Hello All,
Well, I know many of you out there are devastated by what has happened in our southern states and I want to help raise money for those affected. I will be adding poems to my web-site under the title, Poets Who Support Survivors. What I need is for anyone who has, or will, donate money to any agency that is helping with the disaster to e-mail me one poem to be added to the web-site. I would like some proof that the poet has made a contribution, a copy of a receipt, forward an e-mail receipt if you donated online, just something that lets me know you have contributed. But I will not exclude anyone that tells me they have donated to the cause, I will trust each of you to be truthful about what you have done for the survivors. The purpose of this is to get people to donate to those who need it so desperately now.
The poems do not have to be related to the tragedy, or about the hurricane. It may be too soon at present to compose such a poem that would meet our own requirements of quality. Just send me a poem you would submit to another magazine, something that has been worked on and that you feel is worthy of being published. (Previously published work is acceptable as long as you send along the information of the first publication.) I will not exclude any poem because of quality for the PWSS page, but will exclude any poems I feel are degrading or too sexual in nature, this is for the people and I want them, when and if they are able, to come and see those poets who have contributed to their cause, and receive some sort of escape through reading poetry.
There is also another reason to only send your best work for posting to the page dedicated to survivors: I will be picking the ten best poems, in my opinion, to be included in the first issue of Small Potatoes Magazine, and will be paying each contributor to the magazine twenty dollars. This will be my donation to the survivors. If I can get others to donate through this effort then my two hundred dollars will have been well spent. Hopefully this effort will raise more than the two hundred dollars I would have donated anyway to the relief agencies. Yes, I’ve already made a few donations, but how much is enough in this time of need? I cannot give as much as I want, but with everyone else donating then I can feel better about what I have done and what we have done as a group.
So make that donation, dig out that poem, then submit it with your receipt to be included in the Poets Who Support Survivors, and possibly be included in the first issue of Small Potatoes Magazine. I will attempt to keep an ongoing amount of what has been donated by the poets (The amount donated is not required to be included.), but I will not be mentioning the amount each poet donated. It is the total of the group that matters, not the individual amounts.
Thank you for your interest and your donations. Please forward your submissions and receipts to sirruspoe@hotmail.com And pass along this information to others you feel may be interested in donating to the relief effort. Remember: Even if you have already made your donation in the past you can still be included.
Sincerely,
Sirrus Poe
I will also include poems from those who have volunteered their time to help those in need. Please let me know where, and how, you volunteered. I know we all do not have the funds to donate money, but this is the easiest way to help those in need and what all the relief agencies are asking for instead of other items.
NEWS UPDATE: Please do send your best work for this project. Now I will be taking ten to fifteen poems from those submitted and they will be published as a chapbook (title forthcoming). A considerable portion of the proceeds from sales of the chapbook will be donated to those affected by hurricane Katrina.
I will post more information concerning the chapbook in the near future. And please remember that your poems do not have to pertain to the hurricane. Your donations are what count and the poems are to showcase your talent as well as letting others know that you cared enough to do something for those affected.
Total Donations by the Poets Who Support Survivors: $ 3,575.00
Freada Dillon Kathryn Rantala Dana Smith-Mansell Michael Parker
Nikki Stewart Gary Pilarchik Kathy Kubik Alex Stolis
Marie Gail Stratford Helen Losse AnnMarie Eldon E. V. Noechel
Pris Campbell Alice Parris Gary Blankenship Sherry Pasquarello
Sue McDonough Gael Bage Michael Ladanyi Anastasia Clark
Ginger Bush Trish Shields Lorna Dee Cervantes Eve Hall
Deborah Kuder Terry R. Banks
Please visit our new message board to leave your comments for the poets who have donated to the cause, and to leave your messages to those who have been affected by these hurricanes. You may also ask questions pertaining to the PWSS project. Please click the link below.
Small Potatoes Message Board
