MARY KEATING POET
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Fountan pen and flower.

Welcome to Mary Keating's Poetry Blog

Colorful fish underwater with air bubbles rising.
What's bubbling up to the surface?

My Memoir in Verse

Picture The book cover of my memoir in verse, Recalibrating Gravity which is available at most bookstores. The cover features a diver exploring the glass half full.  The back cover has reviews, a brief synopsis, and bio.

Order Now https://a.co/d/ebjI9Td

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I'm About to be A Book Mom

8/22/2024

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Picture

September 2, 2024, is the debut of my memoir in verse, Recalibrating Gravity. I always thought when I finished my book and found a publishing home, I'd be done. How silly of me.

Once Woodhall Press agreed to publish my memoir, I had another year of work to do. I suppose if I hadn't decided to illustrate my book, that time would have been cut down. But I don't think by much.

Every book needs to be polished to shine. Seems like typos like to hide in plain sight. That's mostly due to our brains filling in missing words or correcting misspelled ones. The proofreading process never seems to end. Then there is the task of laying out the book.

A poetry book is challenging in itself because stanzas can’t be broken across pages like paragraphs. Formatting a book full of shape poems and illustrations is a marathon.

I was fortunate that Woodhall Press and their team care about their authors and the finished product. As for my book, their layout artist should win an award for patience. My sister, Carolyn Keating, who is a writer herself as well as an editor and proofreader, added her love and expertise. My brother, David Keating, an artist and photographer, was kind enough to take my author photo. The end result was a family affair and a team effort.

So that's it, right...

Not even close. Now, I need to let the world know about my book so it will have readers. Marketing is key. I’m so grateful to the award winning poets and well established poetry colleagues I’ve come to know over the years who wrote lovely reviews for the inside and back cover to entice readers.

Going forward there are contests to enter, prizes to apply for, and podcasts to get invited on as a guest. If you have an podcast and are looking for guest speakers, leave me a message.

Unbeknownst to me, I started marketing my book well before I wrote it by slowly becoming known in the literary world. That process began seven years ago when I first attended the Poet's Salon at the Fairfield Library and shared a few poems. A couple of months later, I discovered Medium, a website where writers can publish their work individually or become a writer for one of its hundreds of publications.
There, I began building an audience.

When my poem, "How to Survive in a Wheelchair" was curated by Medium’s staff, I got my first objective acceptance. Encouraged, I sent "Hospital's Care" to New Mobility Magazine (a publication outside of Medium) without first checking their guidelines. Had I, I’d have discovered they don't even publish poetry and wouldn’t have even tried. Lucky for me, New Mobility did published my poem because it captured the subpar treatment by our health care system of so many disabled people.

Little by little, my poems were published by various online and print anthologies. This Summer a dream came true when Rattle published my ghazal, "Full of It." How thrilling to not only receive its journal by snail mail but to open my email on August 5th along with thousands of their subscribers and discover my poem as Rattle’s shared poem of the day.
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Birthing a book is hardly a nine-month gestation period. It's one that takes years, maybe decades. Tons of trial and error. Lots of rejection until acceptance. But, like having a child, the journey for me is just beginning.

I can hardly wait to find a package in my mailbox with the first copy of my book. Finally, hold it in my hands.
I hope all of you who order my book will feel the same way. I’m confident you’ll find encouragement, hope, and lots of love inside its pages
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Poetry Heals

2/10/2024

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Photo of my brother-in-law Martti and me laughing together at a birthday dinner.Martti and Me
The end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 have been difficult. My sister, Libby, lost her beloved husband, Martti, after a sudden and rapid progression of Martti’s MS. After almost two weeks in the hospital, he came home to hospice mid-December. He passed away on January 8th. Martti’s presence in all our lives is deeply missed.

Libby and Martti were soulmates. They were married for over thirty years. Their love story is one for the ages. You can learn more about it in this brief YouTube video. What stands out is the deep love they had for each other, and how they approached all their challenges with humor.

A few years after Libby and Martti married, Martti was diagnosed with MS. I don’t recall exactly when he started using a power wheelchair fulltime, but it was at least fifteen years ago. I loved having a brother-in-law that always saw me eye-to-eye and that I could kvetch with about the lack of wheelchair access and basic services. We also laughed a lot together despite our frustrations.

Martti was the kindest person I ever met and also the most upbeat when he had every reason not to be. A few weeks before he died, I got into an accident when a woman driving an SUV tried to illegally pass the car in front of hers and slammed into my rampvan. Home, in hospice and barely able to speak, Martti asked to see the photos of the damage to my van.

Martti used to be a master mechanic and worked on high end exotic cars. When his MS got too bad, he had to close his business. But he never lost his love of cars. Drawing on his knowledge and old connections, he gave me advice about what to do and where to take my van for repairs. Mind you he was literally on his deathbed at the time. Most people would be focusing on themselves.

The car accident shook me up, and I did get hurt in it, but think I’ve almost recovered after two months. My van is repaired now, though giving it up for a week caused all kinds of logistical problems. I can’t simply rent a car, so I was homebound for I thought would be a week. It ended up being a few days shorter because the auto body shop prioritized my repairs.

On top of everything mentioned, I got COVID again after just having it in October.

It's easy to be overwhelmed when any one thing upsets your daily life, let alone one problem after another. I find a way to get through these rough times is to write poetry. As you can imagine, many of the poems I’ve written during this period are about death and loss. Though, I was privileged to read a poem I’d written about Martti at his service.

Since Martti died, I keep thinking about how sad my sister is and have tried to write persona poems to help deal with all her grief. At some point, I’ll share them with her. Now, when the loss is barely bearable, is not the time. But the poems are helping me. And I know that writing them is allowing me be present with her in her grief. And isn't that what we all want when we suffer such a loss. Someone to be there with us and acknowledge our pain.

The promise of rebirth is just around the corner, made even more imminent as the groundhog didn’t see his shadow. While this period has been difficult, it is a time that I am reminded of how precious life is in all its states. We must embrace it all, what we perceive as good and as bad, because the combination of both is what creates the power and beauty of our time on planet Earth.

I’d love to hear from you about times poetry has helped you deal with and explore different emotions. Leave me a comment and share some poems if you like.

Be well and keep writing.

Spring flowers with light beams shining on them from the heavens
Spring flowers of hope. Photo by Mary Keating
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When YOUR PASSION Calls You...FOLLOW...

11/28/2023

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Winter landscape at sunrise over a lake with pines and mountains. Fog rising.
Photo by Alexandre Grégoire on Unsplash
Masthead shot of Fairfield*MICRO*Scribes welcoming me as Poetry Editor.
As the days grow shorter in the Eastern hemisphere and temperatures drop below freezing, I enjoy withdrawing inside and reflecting on all there is to be grateful for in life.

Six years ago, I started writing poetry after decades of sporadic spurts. Life as a lawyer since 1985 consumed my time, and I needed a creative outlet on a more consistent basis. In hopes of honing my craft and stop writing mediocre poems, I began taking classes online with Billy Collins (Master Class), University of  Pennsylvania’s ModPo which introduces you to contemporary poets (free), Westport Writers’ Workshop, Gotham Writers Workshop, and Hudson Valley Writers Center.

In addition to the workshops, I joined several poetry groups and began signing up for open mic performances, both online and live. Recently, I’ve been enjoying free workshops and interviews of poets online with Tim Green, Editor of Rattle Magazine.

Over the years, these courses and workshops inspired me as well as improved my poems to the point of them becoming published and two being nominated for a Pushcart prize. In addition, through the connections I made, I put together a poetry collection that became the first book in verse to win When Words Count Book Contest. Recalibrating Gravity will be published next Fall by Woodhall Press.

This month I am honored to join Scribes*MICRO*Fiction as their Poetry Editor.

Also, this month Wingless Dreamer (located in India) published my poem “Treat for a Treat” in their international anthology, All Hallow's Eve. The book is available on Amazon. I was delighted to discover one of my mentors, Ed Ahern, of the Poets' Salon (co-leader of an online poetry group with Alison McBain) and Managing Editor of Scribes*MICRO*Fiction, also had a piece published—illustrating how small the world can be.

When your passion calls you, follow your dreams. You’ll be surprised where they will lead you, and the wonderful people who will fill your life to guide, inspire, and love you.  

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How to Write Kick-Ass Poetry

10/13/2023

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Young boy holding a book and looking like he's wowed!
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

​Pick a title to lure
the reader in
to rival any siren.

​Put words together
that are unlikely
bedfellows combining
their syllables
in novel positions
or couplets.
​
Use the end of a line
to emphasis,
the end line of a stanza
to impress,
the last line of a poem
to punch!

An enjambed line
makes the reader ponder
What caused this line
to wander
?

​Don’t leave a word on its own
except if it is powerful
enough to stand
alone
which is as rare as a daffodil
growing on an iceberg.

Interior rhymes right
the wrong
of poetry becoming
singsong.

Take all heart and soul
out of your poems.







Pace your poem
by alternating feet
with rhythm and meter.

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Cut the opening
lines of your first
draft until you discover
where your poem becomes
alive—If you can’t
find that point
take another stab.

Write and rewrite.
Marinate the words.
Ruminate them on different
days and shore up the themes
that percolate.
Repeat this process often.

Read your poetry out loud
to your dog or garden.
Smooth the spots where
the words trip up your voice.

Check your poem’s
shape on the page always
aware of the space
around it.

Remember poems
are cerebral
visual and musical.

The right combination
(Oh dear, I’m already
breaking
the rules)
is pure poetry.
Crystal Heart on leaves
Image by Haider Mahmood from Pixabay

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When Words Count Book Contest Winner

7/17/2023

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Winner Medal for When Words Count Recognizing Excellence in Discovered New Authors
Happy to report that my poetry book, Recalibrating Gravity, a memoir in verse, won When Words Count Pitch Week 28th. Today I received my gold medal from When Words Count and a lovely note from Steve Eisner, the founder of the WWC Pitch Week Competition. I was the first poet to win gold! To read more about it click here: Announcing Pitch Week XXVIII Winner: Mary Keating! | When Words Count Retreat
We had a great group of competitors and according to Steve were “the finest group of competitors” of Pitch Week ever. I was honoured to be a part of this group and hope to see all the manuscripts in print next year. Woodhall Press plans to publish my book next Summer.
You may be wondering, what is this competition and how do I join in?
Here’s the link to apply: Pitch Week | When Words Count Retreat.
The competition is a novel way to secure a traditional publishing contract while learning how to best package your book and market it. The seminar is divided into two weeks. Once you are chosen to be a contestant, you will send your manuscript off to their editor. I worked with Peggy Moran, who helped me polish my poetry. Next, Steve schedules an introductory meeting, where you get to meet the other contestants and learn how the competition works. You also learn what to expect from the two full weeks you will spend workshopping (Meet the Judges Week [MTJ]) and presenting (Pitch Week [PW]). This introductory meeting usually happens about two weeks before MTJ.
MTJ is an exciting time where you not only collaborate with the other contestants and two coaches to choose the best passages to read from your book but work one-on-one with the three Judges chosen from the publishing arena along with your coaches. Usually one judge is a publicist, one an agent, and one a publisher.
​I was lucky to work with publicist, Steve Rohr, agent Marilyn Atlas, and publishing house, Woodhall Press. During that time, they will guide you in developing your book cover, obtaining blurbs from writers and famous people, how to best present why you are the right person to have written your book, how to best package your book, and how to market it.
Once MTJ week is over, you will send in your final manuscript. Over the next six weeks or so, you will finalize your cover, marketing plan, packaging, and presentations. Once PW arrives, you will have a few more times to workshop with your coaches and contestants.
The rest of the week you spend presenting to the judges en banc. The last day, you read to a wider audience who will vote on which two books they would most likely choose to buy. The winner of that voting gets the People’s Choice Award. (My book won that award as well.)
That same evening, Steve will torture you with a blow-by-blow accounting of how each contestant did in each category. If your race is as close as mine, you will need to be close to a phone just in case 911 is needed as your heart beats with ever increasing intensity.
A few days after the contest, you will all meet with the publisher, and if you are lucky, they will publish your book. The winner is guaranteed a publishing contract and gets the best publishing terms. But win or lose, the experience is invaluable.
There is a cost to the program. You can find out about the going rates when you apply. You can also work with their book cover artist. I believe they give contestants special rates. Asha Hossain created two amazing covers for me, and I still wish I could use both.
My next steps now are to review my publishing contract, finalize my manuscript, and begin working with the fabulous Woodhall Press in preparation of publishing my book the Summer of 2024. I’m so very excited to bring my poetry to the world. The cover of the lovely card Steve Eisner sent me says it all.

Go Forth and Set the World on Fire Cover of a Card
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Greetings from the accessible poet

5/21/2023

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Welcome! I hope you find my website a place where we can explore life and poetry together.

I write poetry because I love its versatility. I love how it uses sight and sound together to convey multiple meanings. Poetry imbues words with the power to speak to our souls.

Poetry sometimes gets a bad reputation. Perhaps that's from all those teachers who didn't make it come alive. But as Billy Collins so aptly put, poetry is the history of the human heart. How amazing is that!


This year marks my fiftieth anniversary of using a wheelchair. I was in a car accident when I was young, and my life turned upside down. But with the help of my family, friends, and the philosophy of one day at a time, I became a lawyer, a poet, scuba diver, world traveler, wife, and happy. As we get to know each other, you'll find out how I got my life back on track. Not that I'm not thrown off every once in a while. We all are. But basically, I've an amazing life.

My brother, David, and I were talking today about how people love to put others in categories. She's disabled, he's gay, they're transgender, he's black, etc. Groups are great when we need to advocate for ourselves. They give us power. On the flip side, we all want to be known for just us, the person we are and not the label we've been given. If we never see past those labels, we miss out on so much. And if we box ourselves and our expectations up inside those labels, we miss out on our potential.

So, here, let's rip off those labels, take a close look at them, and then tear up what holds us back.

To acknowledge people and things that help us through life, I've created a page where we can post gratitude haikus. For those of you who don't know, a haiku is a three-line poem where the first and third lines are 5 syllables, and the middle line is seven. The first two lines usually state something and the last line is a turn. I've posted two on the wall for examples.

In closing, I'd like to thank my good friend, Alison McBain who is a writer and poet among many of her other hats. She helped me get started with this site. In fact, she's been a great mentor in helping me get poems published and finish my first full length poetry book, Recalibrating Gravity. I'm one of five finalists in When Words Count Pitch Week because of her encouragement. We all need an Alison in our lives. So dear Alison, thank you!

That's it for now. Drop me a line or a haiku. And off we go...


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    sNAPsHOT OF mARY 

    Poet, wheelchair rider, lawyer, disability advocate, hoping to make this world a better place for everyone.

    Me at 2 on a chaise lounge in the backyard.
    Me in Paris  at 28
    Me diving at wreck in Cayman 30 ish
    Me 35ish Sit-skiing at Straton Mountain VT.
    Me 42 at Volcano in Hawaii
    Me now at 65.

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