Category: poetry
Now, that’s what I’m talking about!
What now?
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS! If you participated in any way for National Poetry Month, BRAVO to you!
Do you have a stack of poetry to read, edit, scratch your head over? Where do you go from here?
There nothing quite like a critique group to help you sort this out. Do you have such a group? They are out there. Check with other poets to find out where they go. In this area of North Carolina there is an excellent group via Living Poetry. Here’s a link to check it out! https://www.meetup.com/living-poetry/events/305658373/?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=share-btn_savedevents_share_modal&utm_source=link
Poets and Writers AKA PW.org has a variety of groups, including online critique groups. You can check them out here: https://groups.pw.org/browse-all-groups
There are others, I have no doubts. Just ask around and I bet you find a group. Anything I have worked on via a critique group has been published and rather quickly.
Poetry Editors can also be helpful. You will have the advantage of 1:1 feedback. It takes a bit of time to find that right match. This is often a paid service unless you work out a mutual feedback relationship.
Meet others in common at Poetry Workshops. Chances are that if you put it out there that you would like a writing partner, you will find someone or a group to work with. I participate in a weekly prompt workshop. In this it’s up to you to be prompt centric or to veer off. I tend to veer off. It’s a PW.org group called The Time is Now. It only last about 30-45 minutes and it helps to interact with others.
You have polished your work and now is the time to publish. There are multiple journals accepting submissions. Where do you find them? I use Duotrope. because I like the feedback feature in which you can determine if the publisher is a good match. There is also a tracking feature for all your submissions. As one who runs a Facebook group, I share when I find what sound like good matches. I especially focus on paying publications, preferably ones who don’t charge.
Submittable is another option for finding a variety of places to submit.
As an editor for FineLines.org I recommend this journal, which has been around for 35 years, for submissions of poetry, art, essays, short stories, and photography.
There are also several calls for submissions from poets and writers of which I regularly have contact. Here they are:
Have you found that National Poetry Month has helped you with all the prompts? Check out the options for regular prompts.
Living Poetry has regular prompts and you can even share your work on their blog.
Metaphor Dice are fun for creating metaphors. You can make a game of these.
Garden of Neuro Institute has frequent poetry prompts and events in their Poetry Group. There are also regular workshops and open mics.
Wordsmith Weekly is a Saturday group in which attendees work with prompts and share.
If you are interested in a special Call for Submissions with a specific theme, you might want to check out this one: https://www.gardenofneuropublishing.com/
I hope this is helpful. There is a lot more information out there, but I thought I would open up the discussion.
Happy Writing!
If you have a completed manuscript, feel free to submit to ProlificPulse.com We are reviewing submissions for 2026.
Quirky Prompt 30: Dance of the Mismatched Socks
In honor of April’s National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), and to celebrate the upcoming release of “Seesaw,” a quirky poetry collaborative book by Ken Tomaro and me, I will post a quirky prompt each day in April. Submit your best quirky response poem (no more than 26 lines) to the Seesaw contest on Prolific Pulse Press:https://forms.gle/3a3NBmohikms19yA8 […]
Quirky Prompt 30: Dance of the Mismatched Socks
ANNOUNCEMENT! Seesaw – Quirky Poems by Ken Tomaro & Nolcha Fox is Now Available!
Seesaw – Quirky Poems Poetry Collection
By Ken Tomaro & Nolcha Fox
Born from a shared love of dark humor and playful wordplay, Seesaw is a delightful balancing act of wit, whimsy, and poetic mischief. Ken Tomaro and Nolcha Fox first crossed creative paths in the Thursday Night Poets group, where their mutual knack for quirky, offbeat humor sparked an unexpected collaboration. What began as playful exchanges-plucking words and phrases from each other’s poems to craft something new-quickly evolved into a collection that swings between the light and the dark, the serious and the absurd.
Seesaw is poetry at its most spontaneous and fun, a reminder that even in life’s heavier moments, there’s always room to laugh, twist the narrative, and dance on the edge of meaning. Dive into this collection and let the playful push and pull of their voices keep you balanced-right in the middle of the seesaw.
Review of “Seesaw” by Ken Tomaro and Nolcha Fox:
“Seesaw” is a captivating and engaging poetry collection designing the collaborative efforts of Ken Tomaro and Nolcha Fox who blend their distinct voices to explore the themes of love, loss, and memory sauteed with a ‘quirky sense of humour’.
“Why am I so hard on myself?
That’s it, today’s the day!
I’m going to write a book called On Being Sympathetic to the Apathetic Empath.”
The same quirky sense of humour flows raw and poignant throughout the pages of the book. Ken Tomaro and Nolcha Fox have done a wonderful job with their shared experiences from the “Thursday Night Poets group”. The poems are arranged in a unique stanza pattern where Nolcha’s right-aligned stanzas complement Ken’s left-aligned stanzas. This visual distinction enhances the reading experience to a lofty level.
“And now I want a sandwich,
but it won’t make itself.
Maybe I can train the rats
how to cook.”
These lines remind me of Remy, the rat in the movie “Ratatouille”.
Celebrating a variety of themes from mundane life struggles to whimsical reflections on human existence this book is punctuated with a playful absurdity. Throughout the collection, the tone oscillates between melancholic and whimsical, giving way to a rich emotional tapestry.
Poems like “All I Can Think of Is Food” and “God Drops the Ball Again” reflect the authors’ penchant for irony and wit. “He is a house” and “I come to a door” permeate a lingering sadness that overshadows my senses for a long time. Poems like “Ghosts Glimmer” and “Where the Wild Goose Goes” evoke a sense of longing and nostalgia while others such as “Chimes” reflect the inevitability of change and the bittersweet rhymes of memories. “As surely as” is an anthem on the ubiquitous power of gravity on us.
The poems are like different strokes of brushes on the canvas of poetic mindscape evoking different colours of human emotions,
“Blue is the sadness
when we say our goodbyes.”
Sometimes the promised humour has turned into a grave philosophic enigma,
“Past and future,
like the branches of a tree
lead to different paths,
sometimes the same regret.”
Ken Tomaro and Nolcha Fox have played on the subtlest of chords to bring out the most mesmerizing music in the world. They play with words with such charisma that ‘sharp words slice the sunlight into little parts of butter’.
This collection is for everyone whose wallet is full of bugs and cobwebs and for those who prefer to slouch on the couch with a ‘slab of apathy sandwiched between their pillows’, or someone infected with flue sharing every small piece of him or her with each cough to this world. Ken and Tomaro have taken their readers through the rollercoaster of raw humour with an urgent poignancy of human passion, where the complexities of our decisions and the ultimate helplessness of our life left us to feel the eternity of a bottomless well.
Munmun “Sam” Samanta, Author of Yellow Chrysanthemum
Review of Seesaw by Barbara Leonhard
Thank you for all the wonderful words of praise for Seesaw
Purchase Here (Nolcha’s Page) or Purchase Here (Ken’s Page)
Prolific Pulse Blog 