This photo is in reference to my last poem. It is a photo of wedding rings of those deceased at concentration camps during the holocaust.

"Remembering the Holocaust Photo Gallery".1996-2012. A&E Television Networks. <http://www.history.com/photos/remembering-the-holocaust/photo6>.

An Empty Cost

I have always been very interested in history. I think that this is essential for a writer to reach their potential. Understanding events that have occurred help us all evolve. In saying this, this poem was inspired by a photograph of an event in history. This photo did not depict people or blood or guts or anything you would expect to create such an emotion. It was a pile of things. Lets see if you can guess my allusion...

An Empty Cost
 by Katherine Racine

In all of them, there was something sharp.
Sharp and salient just below the skin.
Skin that wrapped and clung so tightly.
So tightly it could be played as a drum.
Drums were bludgeoned too. 

Imagination could not be the canvas for this scene.
There is no paint constructed, no brushes created
That would note this tribulation, for even tribulation
 seems unfitting a word.

The only tools for description belonged to the ones who
owned the wisdom.
It lived in their heads, dwelled on their tongues,
camped in their eyes, swallowed their hearts, and ate their smiles.  
 Even their language fell before reaching our comprehension.

Pureness, religion, and opinion
lead a nation and killed another.
Neither escaped without a scar.

The piles of rings-
The mountains, skyscrapers, towers
The waves, oh the waves of rings
that were striped from fingers
who were striped of lives.  

The rings were nothing in comparison
to the fingers that were once its owners.
Tiny lines of slick silver, vivid gold, and luminous diamonds 
once circumscribed the fingers which held pivotal promise.

“Till death do us part”
“Till death do us part”
“I do”
Repeatedly this was the daunting doom.
Each circle was looming tangible affirmation of
the eradication of two entities.
One life, one love.

Who am I?

It's a question I am still trying to find the correct answer to. Most young adults define themselves by the jobs they have, the person they are with, and what they went to school for. For me, I think there is more. However, for the sake of not boring you all to death and having your eyes melt out of your head, here are some facts and information about me that will help you get to know me!

My name is Katherine Averill Racine and I am 21 and still reside with my parents. I have 4 kitties and one dog and I am from a small town in the very north part of Vermont. I am so close to the Canadian border that I could walk there if I really felt inclined. My high school was a combination of three towns 7th-12th grade and the student count was still only about 1000. Tiny tiny tiny.

I graduated in 2009 and attended the University of Connecticut for 1.5 years studying pathobiology. I really did love it there, but something was missing. I decided to transfer to Southern New Hampshire University in order to pursue my writing career. I know I know, "what a huge switch," but I think that makes me complex. Someday I would love to get into the medical field, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

I hope to use this blog to expose myself and connect in a professional and creative way with others around me. I would like to connect with others who share my passion for writing as well. I plan on posting at least a few times a week and giving my audience some very unique material. Fingers crossed everyone!

My focus is in poetry and I fully intend on publishing a book of poetry, see keep an eye out for me!

Poetry slam-Dawn Saylor

 

This piece is rich with images and intense emotion that pertains so much to women as they grow up. I know most of us girls can recall our first time as a sexual being, the age, and how it was. Dawn allows her language in this piece to help her develop the emotion that she was feeling as each new sexual experience happened. Furthermore, she distinguishes the challenges she faces while trying to understand what love truly meant and how she deserved to be treated. I find poetry slams to be so immensely powerful and unique and hopefully one day I will have the courage and talent to perform as well. 

Although I have never participated in a poetry slam, I really am truly obsessed with them. I have been to a few poetry conventions where I have seen some live and I watch them on youtube all the time. I hope to have the guts and the heart to do it one day.  

Saylor, Dawn. "When I was 14." August 25,2010. Youtube. <http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9184288026171044833#editor/target=post;postID=9047064320068671246>

Progress

After reuniting with my first love after a clumsy split, I found myself not being able to scrap the image of that first familiar look at him. I wrote this poem in regards to all of the thousands of times I had seen him prior to our reunion, yet the moment I saw him again, it was as if he was a new specimen. This poem is about the hope that brews in the pit of your stomach after making up with an intense lover and the heartbeats your heart disregards when the person you love reciprocates and magnifies your own feelings.

Progression
by Katherine Racine


I see you in the basement,
 pen and paper in hand.
The smoke that fills the air,
The music that swirls our veins.
A coffee cup to your right and
A lighter to your left.

There is ice that clogs the gaps
Between my feet and my head.
At least it’s filled now,
And I know you’d agree.
Be it a smile under your skin
Or a smirk behind your eyes,
I feel you.
I know you. 

That musty smell of the cellar,
It’s always been a comfort.
And as I creep down those stairs
Creek ,creek, creek,
Crack, creek.
I hope to catch you as you wake
Newly pure and undone
Sometimes I swear, I observe a hue
Of the world wrapped around your iris
And smothered by the blue 

I’ve always hated the feel of holding in
As if I caught a breath too long.
Consuming every atom in reach
Hoping to quench the need.
Containing each movement
Maintaining every strength
The cold halts the air
Slows down the molecules
But no not for me
Oh no, not for me

I suppose you can always
Like my hair
And always admire my face
But you, dear one
Are the only one to actually take
A taste
You challenge my solid thoughts
Consumed my liquid breath
And as I see you in the basement
Pen and paper in hand
My stomach switches places with my heart
I know, I know this is hope.

Containment and the touch

This poem was inspired by the idea that love in itself is an obsession and a craze. I created a mental hospital which represented the containment of the person in a relationship that is more in love with the other than the other with them.  And no matter how much space is between them, she could still feel him as a part of her.

Containment and the touch 
by Katherine Racine


The room was plain, white; walls chipping with years of neglected paint
Assigned to the door hung 813 in block numbers
It was empty; it had been for cycles now
Each hour passing brought the ideals of the mislead
There was a fear there, no one denied it.
No one dared to.

The cubical closet had cold floors; speckled with gray and asphalt
History scrapped at the linoleum in large streaks
Its calming chaos swept over the 18X12 cage
It was empty; it had been for cycles now
A meandering voice echoed
It reverberated off the broken walls
Its silence was palpable.

The physical containment wasn’t any measure to its realm
It wasn’t anything to its ache
The nurse was two doors down now, calling out
“2 am, lights out, lights out”
She need not come to that room
There was never an inclination of illumination
The bulbs had all gone dull.

But she checked none the less
She had every assigned round

The lobby was less a beckon of comfort and more a token of freedom
Yearning arms stretched out for the organic rather
Than the flickering of far off human creation
The lobby was empty; it had been for cycles now
Remains of cut grass paroled the spinney carpet
Where skin cells of feet stuck permanently
Its fibers told a thousand tales.

There wasn’t much in that room, mistakes had made sure of that
Most of the time it was empty, it had been for cycles now
Most of the time they clutched at an essence that was not deemed real
A figment
An imaginative delusion
She on the inside, he on the out
Even with 2 inches of plexy between
She could feel him touching her
And it melted her skin and froze her heart 

Alison Kent's Facebook review:The good, The bad, and the ugly.

Although I looked at Stephen King and James Patterson on Facebook, I decided to criticize Alison Kent's page. As I have already had some experience with Alison Kent and her blog, I decided to take a look at her Facebook page. Though her blog was a fascinating and very fun, it lacked elements that allowed it to stand out in a search engine. For example, her blogs name was "Blah Blog," which really has no connection to the romance novels she writes and promotes. However, my hopes are high for her self promotion on her Facebook page.

Alison Kent's Facebook opens up to her smiling face in front of a lovely pink backdrop. Although I personally am not a fan of pink, the picture itself is very inviting and definitely gives a romantic feel. Good start! This goes wonderfully with her work as a romance novelist. Next, I decided to look at her "about" section. This is very important. It is necessary to create an image for yourself as not only a person but an author. In her about me she briefly describes her successes as a writer and talks about her new project, writing about cowboys in Texas. She lives in Houston and has a husband and three dogs. Her about me was short and sweet, however I was looking for a bit more in regards to personality and personal information. Needless to say her about me left a bit to be desired.

I browsed her about page a bit more and she redeemed herself with her personal interest and contact sections. She lists her hobbies of reading, gardening, her love of cupcakes, and favorite authors. This gives both personality and information to the reader of her page and helps her to stand out. One other really important thing that she did was list all of her social networking sites such as twitter, goodreads, tumblr, ect. This helps promote her works and spread her popularity.

Since she writes romance novels, there is a certain audience that is her target. Since (in general terms) most men do not pick romance novels as their first pick, I would say that her audience is mostly consumed by females. In saying this I think that there should be a some posts made that other women can relate to personally or professionally. I think that the way she connects to her audience is through the promotion of her actual work. And by this I mean the "eye candy" that is on the covers of a few of her novels. There are also a few other humorous posts made about the evolution of women's underwear and silly stuff that women would get a chuckle out of. I would say that she could heighten her connection with her audience if she were to involve little silly quizzes to see what romance character you would be or a poll on certain romantic plots. This interaction would gain her more followers.

A very good part of Alison's blog is that she has variety. She uses pictures from other sites, posts articles she likes, and makes posts when authors she likes release a new novel. This allows for a certain level of comfort and relateability between herself and the readers. It develops her personality and helps establish her interests. This is a must for being a successful Facebook page.

Overall, Alison Kent's page is a success. I would give it 3 stars out of 4. Although I am not interested in romance novels very much I am able to see how funny and relateable she is as a person. Furthermore, since she is a published author, I could potentially learn a lot from her and her posts.She accurately and effectively promotes her other social sites as well as her published work and upcoming events. This page is a wonderful promotional success!

Kent, Alison. Facebook.com. October 2012. <http://www.facebook.com/author.alisonkent>