Saturday, March 31, 2012

Poem: Deadline


DEADLINE

cross over the line get shot dead
seventeen feet from stockade
that's cold Civil-War-man
how did the word cross into
our vernacular hop into everyday
use from a grim prison yard
to the desk of a newspaperman
wearing a visor to shade his eyes
from newsroom lights the glare
reflecting off the white page
light coming at him from
everywhere except the end
of the tunnel poor guy
a deadline a calendar date
seems like plenty of time
then suddenly not enough
the clock tick-tocking
the midnight oil a fire hazard
now a combustible’s involved
some like it hot but flames
well can be deadly what
escape from the yearning
to use this word dead to
death my father now dead
was a newspaperman
yellow ticker tape days
rewrote copy to fit page
before someone yelled PRINT
drank a 16 oz Coke straight
from the bottle when
his day was done on
the other side of deadline
yet alive


By:  Mary L. Barnard                                                                  
3/31/12                                                                                    

Sunday, March 11, 2012

NCWN Spring Conference, April 28, 2012

The North Carolina Writers' Network Spring Conference is Saturday, April 28 at the Elliott University Center at University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Offered are half- and full- day workshops in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Marketing, Poetry, Publishing and Children's Writing.

Registration is now open. Cost is $99 for NCWN members or $150 for non-members. Go to the website to view the full line-up of faculty and classes.

On line registration available at the NCWN website www.ncwriters.org or call (336) 293-8844.


Sunday, March 4, 2012

Burlington Writers Club 2012 Contest

Burlington Writers Club 20120 Contest
Open to adult writers living in Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham, Guilford, Orange, Randolph and Rockingham counties.

There are six categories for original, unpublished work, not pending publication. Non-member entry fee is $8.00 per entry for poetry and $10.00 per entry for prose.

Deadline for entries is March 14, 2020.
For additional information call 336-229-7104. Detailed contest rules are available on their website.