Wizards Of The Wind And Other Strange Places: Introduction, Submissions, Requirements

Friday, February 29, 2008

Introduction, Submissions, Requirements

Wizards Of The Wind is a poetry site ran, operated and edited, by poet Michael Lee Johnson, Itasca, IL. Michael Lee Johnson is publisher
and editor of 11 poetry flash fiction sites–all presently open for submission, he is published in 27 different countries, and over 895 different publications, 101 videos on YouTube (just type Michael Lee Johnson into Google Search). Michael Lee Johnson, Itasca, IL. nominated for 2 Pushcart Prize awards for poetry 2015 and Best of the Net poetry 2016.

Wizards Of The Wind is a poetry journal or journey devoted to creativity. Wizards in the wind can be found in silent nights alone, moments of joy and spring, in mysteries of life, in dreams created in nightmares or looking out your balcony window. Wizards are not demons or devils at this site, rather gems of mind creation wherever they happen to be silently found or formed. Creativity is elusive, not even easy for a poet or artist to find; often it pops out of experiences from seemingly nowhere; other times it is triggered by a word (s), or image (s) or experience. Here you are encouraged to share all these notions and leave them in a strange place, Wizard Of The Wind.

Purchase Poetry Books by Michael Lee Johnson At:

"Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze", is now available on Amazon.com, Amazon Kindle, available in Europe. Buy now just $13.95/Kindle $2.99. Chief Editor/Publisher/Poet, Michael Lee Johnson, Coeditor Ken Allan Dronsfield.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530456762
https://www.createspace.com/6126977
*Scroll down see Favorable Customer Reviews

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/promomanusa

http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000058168/The-Lost-American.aspx

Purchase Poetry Books Amazon.com by Michael Lee Johnson At:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-American-Exile-Freedom/dp/0595460917

Michael Lee Johnson now has over 81 videos on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/poetrymanusa/videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Suf8nNbcc&feature=channel&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4zRUA6j2yo&feature=channel&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rogOfrZRiFo&feature=channel&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW80zVVHyaI&feature=channel&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG6XHHDThDc&feature=relmfu

WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS, GUIDELINES, COPYRIGHT CONSIDERATIONS:

Send all submissions to promomanusa@gmail.com

I'm looking for: short poetry including haiku and tanka, flash fiction, short non-fiction with a social or political message (ie inadequate health coverage for 54 million Americans), good short stories. Include a brief 3rd party bio of yourself--50 words or less, especially any previous publication credits and contact info. We only accept e-mail or electronic submissions. Don't send attachments less they are asked for. No snail mail-it will be ignored unless they are comments and queries. Send no more than 4 poems at one time. The word "Submission" must be in the subject line. Editor retains the right to make a few comments about each selected poem, if you are selected, you chances of it being positive are good. As a general rule we require "one time rights" (meaning we plan to publish and use a poem "one time"). We also allow all rights to revert back to the writer upon publication on our site, which means the writer can have his work back and do with it as he wishes. If you need to remove a work for any reason, email us. Simultaneous submissions are ok, if you tell us, and give credit to the publisher (s); we are more interested in quality of work then if being original per sa.

I would like to invite graphics, nature pictures, sketches original artwork to decorate the site with, send to the same email address as above. Art: no larger than 5" x 5" or so, keep it small, black and white, or color, in jpeg/jpg or gif format, signed and dated, attached or embedded within the email. In the beginning, we will select works and post them as quality provides them-and notify the authors when they are accepted. Michael Lee Johnson, Itasca, IL. nominated for 2 Pushcart Prize awards for poetry 2015. Visit all 11 of my websites rich with poems from talented authors at (all open for submission now):
Poetry Websites Edited by Poet Michael Lee Johnson
http://dreamsagoniescontemporarypoets.blogspot.com/
http://promomanusa.wix.com/contemporary-poets2
https://www.facebook.com/groups/807679459328998/

http://promomanusa.wix.com/michael-lee-Johnson
http://itascaillinoispoetryman.moonfruit.com/
http://www.birdsbywindow.blogspot.com/
http://www.poetriclegacy.mysite.com/
http://electricinthesun.blogspot.com/
http://atendertouch.blogspot.com/
http://wizardsofthewind.blogspot.com/
http://poetsinterviews.blogspot.com/

Author website: http://poetryman.mysite.com/
Em: promomanusa@gmail.com
Em: writerillinois@yahoo.com

PO Box 486, Itasca, IL 60143

2 comments:

Patent Attorney said...: It sounds fantastic, does the wizard reference mean that the journal is mostly based around fantasy writing?; December 22, 2014 at 5:57 AM
Michael Lee Johnson said...: Not necessarily but fantasy is fine. Short fiction, and poetry in general.; December 22, 2014 at 11:20 AM

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Real Poems Scaring the Wizards Away

The photo above "Trackside Tree " was contributed by: Christopher Woods is the author of a prose collection, UNDER A RIVERBED SKY (Panther Creek Press), and a collection of stage monologues for actors, HEART SPEAK (Stone River Press). He has been taking photographs for about a year. He lives in Houston and in Chappell Hill, Texas, where this photo was taken.

Under[stated/standing]
By A.J. Huffman

Telepathic songs burst. Radiation
from broken skin. They mark:
a softer way to die.

Inspiration
By A.J. Huffman

is a box.
A cell[-o-pain] lock
on a chain to a busted key.

An Epiphanic Gasp of Clarity
By A.J. Huffman

In a bath of blood, white is
the only dirty
whisper.

Bio: A.J. Huffman is a poet and freelance writer in Daytona Beach, Florida. She has previously published three collections of poetry: The Difference Between Shadows and Stars, Carrying Yesterday, and Cognitive Distortion. She has also published her work in national and international literary journals such as Avon Literary Intelligencer, Writer's Gazette, and The Penwood Review. Find more about A.J. Huffman, including additional information and links to her work at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000191382454 and https://twitter.com/.

In Love With Love

By Raud Kennedy

When she started talking about visions
she’d had of us together in the future
I knew I’d break up with her.
We spent our time together
making plans for tomorrow,
not living today
because that would entail
being in separate places.
two people eager to be in a relationship
but without enough connection
to carry the conversation
through dinner.

Bio: Raud Kennedy is a dog trainer in Portland, Oregon. More of his work can be found at www.raudkennedy.com.

Editorial Comment: Raud is much more than a dog trainer. His basic writing remind me of some of my early works. They have a simplicity about them and a true sense of wonder.

No Comfort

By Jane Banning

“You want the ashes?” he asks, holding the cumbersome bag.

“You must be kidding,” I say tersely, sparking with hurt. I suppose I could keep them on the tile floor where his bones soaked up cool ease. Or beside my knee, where his heavy paw curled. I could set the sober container by my bed; he settled there with a groan, twitching his dear, rough feet, hot in the night, dreaming of running through clear puddles.

“No, I don’t want the ashes,” I say to the vet and the words, snatched by a winter wind hover, sleety, then sink to the ground.

Bio:

Jane Banning lives in Oregon, Wisconsin. She received an honorable mention in the Micro Fiction Award contest in 2008 for "Cracked Open" which was published on Birds By My Window. Her work has appeared in the University of Iowa Daily Palette, Six Sentences, Tuesday Shorts, Long Story Short, and Boston Literary Magazine.

Editorial Comment: I love Jane’s way with words in poetry or prose fiction. Her issues touch to the heart, like pets which are so dear to me. Can you read this and not be touched? Jane, so sorry for taking so long to get this lovely piece online.

LullabyBy

Terry Miller

The moon spills milky light over the wheat fields
outside the farmer's bedroom window,
He is a father worried for his chattering yellow children
standing at wavy attention in the warm night.
His calloused, sun-blessed hand reaches out
to lovingly stroke the restless fields to sleep.

　
LuckyBy
Terry Miller

in my garden
atop
thin green bushes
a chorus
of roses sing
bass reds
tenor pinks
soprano yellows
filling
my yard
with floral music
though

I may always be poor
I will at least
be rose rich

Bio: Terry Miller is a published and award winning poet from Fort Bend County, Texas. His work has been published in anthologies of the Gulf Coast Poets, Sol Magazine and other Texas publications. In January 2010, his poem "The Diagnosis" will appear in the "Birmingham Arts Journal." His first book of poetry, "The Day I Killed Superman" will be released in December 2009. He is a member of the Gulf Coast Poets Society, the founder of the Fort Bend Poets Group and the Fort Bend County Poet Laureate Competition. Terry is a professor of eMarketing and holds an Innovation Fellowship at Kaplan University.

Editor Comments: Terry is a very talented poet. Note the rich imagery, with a small story behind each poem and a twist at the end that leaves you in a land of wonderment. In many ways Terry and I write in a similar veins with an element of surprise and a telling story. Michael Lee Johnson

The Hot Summer
By Joanna M. Weston

hard phrases
empty the river
then heat and wind
come over the prairie
to where my words lie
quiet in a coulee
to be caught by the breeze
into dust-devils
so anger and farewell
mix with thistles
the horizon lies blank
and summer takes love
　

The Portrait
By Joanna M. Weston

she does not look
at the source of sorrow
but away and down
words lock
behind her parted lips
I reach out
to touch
the painted face
she remains
uncomforted

Bio: Joanna M. Weston, has had poetry, reviews, and short stories published in anthologies and journals for twenty years. Has two middle-readers published, ‘The Willow-Tree Girl’, ‘Those Blue Shoes', and poetry, ‘A Summer Father’, published by Frontenac House of Calgary.

Editorial Comment: As usual, Joanna’s poems are chucked full of rich images about rich places, people, and events.

Tonight

Chimes tap against our windowpane.
This evening becomes starry
sapphire as sea gulls rise in
flight over rooftops.
Winds wrapping around trees
tossing leaves.
The court yard is full of
aromas from dinnertime.
Shadows growing longer
each minute. Lights go
on and I wait for you.

Amazing how

only last Thursday after

another morning of clichés

as freezing winds pushed

us along grey avenues…

you shouted my name

in the middle of Main Street

calling me poet and instantly

mountains of mediocrity

were melted by your smile.

Bio: Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Boston Review of the Arts, Kalliope, Mudfish, Spectrum and Word Thursdays. Four of her books have been published by fine literary presses. She has performed at the National Arts Club, State University of New York, Oneonta, McNay Art Institute and other distinguished venues. A recent reading was sponsored by the American Academy of Poetry. Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky, A.P.D. Press, Albany, New York. Email: poetryjoan@statetel.com

Editorial Comment: I simply love Joan McNerney’s poetry...in many ways it resembles mine, about nature, relationship, small stories of small events so important. I could be selfish and accept anything she has written, but I must restrain myself.

At Greening

David M. Harris

lilac buds open

cow shit on vegetable beds

tomatoes redden

water and sunlight marry-

culminate on plates

Bio: David M. Harris has an MFA in fiction, so now he writes poetry. Some of it has been published in Slow Trains, Sigurd Journal,

Naugatuck River Review, and My Poem Rocks, among other places. He lives near Nashville.

Editorial Comment: If this is not to the point what is? This is actually a creative edit of two Haiku poems into a free verse poem and it works just wonderfully.

To Be Filed

By Rick Spuler

The drawer where I end up

when I come to you like this

has two ways to go:

one for each hand reaching

in, and reaching out.

Bio: Rick Spuler’s poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines. He is currently working an a collection of short stories and poetry (Memorabilia and Other Assorted Forgettables). For nearly 20 years he has served as Senior Lecturer in German at Rice University in Houston, TX. He enjoys music and reading.

Editorial Comment: Rick is a diversified writer in many genres. I like the simplicity of this physical act portrayed; and the hidden emotional and psychological implications within relationships.

White Moon

By Kathleen Kenny

Sewing with a shovel,

planting out

in the silver light.

Listed on my heart sleeve

secret spices, herbs,

clouds of dusty cinnamon.

The goddess is strengthening

my weak arm, is putting steel

into my green garden mac.

Dressing Up as a Sioux Princess

By Kathleen Kenny

The powder and pout of painted lips,

I want my child to be more than this,

more than myself:

without dark bones that bend when asked.

Turn Your Room Blue

By Kathleen Kenny

Lie your white limbs here

under the moon

under the moon

in the blue darkness.

Bio: Kathleen Kenny lives and writes in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. She works as a part-time creative writing tutor at the Centre for Lifelong Learning. Her latest collection of poems: Firesprung was published recently by Red Squirrel Press.

Editorial Comment: I have read these poems over a few times and even though I'm not sure where they lead me-I like going there. I feel something different, images I related to and I’m not exactly sure why. I'm a fan of stories (even short ones that reflect longer ones where the details are hidden) full of images and these do it for me.

Red Dogs

By Steve Klepetar

Red dogs in the neighborhood, here’s

how they hunt: teeth on

doorknobs, tails mast stiff in a west

wind’s blast, every paw

a bloody flower on the etched concrete.

Last night great drifts of rain, huge beds

heaving in dreaming swells. We rise

and we fall, tossing awake dizzy

as diving gulls in brittle light. Gray

morning haze, brown worms underfoot,

tangle of grass and mud. Man in a wheelchair

kisses a child, motors through puddles

as she skips away holding her sister’s hand.

Bio: Steve Klepetar teacher literature and writing at Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota. His work has appeared in many journals, such as GHOTI, Snakeskin, Ygdrasil, New Works Review, Lily and others. He has received nominations for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Web.

Editorial Comments: Steve tells a tale with a few lines cramped with imagery leading the way right to a subtle ending.

AN OLD HOUSE

By Joanna M. Weston

I want an old house

with ghosts imprisoned

under wall-paper

where secret mice

whisper under the window

fingers brush corners

in an attempt to pick

patterned flowers

while silk trails

over wooden floors

here I can hear whispered replies

from hushed chandeliers

pick forgotten notes

from wainscoting

and live someone else’s life

when mine tangles too much

with neon and tarmac.

Joanna M. Weston, M.A. Has had poetry, reviews, and short stories published in anthologies and journals for twenty years. Has two middle-readers, ‘The Willow Tree Girl’ and ‘Those Blue Shoes’; also ‘A Summer Father’, poetry, published by Frontenac House of Calgary, all in print. Joanna lives on Vancouver Island, “where the lilacs are out and the weeds are ten feed tall!”

Editorial Comments: I love this poem, it has the right combination of constant interchanging imagery, blended with a real or imagined story.

IT’S OBVIOUS

By Kenneth Pobo

Look, you dumb fag,

it’s obvious. I get on top

of my wife, put it

in her, she squirms

around under me,

I cum, maybe

she does, and we

have a real

marriage, not

like you, I mean,

why not

just try it

my way, God’s way,

and speaking of

God, He’s right

there in bed

with my wife

and me, watching.

Bio: Kenneth Pobo has a new book of poems forthcoming this year from WordTech Press called Glass Garden. His work can be read online at: 2River View, Forpoetry.com, Pemmican, Adirondack Review, and elsewhere. He teaches Creative Writing and English at Widener University. Catch his radio show, “Obscure Oldies,” on Saturdays from

6-8pm EST at WDNR.com.

Editiorial Comments: I plead the 5th ammendment.

Old Photographs

by Judy Johns

At a garage sale,

I bought framed pictures of people long dead,

people I don‘t know, three for ten dollars.

I claim them as ancestors,

giving them pride of place on my living room wall

as my neighbor does.

They look like pioneer people:

sturdy and solid with their dark clothes and solemn features.

One picture has three children.

It’s difficult to discern gender since they all have dresses on.

The middle one was my grandfather or grandmother.

It’s hard to tell

when they don’t really belong to you.

My real ancestors came more recently by boat,

fleeing the potato famine,

pretending to be English because the quota was filled.

Thieves and gamblers, boxers and boozers,

not a sturdy or solid one among them.

There are no old photos of them

to hang on my living room wall.

Bald Women in the Waiting Room

By Judy Johns

Across from me,

in the pale yellow room,

two women sit together

whispering quietly,

their scalps shiny and smooth

as honey dew melons.

Out of context,

they resemble alien council members

from a Star Trek segment.

One is around twenty

her unlined complexion

delicately tinted at the cheekbones.

The other seems older, but age

is hard to tell on women with no hair.

In addition to their bald heads,

they share a common look,

sort of a patient resignation .

I want to ask them how they subdued

the beast methodically pawing

its way from one cell to another--

the one I barely contain

beneath my full head of hair.

Judy Johns: Bio and Editorial Comments

Bio: Judy Johns, of Pleasant View, Utah, is an English instructor at Utah

State University and was named Utah Poet of the year in 2003 for her

collection of poems titled If I Could Speak in Silk, published by the

Utah State Poetry Society and Author House and available online at Amazon.com.

Editor Comments: This is the best example of story poetry I have found so far.

Straight forward real life tales, with real people in mind, with a twist of imagery To moisten the taste of the read one line at a time. Another poem by Judy Johns can be viewed at: http://atendertouch.blogspot.com/

Judy Johns: Bio and Editorial Comments

Bio: Judy Johns, of Pleasant View, Utah, is an English instructor at Utah
State University and was named Utah Poet of the year in 2003 for her
collection of poems titled If I Could Speak in Silk, published by the
Utah State Poetry Society and Author House and available online at Amazon.com.

Editor Comments: This is the best example of story poetry I have found so far.
Straight forward real life tales, with real people in mind, with a twist of imagery To moisten the taste of the read one line at a time. Another poem by Judy Johns can be viewed at: http://atendertouch.blogspot.com/

Wizards Of The Wind And Other Strange Places

Friday, February 29, 2008

Introduction, Submissions, Requirements

2 comments:

MY POETRY JUST GOT ACCEPTED!

Art by Denny E. Marshall

Caught In The Wind Wizard

Books, Valued Links, Sites, Audio Poems

About the Editor

My Podcast

Home of the Tree Wizards

Real Poems Scaring the Wizards Away

Judy Johns: Bio and Editorial Comments

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