Category Archives: Poetry

Baby Boomers Write About the Soundtrack of Their Lives

For quite a few years now, the joke has gone something like this: If you remember the Sixties you weren’t there.

Fair enough in some ways, we suppose.

But then there’s the music. No doubt like the music of every generation, the soundtrack of our lives was largely shaped in our early years and continues today to evoke memories and transport us back to the unforgettable moments of our youth.

Or, as the title poem in WHAT BUT THE MUSIC puts it:

“What but the music might have orchestratedforgotten revolutions and unforgettable kisses?What but the music underscored every presumedtriumph and defeat, drew us into church basementsand into cheap apartments in bad neighborhoods,ripped down walls, egged us on, played us out?”

In WHAT BUT THE MUSIC: Baby Boomers Write About the Soundtrack of Their Lives scores of talented writers explore that soundtrack, artist by artist, and song by song. And, through the magic of YouTube and other similar sites, each poem and personal essay includes a suggested link (we call it “The Jukebox”) to the music itself, the perfect accompaniment to the writing.

You can try it out here.

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THE FUNERAL AT MINGUS, TEXAS

Of course, What Remains is concerned with the most serious of subjects, but that doesn’t mean it’s without humor, as in Sheryl Nelms’ account of a Texas funeral brimming with the deceased’s personal style.

Sheryl L. Nelms


THE FUNERAL AT MINGUS, TEXAS

they said

Bobbie Lou

paid for them to do it

her way at the cemetery


blue tarp

roof


live band

and her

right there


in her pink coffin

on the stand


over the grave


while they

line danced

did the Cotton-Eyed Joe


and swigged


cases

of Pearl

and Lone Star

that she bought before she died


then tossed

their empties


into the hole

before they lowered


her away


https://www.amazon.com/What-Remains-Many-Goodbye-Anthology-ebook/dp/B07ZBMVB1W/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1621970600&sr=8-1

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The “man who [wrote] like Neruda.”

Three Tamales for the Señor by the late James Tipton is a captivating collection of his short fiction, but many know Jim as a widely published and highly regarded poet as well (consider that Isabelle Allende called him “the man who writes like Neruda”).Here’s a taste of his poetry, recorded just weeks before his death from cancer.https://www.amazon.com/Three…/dp/B088KTHLXP/ref=sr_1_5…

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Three Tamales for the Señor and Other Stories By James Tipton

“James (Jim) Tipton was a man so alive, so aware, so immersed in life, that it seems nothing escaped his attention: not the changing sound of rain, not the soft whisper of a butterfly’s wing, not the shadow of sadness behind a smile, nor the tremor of joy beneath a frown. He saw and loved all of it, and the stories collected in this book give testament to the depth and breadth of his understanding.”– Rachel (RJ) McMillen Author of the Dan Connor Mystery Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Three…/dp/B088KTHLXP/ref=sr_1_1…

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From the Eric Hoffer Book Awards:

“What Remains: The Many Ways We Say Goodbye An Anthology, Sandi Gelles-Cole and Kenneth Salzmann (editors), Gelles-Cole Literary Enterprises – Who knew that as many ways as humans are unique so are the ways they say goodbye to those they loved. This anthology of accomplished writers from all over the world shares how people mark that final passage. What compels a person to be buried in a mushroom suit to help with decomposing the body as a green solution? How does a creatively carved casket become ones last gift? These stories of final farewell will resonate.”https://www.amazon.com/…/173358…/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0…

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Filed under Books, essays, funerals, grief, loss, memorials, Poetry

What Remains garners awards

All results from the 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award judging are now in and we are pleased to let you know that What Remains: The Many Ways We Say Goodbye has garnered yet another award.

The new award is in addition to the collection having been picked out of a field of some 2,500 books last week and shortlisted for the Grand Prize.

This time, it is the ebook edition of What Remains that is being honored. It is one of three Honorable Mentions in the Nonfiction eBook category.

Thank you once more for helping to make the anthology a (multiple) prize-winning book!



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What But the Music e-book now available at Amazon — Only $0.99 Until March 14

kensalzmann

Baby Boomers Write About the Soundtrack of Their Lives, Poems and Essays

In What But the Music, dozens of highly accomplished and widely honored writers and poets—largely Baby Boomers, but also some who came into the world a little bit before or a little bit after the years that demarcate that generation—consider the songs and artists who helped create the soundtrack of their lives.The evocative poems and personal essays in this collection recall many of the expected musicians who shaped the sounds of the 1950s through the 1970s, with (as might be expected) a heavy dose of Sixties music throughout. Of course, the Beatles and Rolling Stones are included, and so are everyone from Lesley Gore to Lou Reed, the Dave Clark 5 to the Fugs, Aretha Franklin to Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Ian, B.B. King, and Frank Sinatra. Les Paul and Mary Ford are to be found…

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What But the Music e-book now available at Amazon — Only $0.99 Until March 14

Baby Boomers Write About the Soundtrack of Their Lives, Poems and Essays


In What But the Music, dozens of highly accomplished and widely honored writers and poets—largely Baby Boomers, but also some who came into the world a little bit before or a little bit after the years that demarcate that generation—consider the songs and artists who helped create the soundtrack of their lives.The evocative poems and personal essays in this collection recall many of the expected musicians who shaped the sounds of the 1950s through the 1970s, with (as might be expected) a heavy dose of Sixties music throughout. Of course, the Beatles and Rolling Stones are included, and so are everyone from Lesley Gore to Lou Reed, the Dave Clark 5 to the Fugs, Aretha Franklin to Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Ian, B.B. King, and Frank Sinatra. Les Paul and Mary Ford are to be found in here. So are Buddy Holly and Dolly Parton and Miles Davis. Ben E. King and Helen Reddy. Edith Piaf and Bruce Springsteen.And so many more icons of the age.But readers are likely to be surprised from time to time, when they happen across tributes to such people as Claudio Abbado, John Williams, Al Hibbler, or Nolan Strong and the Diablos—surprised, that is, until they settle into the memories and realize that those musicians too are a part of the soundtrack of our lives. In assembling the anthology, we never knew who or what might come our way next. And that was one of the delights we experienced working with such a talented group of writers. We hope it will also be a delight for each reader, and we are pretty sure it will.So dust off the turntable and crank up the sounds. Enjoy.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KZFN54R/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1…

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A perfect gift for Grandparents Day 9/13

It was at this time ten years ago that Gelles-Cole LIterary Enterprises released its first anthology, CHILD OF MY CHILD, a collection of poems and essays by some 60 accomplished writers exploring both the contemporary and timeless themes of grandparenthood in the 21st century.
Why at this time of year? Because the first Sunday after Labor Day is always Grandparents Day–that’s Sunday, September 13, this year.

We thought when it first came out that CHILD OF MY CHILD would make a great gift for discerning grandparents, and past decade has borne out that assumption. After ten years, it remains a fresh and timely anthology for the grandpparents you want to celebrate!

Cover Child of My ChildAnd here’s some background on the holiday.

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“The Darkroom”featured on Autumn Sky

I am happy to see the always interesting Autumn Sky Poetry Daily is back from hiatus, and happy to have my poem “The Darkroom” featured on the site today.

The Darkroom by Kenneth Salzmann

 

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