Wrapping Up the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships” Book Blog Tour
Posted: May 2, 2022 Filed under: Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Books, Poetry, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours | Tags: Arthur Rosch, Colleen M. Chesebro, D. Avery, Elizabeth Merry, Harmony Kent, JulesPaige, Kaye Lynne Booth, Lauren Scott, Leon Stevens, Lynda McKinney Lambert, M.J. Mallon, Miriam Hurdle, Poetry, Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships, Robbie Cheadle, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press 25 Comments
We’ve had a great tour for Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships, but now it’s time to bring the fun to a close. To wrap things up today, we have a guest post from contributing author and poet Leon Stevens.
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Why do I write poetry? Maybe poetry writes me.
I like the conciseness of a poem and how it can capture a moment, thought, emotion, experience, or an observation, like a painting. With descriptive colors, thoughtful hues, rhyming shades, and new perspectives, when inspiration comes—usually when I least expect it—I just need to put it into words.
People will often say that they don’t understand poetry. I try not to hide the meaning in the words, rather I want to use the poem as a way to describe the feelings I have at that time. Life is a struggle. Poetry doesn’t have to be.
I wrote the four “ego” poems out of a need to understand why people act in ways that seemed detrimental to positive interactions. Watching people posturing, jockeying for status, and exerting pressure for personal gain, left me shaking my head and rolling my eyes.
Ego. The mention of ego can set people on the defensive. Ego drives greed, fame, and power, but it can also drive ambition, innovation, and progress.
“You have an ego.” Is it an insult, a compliment, or a fact? We associate having an ego with a negative trait because usually, it’s somebody’s ego that gets in the way of healthy relationships, sabotages the progress of others, or projects a not-so-amiable image. But, if you have a strong sense of self and abilities, an ego can help propel you forward in your personal endeavors.
I suspect that many readers can relate to at least one of the poems. We know the one who always needs to be the center of attention, the person who is always right, the one who thrives on social status, and the person who constantly seeks affirmation. Often, they are the fragile ones, and we see the positives and for those reasons, we keep them within our grasp.
-Leon Stevens
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Leon Stevens is an author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publication is the novella, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories. He is currently working on a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
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Get your copy today: https://books2read.com/u/3kP8aK
That wraps things up for the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships Book Blog Tour. Don’t forget to leave a comment, because you have to comment on each of the eight blog stops to be entered for a chance to win a free digital copy of this wonderful poetry anthology. It doesn’t have to be a long or even particularly smart; just enough to let me know you were there. If you missed any of the stops, I will post them here and I won’t do the drawing until tomorrow, so everyone will have plenty of time to visit this last stop and any that they have missed:
Day 1: Writing to be Read: Guest post by Lauren Scott
Day 2: ShiftNShake: Guest post and three readings by Robbie Cheadle
Day 3: The Showers of Blessings: Guest post by Lynda McKinney Lambert
Day 4: Bay Dreamer Writes: Guest post by Miriam Hurdle
Day 5: Zigler’s News: Guest post by M.J. Mallon & Review by Victoria Zigler
Day 6: This is My Truth Now: James Cudney interviews Kaye Lynne Booth
Day 7: Robbie’s Inspiration: Guest post by Colleen M. Chesebro
Day 8: Brings us right back here to Writing to be Read and the wonderful guest post by Leon Stevens. Thanks for following the tour and don’t forget to get your copy of Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships. 😉 Bye for now.
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Writing to be Read 
I find that the more mindful we are, the less ego controls us. I love this line from Leon: “Often, they are the fragile ones, and we see the positives and for those reasons, we keep them within our grasp.” Great post! 🙂
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Thanks for visiting and commenting, Yvonne. 🙂 That is a wonderful line, and his poems are very insightful.
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Congratulations, Yvette. You are the winner of a free digital copy of Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships! Please email me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com, and let me know if you prefer pdf, mobi or epub. Thanks for your support of the tour. 🙂
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It was a good tour. It was fun participating and getting to know some of the other poets! Thanks for allowing me to be part of it.
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Delighted to have you here, Leon, with your wonderful contributions to the anthology. It has turned out to be a good tour indeed, and I am very pleased. I couldn’t have done it without all of the wonderful contributors though. 🙂
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[…] Wrapping Up the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships” Book Blog Tour — Writing to be… […]
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I hope you had a successful tour. Wishing all contributors much success.
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Thank you, Staci. It has been a great tour, with so many wonderful and talented contributors. I’m pleased to see you here. 😉
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Thank you, Staci.
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Thank you, Staci!
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Such a grand tour! A hearty round of applause for each and every contributor and the most supportive editors of this terrific anthology.
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Thank you for following the tour and supporting the anthology and all of the contributors to this wonderful project, Annette. I’m pleased with the way the tour went, and all of the contributors are a lovely group. I’m proud to have the opportunity to work with them. 🙂
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Thank you, Annette, and for all your support. Hugs.
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Thank you, Annette!
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I like the way Leon Stevens thinks about poetry. I think it stems from high school when the teacher would ask us to share what we think a poem means, then tell me I was wrong. How could what I think be wrong? I enjoy poems that are honest, descriptive, emotional and easy for me to understand. I also like if an author shares a sentence or two about their inspiration, so I have enjoyed this blog tour a lot.
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So glad to hear that you’ve enjoyed the tour, Carla. Words are subjective in any form, but particularly in poetry. Your interpretations cannot be wrong, only different from the teacher’s. How sad that someone in such a position would not get that. The poets on the anthology are all so inspiring. They have been a pleasure to work with.
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“…the teacher would ask us to share what we think a poem means, then tell me I was wrong”
So true!
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and so wrong. Definitely not the way to instill a love of poetry.
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It appears that poetry got a hold on you in spite of the wrongness of his actions. I’m glad. 🙂
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Hi Carla, I am pleased to hear that. My teachers were the same and my reaction much like yours. Actually, teachers told me I was wrong a lot in English and Art classes … Hmmm!
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I’m glad that didn’t turn you off, Robbie, or we would have missed out on so much.
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I like the way you view ego as being positive, not just negative. Your poems are interesting, Leon.
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome!
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