Aftermath

[Berwick Bay]

Aftermath

She’s still here.
People peeking out
Changed now, as if still within themselves,
Still in touch with the Heavens.
The breeze is fresh now, and high in the trees
She still calls to us.
The strange rain has stopped.
Unexpectedly cold, during this tropical storm
Soaking rain, that seemed to remain
In the air, and never touch the ground.
We are very much alive.

But our world,
Our lives
Have been moved by the storm.
Moved from off their foundations
Like the towns on the coast.
What we thought solid and real
Swept away now.
It is good.
Thoughts fail us.
Sights outside keep us
Within ourselves.
She remains with us,
And now in some strange sense
We are comforted by her.

In the days to come
It is more quiet.
Candles still burn
And we speak softly,
Knowing that soon enough
The world will burst back
Into our lives
And take us again.
Reclaiming us for itself.
The world is greedy.
We will build new homes
And new illusions about ourselves.
But the storm has called us.
We are changed.

Those slabs on the coast.
Homes washed away, fit for ghosts.
What was it?
No one believed.
Within our peaceful climate
The spirits not understood,
Living down by the sea
In the air,
In the dusk,
Yet no one believed.
No one believed.
A second chance now.
Spirits in the breezes
Along the coast.
Believe.
We will renew
Our spirits,
Receiving
And then passing along
What was never truly ours.

[Beam]

You've got to do a book full of these, man. I know I'd buy it.

[Berwick Bay]

I am. And thank you Beam. Encouraged by many on this board, I took the time, money and effort to get these first few copywrighted. I am thinking along the lines of compiling a collection of poetry relating to the "magic" of the 2007 Season. But it will be a lot of work, and from what I've learned through talking to people at "LSU Press" and our local university, their's really no money in it. I'm considering putting together a "homemade publication" and hawking it myself, wherever appropriate. It would be a work of love, since the financial picture for poetry in America is so bleak. In athletics, football pays for gymnastics, and in the publishing business, cookbooks pay for poetry. But Beam, thank you again.

[angelwing]

Awesome one BB! I love the way your do your poems. I was never much for poetry I'll admit that, but these are very very good;and I'd buy the book too!

Mary

[Regit]

I am. And thank you Beam. Encouraged by many on this board, I took the time, money and effort to get these first few copywrighted. I am thinking along the lines of compiling a collection of poetry relating to the "magic" of the 2007 Season. But it will be a lot of work, and from what I've learned through talking to people at "LSU Press" and our local university, their's really no money in it. I'm considering putting together a "homemade publication" and hawking it myself, wherever appropriate. It would be a work of love, since the financial picture for poetry in America is so bleak. In athletics, football pays for gymnastics, and in the publishing business, cookbooks pay for poetry. But Beam, thank you again.

Just a question. Since it costs money to file a copyright, why not wait until you have the whole book?

Plus, unless you really think you might get tied up in court by someone stealing your work, why bother? In the US, the moment you create a work, it is copyrighted. You have proof of publication date since they're posted on a message board.

[Berwick Bay]

Thanks for that info Regit. I wasn't sure about any of this. So your saying that since the poems first appeared on this board under the username Berwick Bay, and that name can be verified as my own according to your records, then I'm okay as far as protecting the poems as my "intellectual propery? Makes sense to me. I talked to a copyright lawyer here in town, mentioned my poems being on the Internet (perhaps I didn't make clear the fact that I am registered with a Message Board), and he suggested two things, which I did.

a. Mail the poems that I've written to myself via Certified Mail. This produces a legal document showing that the poems were in existence at a certain date and that they were in my possession.
b. Copyright the best ones. Which I did. You're right it costs to copyright individual works and its best to wait until you have a complete compilation before copyrighting, so I took 4 of the ones that I thought might have potential and copyrighted those.

But I like what you say about being registered on the Message Board. It eases my mind about all of the poems and it encourages me to be free in posting more of them here. I think it really makes a difference that there is an actual audience reading them. Everytime I look at the record of how many "hits" that a given poem has received (sometimes 500 or 600 or more) I get goosebumps. Thanks again Regit.

[MomH]

If you plan to publish yourself try this site:

http://trafford.com/4dcgi/trafford.html

I have investigated many and this seems one of the better ones. A family memeber has had two books published through them. Insert O. B. Harnage on Google and see how many come up.

[x-y-no]

Nice one, BB. Very evocative.

You've got a talent.