Marie Anzalone

Bilingual (English and Spanish) poet, essayist, novelist, grant writer, editor, and technical writer working in Central America.

"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep."
-Salman Rushdie


PLEDGE TO CIVILITY IN CONDUCT:

In accordance with the Writers Cafe own terms of use, I adhere to a pledge to personal civil conduct and fair treatment of other users. It can be found here:

Pledge to civil conduct in discourse

If you are new to the site, I would like to welcome you warmly and let you know that over 12 years of use, WC has helped me personally connect with other wonderful writers on and off site, and get my works published professionally. It is all a matter of how you choose to use the site.

A LITTLE ABOUT ME:

I am a mid-40s animal scientist who was orphaned at an early age and raised by wolves and Ents. 10 years ago, I got on a plane to go live in a foreign country and search for… something undefined. I left behind a career, a home, a car, and a partner who made it clear he did not want to go with me. I went alone. I went not knowing what kind of support or reception my ideas would receive. I went knowing I only had at best 12 months to establish myself.

I had previously been professionally employed as a teacher, artist, farm market manager, TB vaccine researcher, 3rd World "field vet," animal welfare specialist, mouse OB/Gyn, and campus sustainability guru. I've also gotten lost while touring the summit of an active volcano, so go figure. I now work currently as the start-up director of an organization dedicated to finding solutions for dealing with climate change before we lose half of the world's food supply. By wing and prayer and hope and hard work and some days just plain spite we keep going. Since this work is as yet unpaid, I supplement my income any way I can on translation work, artwork, writing, life coaching, editing, and organizational consulting. This has unfortunately left very little time for me to be active on site, as I used to be. I will be back when I have a steady paycheck that I can depend on.

I have been writing for 40 years. I try to write now about the balance of living between worlds. Most of my writing between 2015-22 has originated in Spanish. My writing is deeply personal and mostly autobiographical. Most of my poetry is a dialogue with someone or something I decided to write for. You can find me on Goodreads.

Life is an adventure, folks... make it worth living. If you do, there is always something fresh to write about.

See my other profile, "Raquelita," for poetry written in Spanish. See my photos on this profile for a view into this gorgeous land I call home.

Raquelita poetry in Spanish

I am the moderator of two active groups for serious writers:

The Spiritual Woman
and
New England Style

Check them out, and please feel free to join if they interest you.

OTHER POETRY SITES I CONTRIBUTE TO:

I was extremely honored to find out that I had been featured as a 2013 ans 2019 Poet of the Month at the Rubber Eden Poetry Site, run by the extraordinarily talented Vincent Quatroche:

Rubber Eden Po of the Month

Vincent's own work is edgy and angry and political and has a lot to say- I highly recommend it. He may be the only person I know who partially makes a living off of poetry.


PUBLICATIONS:

I have published seven stand-alone books of poetry, which can be found on Amazon:

A Pilgrimage in Epistles

Peregrinating North-South Compass Points

Non-Utilitarian Living

What We Meant to Say

Wall Deconsruction and Other Seditious Acts (2020)
Love Stories and Other Subterranean Influences (2020)
Slaying Dragons with Clorox and Holy Water (2021)

Other anthology publications that have included my work:

University of Connecticut Human Rights Journal

2010 Namaste Human Rights Journal

first literary journal publishing 2014:

The Larcenist Volume 1

International animal story anthology:
Animal Anthology Project

Writers Cafe published poetry anthologies:
Cafe Musings

No Apologies

Under the Willow Tree

Moods of Time

Casa los Altos 3rd poetry anthology
Foco Poetico
The Wisdom Daily
Rising Phoenix Press
The Rogue Star

WORDS THAT GUIDE ME:

Your Daughters And Your Sons
(Tommy Sands)

They didn't hear your music and they tore your paintings down
They wouldn't read your writing and they banned you from the town
But they couldn't stop you dreaming, and a victory you've won
For you sowed the seeds of freedom in your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of freedom in your daughters and your sons

Your weary smile, it proudly hides the chain-marks on your hands
For you've bravely strived to realise the rights of everyone
But though your body's bent and low, a victory you've won
For you sowed the seeds of justice in your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of justice in your daughters and your sons

I don't know your religion but one day I heard you pray
For a world where everyone can work and children they can play
And though you never got your share and the fruits that you have won
You sowed the seeds of equality in your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of equality in your daughters and your sons

They taunted you in Belfast and they tortured you in Spain
And in that Warsaw ghetto where they tied you up in chains
In Vietnam and Chile, when they came with tanks and guns
It's there you sowed the seeds of peace in your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
It's there you sowed the seeds of peace in your daughters and your sons

And now your music's playing, and the writing's on the wall
And all the dreams you painted can be seen by one and all
And now you've got them thinking, and the future's just begun
For you sowed the seeds of freedom in your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of freedom in your daughters and your sons

HOW I KEEP UP WITH WHO IS CHECKING IN