Poetry is Alive: My May 2024 Journey

May 2024 has been exciting for me as a poet. I shared my work in online readings, in magazines, and during a live poetry competition. I feel energized to share my work and to encourage other writers to do the same.

However, I also heard several persons say that they felt burned out I remind you of the following:

• A job should not define you. You are more than a position.
• Invest your spare time in you. Learn something, write something, grow something, or make something.
• Think carefully about work-life balance. Work hard, shine, meet, and beat the timelines, but take care of yourself.
• Rest, pray, sing, laugh, and dance.

I also want to encourage you to invest in yourself. I have worked hard to share my work. I look for journals, competitions, online open mics, and magazines. I want to inspire the world with my work; I have to champion that effort. Please invest in what grows you!

Check out my various participations this May:

• Pulse Poetry Magazine – I shared two poems in the June 2024 issue. 
• Interview on Quintessential Listening: Poetry Online Radio and YouTube with Dr. Michael Anthony Ingram: This was invigorating. I am truly inspired. 
• Pour Your Heart Out Open Mic Virtual Contest: I performed my poem, “A Michael Jackson Story,” and enjoyed interacting with the other poets. 
• My fellow poets and I were nominated for the 2024 National Spoken Word Awards.
• LA Rabsatt for Category #7 Best International Artist
• Papi's Poetry Corner for Category #17 Radio Show/TV or Radio Station of the Year
• Lady Crucible/Neia Coney for Category #16 Rising Star Of The Year
• Angel Kim-Mack for Category #18 Best Spoken Word Storyteller
• Nelly Vee for Category #20 P.O.E.T. Community Service Award

Also, as I think about my statement about a job not defining you, I am sharing something fresh from my archives. 

a new definition

I looked at myself and said, no way
my definition has gone astray
what is my purpose? what is my vision?
how am I making correct decisions
if I don't have a clear definition?

I said if my goal was to look like BET
then there's no future in that for me
how can I define myself by these TV standards
and make my life another sad played-out ballad

is it a man that I need to define me
to fight another sister recklessly?
girl, you can have that brother
my definition is for me to be a better mother

material things? they've come and gone
I focus on my needs - the priority, #1
this personal definition is not of my pocket
it's my soul, my passion, the love I give and get

my education - yea that helps me plot my vision
raise my awareness and keep me in unison
still, a degree does not define me fully
but has opened my eyes to Mother Earth around me

so where does my definition lie?
a tiny taste of humble pie
brings me to realize that life
though tough and filed with rife
makes my definition complete

the love that has been given
and the love that I have given
makes me complete and real
my definition

© Linette Rabsatt

Please don't forget to get a copy of my Kindle book, "Be Inspired: Poems by Linette Rabsatt." Also, please visit my YouTube pageYouTube page for my latest upload, "A Broken Pen,A Broken Pen," which was shared for Poetry Downtown Rutland.