Behind the scenes at Tweetspeak, we dream.
We dream of a world where poetry can be found everywhere.
Why do we bother to dream? Because we believe in the power of words to delight, heal, give hope, and challenge—to make us, as it were, alive twice.
As our dear Claire Burge says to our Managing Editor, “I love your dreams and I really believe we will see the day when poetry fills bus stops and trains and billboards and when it becomes the next big graffiti trend.”
How will we make these dreams come true? We’ve got ideas. Like Poetry at Work Day. We also think it makes sense, since the Internet is our biggest playground, to put poetry everywhere in the cyberworld—to reach into millions of hearts and souls and then into on-the-ground communities and cities. If we could send a poem to the moon, we’d try that too. But for now, will you help us share and promote poetry everywhere in cyberspace?
Join us, if you dare to dream. Find us in these spaces (see below). Use these spaces to show us where you’re finding the best in poetry and poetic things. We want to hear from you and connect with you. Together, maybe we can make this dream come true…
WordCandy.Me Tumblr (our poetic quotes place)
Photo by Harold Lloyd. Creative Commons, via Flickr.
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Donna says
Well, if it is your desire then I’m sure there will be a poem on the moon!! 😉
L. L. Barkat says
Oh, gosh, Donna. Now you’ve got me thinking 🙂
Donna says
I have to tell you that after I hit submit I thought about you getting NASA on the phone! 🙂
L. L. Barkat says
Too funny. I might do such a thing 🙂
Will Willingham says
What now? A pink space shuttle?
L. L. Barkat says
Ha! 🙂
Elizabeth Wynne Marshall says
I love this post. And poetry in the subways for sure. One day when we have tea or coffee or wine, I’ll tell you my story of taking words into the subway in New York. Quite an adventure. Poetry would be so healing there. We taped up cross word puzzle clues on the white subway tiles. I have pictures and posts and…..well I will write a poem about that. I applaud all your artist efforts and want to bring my offerings along too. What healing there is in poetry. The poet Laureate of South Carolina, Marjory Wentworth has a poetry project for cancer patients in the hospital. Amazing. But not unexpected…poetry. sigh.
Donna says
The moon needs a poem… definitely.
Poetry as healing force – this is something important. I believe that poetry, written or read by people with chronic illnesses, touches the mind and the spirit in places where medicine cannot reach. I am stunned by the overwhelming number of “reads” on the few poems and wordcandies I have posted on a site designed for Lyme Disease Advocacy and Support http://lyme-aid.net/blogs/donna-falcone. I asked the owner of the page if those numbers are real hits or if they include a hit for every time his blog roll tool, whatever it is, pulls a quote and posts on twitter or wherever else. He said no… that these are real hits from all over the world. Thousands of them. I’m not sure where they are coming from and I imagine some are from webcrawlers, but some are real people and this, I think, is powerful. I also think that maybe they might like a place to write and share, where it’s easy and fun…. like a bulletin board for Lymies. So I’m trying to think of a way and a place to do this…. to help them find a way to turn this experience of this particular illness into healing… To turn the trauma into the cure. Call me crazy, but it’s no more crazy than poetry on the moon is it (and that, I have a feeling, is only a matter of time)? So right now it’s just in my head. But I’ve seen how powerful and restorative writing can be and these people… they are so weary and in need. They need something beyond medicine. Maybe, for some of them, what they need is poetry. (there I go again… carried away! LOL. How would you know it’s ME if I didn’t get carried away now and then?)