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Ray Whitaker
Member since May 8, 2019
Member for 7 years
member
136
Poems
1,083
Comments
14
Followers
Most recent
CHURCH FOR YOU (Edited)
CHURCH FOR YOU
I feel good when I have church
there in those lumps of tree roots
up against the big oak’s trunk
forming a seat of a sort….
where both Jesus, and God
can place pundits in my mind as if there was no other influence
no interference with openness to reception.
I do not necessarily get this time
the special pace for Vipassanā
by being told how to believe
from a man or woman wearing a funny hat
behind a fancy music stand.
Rather, a mountaintop
Read the rest of the poem Show less
of green, spring leaves in the hardwoods
of the Blue Ridge
or even in the Rockies nestled against some tall red rock
with white quartz veins angling thru them.
There is where I hear
and feel church
precisely there
not in a liturgy of processional-sermon-recessional
or my dreams.
Ray Whitaker’s timeline
- May 2024
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08 WedAnniversary
5 years of membership
- December 2022
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23 FriNew follower
@Dalton
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23 FriCritiqued
"For Yona " by @Dalton
"Thanks for posting this. I thought you were a new person to the site, don’t see much work from you here lately, and come to find out I guess you must be one of the founding members!" -
23 Fri
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23 FriCritiqued
"A Game You Won't Win" by @Maelove069
"I am looking forward to reading more of yiur work, in future!" -
23 FriCritiqued
"Coming towards the light" by @Edward nigma
"I appreciate the poem. Particularly , I like: Their overwhelming oceans of numbing neurotic notions into one vital viewpoint of vulnerability. Where they rationally rush towards their ruptured realizations In the portio…" -
23 FriCritiqued
"Frisson " by @Rosewood Apothecary
"Ii really enjoy the form used, and the flow of this piece. Very nice. I had to look up the title. I found out that “frission” is not fission with a lisp. Thanks for using that…. Gave me a new word this morning." -
23 FriCritiqued
"Alpha" by @Indivisible_Origin
"I would add, for accuricy, that Most pack animals are matriarchal., not patriarchal. I like this piece…. A lot. Ray" -
19 MonCritiqued
"Soapbox Heroes " by @Rosewood Apothecary
"I watched the Jan 6th committee’s last viewing today, and am anticipating more bellicose projectile vomitus from a certain president’s response. You piece fits all of it very well. I watched every presentation from the…" -
19 MonCritiqued
"TRUTH " by @Eftichia1
"I like the poem, and it takes me to the place of examination. I would suggest that you add (literally) some colors into the piece, using them as adjectives and adding them to descriptors." -
18 Sun
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18 Sun
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17 Sat
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16 Fri
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15 Thu
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15 ThuReceived a critique
on SIMIANS from @Candlewitch
"The Eye Of Horus stares at me its magical power inherit daring me to use my opposable thumb. I enjoyed your string on progression and the nod to the Egyptian pantheon. sometimes it is difficult getting from one day to t…" -
15 Thu
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13 TueReceived a critique
on SEVEN CIRCLES from @Geezer
"the thing about circles! Neither a beginning or an end, just going on forever. ~ Geez. ." -
13 TueNew follower
@lovedly
- October 2022
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24 MonCritique milestone
1,000 critiques given
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24 MonNew follower
@Geezer
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22 SatContest commendation
Neopoem Of The Week October 16th to October 22 2022
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19 Wed
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19 Wed
- August 2022
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20 SatNew follower
@Jackweb
- February 2021
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28 SunContest commendation
Just Write Poetry Contest
with "FEBRUARY CONTEST : COVID ONE NINER -A YEAR AND A LIFETIME LATER" (since unpublished).
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28 SunFirst contest commendation
Just Write Poetry Contest
with the poem "FEBRUARY CONTEST : COVID ONE NINER -A YEAR AND A LIFETIME LATER" (since unpublished).
- May 2020
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08 FriAnniversary
One year of membership
- May 2019
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09 ThuFirst critique offered
on "My life style (may contest)." by @Simon
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08 WedFirst publication
Amalgam (since unpublished)
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08 WedJoined Neopoet
Membership begins
First poem published 1 days later.
About Me
About me
Working on getting my poems published all over the world.
Ray has been writing both prose and poetry since he was seventeen. What Ray is writing now is very different from what he wrote those so many years ago. All writers and poets are writing out of "the Self" however there are directions that the self speaks into, that change. Now Ray is attempting to put foremost in his work, just who he is writing for. He intends on writing for the everyday man and woman. He firmly believes that poems need to reach into the everyday person's pictures in their minds, and engage with those. This is where he aims to make a difference in his creative writing. Ray does readings around the state of North Carolina [USA], and is a member or the North Carolina Poetry Society, the Winston-Salem Writers, and The North Carolina Writer’s Network. He has thrice been a ‘Writer-in-Residence” at the North Carolina Center For The Arts and Humanities, at Weymouth, in Southern Pines,NC. He is the father of two daughters. Originally from the South, he now lives in Colorado, where he is seeking venues.
He has thee books published,
--“ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Poems From The ‘Nam,” Volumes one and two, 2nd Edition, 2019;
--“23, 18,” 106 pages, 2nd Edition, 2020;
--“FOR THE LOST AND LOVED,” 124 pages, 2021
—THE SCUPPERNONG WORKS, a chapbook, 2022
He has one other manuscript he is presently seeking publication for: ‘WHITE DOG SPEAKING,” 102 pages, 2021and He is working on his fifth Book now. Some of his work has been published in American, Irish, English, Nederland, and Bali Literary Journals.
Location: Colorado Springs, USA, USA
Favorite Poets
Tomas Transtormer
Billy Collins
Thomas Lux
Carl Sandberg
Louise Clifton
William C Williams
Chaucer
Nancy Dorrier
Shelly
Keats
EE Cummings
Shamus Heaney
Adrian Rice
Rumi
Recent Work
Contest Wins
| Winning Submission | Contest | Contest Date |
|---|---|---|
| CHURCH FOR YOU (Edited) | Neopoem Of The Week October 16th to October 22 2022 | – |
| FEBRUARY CONTEST : COVID ONE NINER -A YEAR AND A LIFETIME LATER | Just Write Poetry Contest | – |
Workshops
| Skill level: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NARRATIVE POETRY SHOP (Let's get started) | (syllabus) | Splash Pool | Started 2021-04-17 | Concluded |
| Critique review basics | (syllabus) | Plunge Pool | Started 2020-09-11 | Concluded |