Still Dancing

I'm so happy that my lyric essay, "Baila Conmigo" is going to be reprinted in an anthology from Jack Walker Press sometime this year. The piece was originally published in (and won a prize for nonfiction from) Perceptions Magazine of the Arts in 2013. More information on the new anthology to come!

My poetry chapbook by the same title (which means "Dance with Me") is also still available from Dancing Girl press. To order it, see https://dulcetshop.myshopify.com/products/baila-conmigo-linda-ferguson.

Two Poems by Tanya Bondarchuk

Photo collage by Tanya Bondarchuk

Whether she's writing a children's story, celebrating nature or playing with language to communicate a serious message, Tanya Bondarchuk's work is always impressive and inspiring. 

The Tree

by Tanya Bondarchuk

Big-bodied. Big-hearted. Big-souled.
Resilient to the forces of nature.
Slender branches, like arms of Shiva,
Pulling the rising Star
From the weary Mother's swelling guts
To be kissed by its fading light at dusk.
Tender branches, like arteries in lungs
That drink poison from mid-day's fog
To breathe life into all things alive.

It has neither quiet, nor peace,
   nor nightly rest.
Even in the wintry months of hibernation
It becomes shelter to small pesky creatures.
In springtime, a safe place for birds
   to build a nest.
The grand hotel of sorts. A dynamic picture,
It stands day and night
In a kindly but stately fashion.
It gives but asks nothing in return.
The Tree.
Big-bodied. Big-hearted. Big-souled.




Ukrainian Maidan - A Simple Explanation
by Tanya Bondarchuk

President is putrefaction,
Political faction,
Nation's wealth exaction,
Avert to devolution.

Residents in destitution
Seeking for solution
In western benefaction,
Aware of their inaction.

Nation in convolution,
But weary of putrefaction,
Demands restitution
And government's dissolution.

President in question
Will make satisfaction
For nation's destitution
With authority's devolution.

Nation's reaction
Is its call for action.
Nation's evolution
Is in Revolution.

Simple explanation,
Simple conclusion.
Action. Evolution.
Solution. Revolution.

About the author: Tanya Bondarchuk is Ukrainian. She holds a degree in English and German Languages and Literature. A former translator/interpreter, she has been exploring creative writing under Linda Ferguson’s guidance since 2012.

A Haibun by Marie Bates

In Portland, we were longing for spring when snow fell on the budding daffodils and crocuses. In this beautiful haibun (a Japanese form that combines haiku and prose), Marie Bates reflects on how we look for hope in nature.

Spring Hope

by Marie Bates

Standing in wet sleeping grass, I survey the brown rotting boards and packed cold earth of early spring. Embracing the memory of callouses and dirty fingernails, of sweat and grit dried on a forehead smeared with SPF30, I cradle a clump of orange marigolds in cupped hands, tickle the roots loose with bare fingers aching with cold, and place the colorful promise - carefully, carefully - into the loamy darkness. I breathe deeply. Anticipation of sunlight and longer days fills my soul. I am hope.

Snow drifts silently

while it gently covers the

yellow daffodils.

About the Author: Marie Bates was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and has a B.A. in English from Portland State University. She believes travel, books, bikes and good food are among the essentials for a happy life.

Words and Pictures

In the 2013 film "Words and Pictures," Clive Owen portrays an English teacher who spars with an art instructor played by Juliette Binoche. What's more important, the pair asks, words or pictures?

I'm beyond happy that my poem "Sighs of the Mermaid" will appear in Dancing Girl Press's mermaid anthology alongside a collage my daughter made after her first year of college.

Mermaids have been a bit of a theme for her. When my daughter was in elementary school, she made the above sculpture. The project was part of an art and writing camp I co-taught with my friend, the artist and educator Margaret Synan. Although the theme for the camp was "Wild Winged Things," my daughter had her own ideas and created her wingless mermaid instead.

The mermaid anthology is scheduled for publication sometime this summer, not long after my daughter's college graduation. What a fitting way to celebrate this rite of passage and the creative/feminist journeys we're on...both separately and together with our fellow female artists. 

January 2021 update: The Dancing Girl Press project never happened, but you can read "Sighs of the Mermaid" in VoiceCatcher Journal.