Editor's note: Mel sent
me an e-mail today (5/10/03), responding to my request for information as to
some of his awards and where some of his poems were published. Here's
what he had to say:
"Early Poems: I had a few
early poems published in the high school paper and a school literary magazine,
“Patterns in Print”. I also wrote an operetta, which was performed at the
school, Madison West High School. At UW Madison I had some published in the “
ILS Pioneer”, and the campus humor magazine, “The Octopus”, where I wrote a
poem each month, as “poet laureate”. Since that time I wrote a very few
poems for special occasions, for particular situations involving people, or
for thank you notes. As far as the poems on your web site:"
1. Most of the poems
were written because of specific happenings for people I know (“A Pointed
Reminder”, “Clinical Depression”, “Back to the Future”, “What’s in a
Name”, “A Sailor’s Rescue”, and “ Over Easy”. Some were written for
enclosing in Christmas cards: “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, and
“Inauspicious Beginning”, “Happy Holidays 2000”, “Puppy Poem”.
2. Others were
either written just for the heck of it. “Webster’s Ductionary of Word
Gooseage”.
3. Some written for
particular purposes, or by request: “Northern Exposure” was written because
the newspaper was sponsoring a sesquicentennial history book about historical
privies and I wrote the poem for that. It was placed in the book and also the
only entry published in the newspaper. “The 12 Days of Christmas” was also
published in the same newspaper, the Three Lakes version of the Vilas County
News Review.
4. “Ode to the Music
Teacher” was written and published by request from a columnist for the
“Wisconsin Musician”, who asked me to write a tribute to music educators as
part of a special issue.
5. “A Legend in His
Own Mind” was written for the occasion of my receiving the Wisconsin Senior
Olympics Volunteer of the Year Award. I read it at the annual banquet. The
Wisconsin Governor was in attendance. I was also asked to read it at the
Wisconsin Tennis Association Annual meeting on the occasion of receiving the
Bill Letwin Award. The poem was published in the Sacramento “Silver
Bulletin”, a publication for retired Sacramento State professors. Portions
published in a column for the Glendale Herald (Community Newspapers) 2002.
6. Other poems and
their publication:
a. “Northern
Exposure” Best Poems of 1998 National Library of Poetry
b. "What’s in a
Name"
”America at the Millennium",
The Best Poems and Poets of the 20th
Century
c. "Clinical
Depression"
”The Best Poems and Poets of 2001" The
International Library of Poetry
d. “A
Pointed Reminder” Chasing the Wind The National Library of Poetry 1997
e. “Back
to the Future” Through the Looking Glass
The National Library of Poetry 1997
f.
“Moibles Anyone” Original version published in
“The Net Set” Tennis Magazine, 1974
g. "Pastorale"
was written for a book presented to a departing minister.
Some verses were put into a song to
be sung by the “Joy Singers”
to him the week before he leaves.
h. Other
Web-sites where some/all of of Mel's poems appear:
*
http://www.angelfire.com/extreme2/catsailors/sailinglinks.html All Poems
*
http://home.worldnet.att.net/~e.zeiser/index.htm “A Sailor’s Rescue”
*
www.poetry.com “Back to the Future, “Clinical Depression”,
“Northern Exposure”, “What’s in
a Name?”, and
“A Pointed Reminder”