Christopher Vera’s Mystic Nebula

Terrie Leigh Relf, friend and editor, published a pair of poems for her poetry section of the Moonlit Path Halloween 2007 edition.

“The Kelpie” describes the tragic life, death, and new life of a sad girl. “Horsemen” is my Mystic Nebulean take on one of my favorite of Earth’s natural phenomena.

These poems are some of my very oldest. Thanks to Terrie for helping me share them!

You can find both poems here.

Randy Schimka, a good friend and co-worker, sets up a fantastic light display every year around the holidays. His two boys have been diagnosed with autism and he has found this project is a great way to connect with them. This year looks to be the biggest yet!

View his web site here, and be sure to stop by his display in San Diego: http://www.belardolights.com/

Yvonne Legge maintains a fantastic website dedicated to the men and women of the American Armed Forces and inspired me to write a poem for her site. She very kindly agreed to publish it.

You can find it, and her site, here

I’ve published the Shameless Voices Pedagogy here on Mystic Nebula for those that are interested in empowering their creative writing students with the confidence to speak without fear.

http://www.mysticnebula.com/essays/shameless-voices-pedagogy/

Christopher Vera will speak on the topic of Security Awareness at the Secure San Diego 2007 event on November 6th 2007.

For more information, or to register, visit the San Diego Chapter of the ISSA.

The wonderful folks over at miller’s pond have published “These Boots”, the strange adventures of my traveling shoes, and “Time is Mortal”, a poem that re-considers the concept of time.

You can view them here.

One may argue that the difference between what is known and what is mythical, magical, supernatural is our knowledge of the science behind it. The sun was a god until we realized it was a ball of burning elements that our planet revolves around.

But is not the sun still godlike?

Science may indeed dispel myths. But in turn, it presents new questions that need poets and philosophers to ponder…and mistakes for humankind to long brood upon.

The relationship between poetry and science is not unlike that of church and state: We believe we keep them separate even though we know they are eternally intertwined because they share a common ingredient: Human beings.

Remarkably, poetry and science ultimately share the same goal and by the same means: Enlightenment through imagination. Poetry through introspection, science through deduction. Both through infinite experimentation.

Science attempts to explains what we understand. Poetry, especially speculative poetry, attempts to describe what we do not. Scientists often act like poets, poets like scientists.

Some more learned scholarly thoughts on science and poetry:

Here and here

You didn’t click the wrong link! I just needed to step out and expand my thinking. The spirit shall have no boundaries. Everything is accomplished within the imagination.

There are three histories for every event: The history that actually happened; the history as perceived by witnesses to the event; the history of the event as interpreted by everyone else.

Source story: Culture of Fear: Poetry Professor Becomes Terror Suspect

These days, the flag of victimhood is waved vigorously and from the top of every hill.

A leader would have seized this opportunity to educate the suspected informant, perhaps even arranged a formal meeting with the ROTC. Tell them who we are, what we do. Talk about your culture. Tell them why you love the United States. Bring some of your favorite foods (no one training for the military ever passed up a good meal!)

By reducing ignorance, we minimize fear. And we may even learn something about the culture of others in the process, making friends with people we seem to prefer to think of as enemies.

That’s what a poet would do. That’s how to carry the flag of brotherhood and quash this so-called “culture of fear”.