/2024	The Wind Teased	Sijo	loss,
11/3/2023	Moonwake	Suzette Prime	metaphor,nature,philosoph
10/16/2023	The Rocking Chair of Memories	Suzette Prime	analogy,memory,metaphor,p
9/10/2023	The Dilatory Thought	Verse	introspection,
8/25/2023	Through the Keyhole	Iambic Pentameter	dream,fantasy,
8/8/2023	View From Basement Flat	Dramatic Verse	relationship,
7/27/2023	When Doves Cry	Terzanelle	eulogy,
7/26/2023	You Shall Reap What You Sow	Ekphrasis	art,
7/8/2023	Graceful Lily	Sonnet	poetess,
6/21/2023	Thalassophile	Alexandrine	sea,
6/14/2023	Recombobulating Chaos	Free verse	nature,
5/25/2023	The Seeds of Time	Quatrain	analogy,introspection,met
5/24/2023	The Moon By Day	Sonnet	romance,
5/8/2023	Discord and Peace	Ekphrasis	analogy,anger,angst,child
4/22/2023	If a Tree Should Fall	Suzette Prime	dream,philosophy,
4/19/2023	Like Burnt-Out Logs	Heroic Couplet	emotions,simile,
4/18/2023	An Attenuated Tree Branch	Personification	imagery,metaphor,nature,
4/12/2023	Verismo	Suzette Prime	analogy,introspection,met
4/6/2023	A Tree	Tanka	analogy,image,nature,
4/5/2023	The Welkin - and - the Influences	Jueju	analogy,nature,
3/19/2023	Alone	Suzette Prime	analogy,inspiration,metap
3/9/2023	A Waste of Space	Prose	culture,introspection,lit
2/15/2023	Passion - Metaphorical Realism	Suzette Prime	art,extended metaphor,pas
1/30/2023	Dare To Take a Stand - Zettie's Sonnet	Sonnet	metaphor,
1/30/2023	I Dance With Shadows - Yclept Sonnet	Sonnet	analogy,city,dream,metaph
1/29/2023	An Evanescent Life - Xaxa Sonnet	Sonnet	death,extended metaphor,l
1/25/2023	Dusk At the Beach	Sonnet	beach,friendship,
12/9/2022	By the Silvery Light of a Moon	Sonnet	mythology,romance,
11/12/2022	Either Way	Sonnet	analogy,nature,parody,sat
10/6/2022	Redamancy Lament	Suzette Prime	africa,analogy,grief,lost
9/23/2022	You Are the Music	Sonnet	love,poetry,
9/9/2022	Thank You Ma'Am - In Memoriam Queen Elizabeth Ii	Sonnet	death,funeral,grief,in me
7/20/2022	Ignorance Is Bliss	Quatrain	wisdom,
7/16/2022	The Cup of Life	Rubaiyat	death,life,philosophy,
6/12/2022	The Original Mistake	Villanelle	philosophy,
3/4/2022	Blinded By War	Kimo	conflict,war,
1/15/2022	The Perfidy of Memoirs	Free verse	inspiration,memory,
12/11/2021	Withered On the Vine	Terzanelle	humanity,
10/18/2021	2 Lunes	Other	lost love,poetry,seasons,
9/15/2021	What Are Words - a Florilegium Poem	Other	analogy,emotions,literatu
8/15/2021	Out of the Darkness	Sonnet	analogy,introspection,
7/24/2021	Circumlocution - Venn Diagram	Free verse	math,relationship,
7/23/2021	Golden Spiral - a Phi Poem	Other	math,poems,poetry,
7/13/2021	He Has a Name	Elegy	grief,
7/11/2021	I Don'T Give a Rat's Tail	Concrete	animal,literature,
7/4/2021	Brocken Spectre - a Florilegium Poem	Other	introspection,poetry,reli
6/30/2021	A Trilogy in The Tesla 3-6-9	Other	universe,
6/14/2021	We Hate the Ones We Have Wronged	Suzette Prime	philosophy,
6/10/2021	You Are My Muse - a Tribute To Eileen	Other	muse,poems,poetess,poetry
5/29/2021	The Fisherman	Other	environment,family,fishin
5/15/2021	No-Man's-Land	Kimo	conflict,war,
5/11/2021	Keep the Faith	Other	faith,religion,religious,
4/26/2021	morning has broken	Monoku	analogy,dream,introspecti
4/26/2021	Thanatourism	Pleiades	grave,
4/14/2021	Royal	Pleiades	culture,grief,history,lon
4/13/2021	Ceraunophiliac - a Suzette Sonnet	Sonnet	analogy,god,nature,relati
4/12/2021	Ineffable Mysteries - a Suzette Sonnet	Sonnet	introspection,
4/2/2021	Ethereal	Sijo	africa,analogy,
3/30/2021	Dawn Song	Jueju	feelings,image,memory,nat
3/23/2021	Run Through My Mind	Other	courage,wisdom,
3/22/2021	Tricoleuse	Other	muse,
3/19/2021	The Maigue Poets of Croom	Double Dactyl	friend,language,poets,
3/17/2021	The Seeker	Carpe Diem	philosophy,
3/7/2021	Rhyme	Tetractys	poetry,
3/4/2021	Scribbler From Southwark	Limerick	language,poets,
3/3/2021	Tiffany Lamp	Imagism	analogy,metaphor,poems,po
3/1/2021	Familial Relationships	Imagism	analogy,daughter,family,i

My Photos

Fav Poems

PoemTitle	Form	Categories
I To Poisonous Honey	Free verse	life,
The Usurper King	Dramatic Monologue	identity,satire,
O Charming	Rhyme	humorous,valentines day,
The Grey	Suzette Prime	introspection,
Earth Prayer	Verse	prayer,
O April	Free verse	appreciation,april,beauty
Summer Peak	Haiku	summer,
Prime Crime - Bt	Than-Bauk	dream,horror,
Unsure the Shore	Sonnet	8th grade,beach,bereaveme
Hall Pass	Sonnet	love,
Fiery Events	Haiku	fire,love,
Best In Show	Dodoitsu	winter,
The Wait	Rhyme	body,devotion,truth,
Love In Love With Love	Sonnet	love,spiritual,
When the Chemistry Is Gone the History Does Not Matter	Free verse	love,
Telegraph Pole Potd	Imagism	imagery,
Courtney Mae Or Courting May	Sonnet	may,
Floating Shards of Dream	Free verse	analogy,lost love,pain,
Lit By Love	Quatrain	loss,love,strength,
Poet's Honeymoon Collaboration With Joanna Daniels	Rhyme	fantasy,imagination,
Blemished - a Coin Poem	Other	pain,
Bantu	Free verse	poetry,
Rebirth Me	Prose Poetry	hope,mental illness,
The Forming of Thoughts	Rhyme	angst,
Pulchritudinous	Rhyme	art,
I Died	Sonnet	allusion,anger,angst,
Ashes - Edvard Munch	Ekphrasis	art,inspiration,
A woman called house	Free verse	home,
Salvations Rests Behind True Faith's Gold Door	Sonnet	appreciation,art,bible,ch
When doves cry	Free verse	eulogy,
Debacle	Rhyme	confusion,evil,history,
Pearl-Prayer	Sijo	emotions,heaven,life,long
apologies for the truth	Suzette Prime	philosophy,senses,
Vanishing Point	Free verse	angst,anxiety,heartbreak,
Bound by Love, Broken by Fate - POTD	Ballad	fate,lost love,rainbow,ro
The Narcissist Who Saved Himself - Cynthia Howard - collaboration with Ink Empress	Ekphrasis	art,
thoughts drift to sirens	Free verse	art,
Amberina Ballerina, Whatever	Verse	introspection,
Roots and Dandelion Dreams: A Mother's Heart	Ekphrasis	heart,love,mothers day,na
Misty Blues	Quatrain	lost love,solitude,
Sea Shore Night	Sijo	nature,sea,
Not for Contest - Impact of AI on poets	Rhyme	art,
Reason I Believe	Free verse	how i feel,
Yesterday's Wishes	Free verse	anxiety,

Fav Poets

Poet	Country
James Marshall Goff	United States	Read
Richard Lamoureux	Canada	Read
Susan Woodrow	Fiji	Read
Robert Lindley	United States	Read
Brian Strand	United Kingdom	Read
Susan Ashley	United States	Read
Andrea Dietrich	United States	Read
Eileen Manassian	_Not Listed	Read
Christuraj Alex	India	Read
Quoth Theraven	United States	Read
Runa Pradhan	India	Read
Christopher Flaherty	United Kingdom	Read
Sara Kendrick	United States	Read
Hilo Poet	United States	Read
Judy Reeves	United Kingdom	Read
Mark Frank	South Africa	Read
Gordon Mcconnell	United Kingdom	Read
Joanna Daniel	India	Read
Di11y Da11y	United Kingdom	Read
Frederic Parker	United States	Read
Mark Massey	United States	Read
Timothy Ray	United States	Read
Charlotte Puddifoot	United Kingdom	Read
Christina Bowring	United Kingdom	Read
Arlo Parker	United States	Read
A Yorkshire Poet	United Kingdom	Read
Thomas Lee Rhymes	United States	Read
Sam Kauffman	United States	Read
Linda Alice Fowler	United States	Read
David Crandall	United States	Read
Maria Williams	Australia	Read