Life of a poet: writing poetry and open mic

The following is an excerpt from a new poem I just drafted, “Love Is Dead”.

a withered rose
its wilted petals
crumble at the single touch
petals that brown
to the point where
water can’t revive them
its stem bends over
resting and not knowing
any air had
escaped from it

I want to bring the poem to my writing group for a review. As for the title, I’m not quite sure if I wanted to keep it. At first I figured to keep it, but then I thought it was too on the nose. However, I could keep the title because it’s an honest representation of what the poem is about.

On another note, on Tuesday, September 5, I had a great time participating in the First Tuesday Open Mic by the Florida State Poets Association, of which I’m a member. This open mic was the first I attended in a long time. At the open mic, I went back and forth in my head deciding whether to read or not. When the host asked me, I declined at first, but at the end, when the host asked if anyone wanted to read but hadn’t gotten a chance to, I volunteered to do so. I’m glad I did. I read “Antiquated Modernity” from my poetry collection “ A Symphony of Silence,” available as an ebook. I’d go back to the open mic next month. Hopefully I’d be better prepared to read by then.

Yesterday, I released my September 2023 newsletter. If you haven’t signed up for it, please do so for updates about my projects, events and whereabouts. If you already signed up, thank you.

Teresa Sargeant is an award-winning journalist and author. She released her first collection of short stories “Inner Demons” in October 2020. She is the author of the short story ebooks “Eve the First,” “For My Sister,” and “Sammy’s Butterflies” “A Symphony of Silence” is her second poetry collection. Her latest short story “Healing” is published on Short Fiction Break.