Poetry Publishing Assignment

As a project assigned by our English teacher, we had a month to write a poem, publish it, and present it. It sounds simple but as soon as I got the assignment, I ran into a problem. 

What should I write about?

I wanted to write a poem that I truly believed in, and on a topic that I really cared about. So I chose music! 

After the hard part of writing the poem was done, now I had to get out into the world to publish it, making my poem known to as many people as possible. 

I began my process by first taping several copies of my poem to bulletin boards, such as the one located in my building and the one in Mechies Frozen Yogurt.

Of course, I also taped my poem to various poles near my house. Hopefully ensuring that the abundance of dog walkers and pedestrians will be able to stop and read it while on their way.

After publishing the poem on bulletin boards like many other people, I realized a problem. What would make people want to read my poem? After all, it's just a blank piece of paper. It wasn't like that was uncommon or anything! Which is why I decided to find a way to attract attention to my paper, and that is getting a bouquet of roses. I placed a single rose next to or on top of my poems. This way, if they didn't notice the paper, they have to notice the flower!

I left a rose and a copy of my poem on many park benches and seating areas, where people can rest and get a chance to read my poem. I also left them in bus stops and at busy intersections, where many people frequent.

Physical publishing aside, I published my poem on several social media accounts, including Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Blogger. 

I don't have many followers, so the responses were few, but I still got some likes and reposts! Someone even added me to their list of poets and fans of poetry on Twitter. 

I even got my mother to post my poem to her social media, which are mostly based in China. That way, I was able to reach to all the way across the world.

The responses were very positive! To translate, her friends generally say that it was very well done, and that they had to use a dictionary in order to read it! One person even asked if he could repost the poem elsewhere, which made me feel pretty great.

That's the end of my poetry publishing journey! Overall, it was a pretty unique and interesting experience, and I had a lot of fun working with my friend in order to get my poem all up around the neighbourhood. Hopefully I'll get the chance to do something else like this sometime in the future.

The Life of Music

The smell of a summer afternoon

The rustle of paper

A soft piano

Ringing in the empty halls

Another room

A blend of brass, wood, and wind

Laughter of children

A gentle cacophony

Silver hair, wrinkled skin

A gentle lullaby

The sweet, soft melody

Conveying a mother’s love

The high heavenly canopy

Speckled sunlight dusting leaves

A choir of critters

Amidst the spring wind

Where there is life

Music coexists

It changes, it grows

Music is in our souls

A Lover's Love

Your love is like the raging fire

Slowly consuming a city

Like an emerald arrow-headed serpent

Like a howling Northern blizzard

Like a black tusked wild boar,

Charging through the undergrowth,

Like a smoldering volcano

A monsoon under the blue moon

A lizard coiled around a cherry.

like an apple ripen to the core,

like a herd of sheep,

following the rest of its kind,

like a black widow spider consuming its mate,

like the day of the black sun, an

eternal solar eclipse,

like a great-horned owl singing a lullaby,

like the ebb and flow of the tides under the night,

like a dragon hoarding its treasure, the

rich gems stolen along with many lives,

like the ice that cannot be shattered under the weight

of thundering hooves, like a mangy hyena,

like a scavenging vulture,

like the rise and fall of empires in ages past,

like a colony of fire ants,

like a falcon trained only to hunt the meek,

a bicycle abandoned after the gift of something new,

a circus closed because of the lack of patrons,

an old carton of soiled milk. Like the saline tears

of a gentle crocodile

like a siren perched on the coastline,

serenading the sailors,

beckoning them to the warmth of the deep blue

The Gurgling Creek

So much depends

upon

The soft gurgling

creek

Laced with dappled

shadows

Under the willow

tree

Harrison Hotsprings

A bridge leading off to the middle of nowhere. It was an absolutely beautiful sight! This was taken during our band retreat, sometime in the spring of 2014. Can't believe how amazing Harrison Hotsprings can be. Really hoping to return again sometime :) 

San Francisco, CA

Can you believe that this kind of architecture is in the heart of San Francisco? It looks like something from a postcard! Really happy with how this photo turned out :)

Snow day 2014

First snow in Vancouver, British Columbia! Woke up to a beautiful, sunny day and it was absolutely fantastic.