How it's going

some news

First, an apology for the gap between posts. So much going on I barely have time to … well … even put a poem into the computer. To whit, my Memorial Day poem for this year is still rough and in a notebook!

But my “busy” has borne some fruit.

1. Family wedding in Florida: grandson #3 to Brielle, such a lovely girl. We rented a big house for 18 family members, and it was a HAPPENING. We had not all been together in 12 years and there are “new” significant others (not just the bride) to be integrated into this big, noisy bunch. We welcomed Nico, Josh, and Garrett along with Brielle. So wonderful to see how all of them fit right in!

2. Lots of submissions and some “refusals” along the way. Keep on keeping on with sending out poems — 2 chapbooks soon to go “out there” for hopeful acceptance.

3. Delivering books to local book shops… so far, so good.

4. I held my first local Pop Up workshop yesterday at a downtown bakery/cafe. It was fun and enjoyed by those in attendance. We worked from “lists” — those random ones I have been compiling since January. The idea is to jot down something one has been obsessing over or interested in and free write for 10-15 minutes. Then using a line or phrase from a list, let the poem flow from that. So, not to write “about” but in free association to the list item or items. Gets the writing out of its box (your obsession) and see where it wants to go.

Here is one I did recently:

I had been trying to understand how my mother could not manage warmth toward me (or any of us really). I have bolded the phrases used from a couple of my lists.

Mother

I felt a bottomless vacancy
whenever I needed advice, 
her face a roadmap of avoidance.
Not like the mothers of my friends
with their warm smiles and answers.

But

When I had cancer, feared I’d die,
she came and sat by my bed. Just sat — 
locked in her own grief, I think. This mother
preparing to lose her daughter, sat— 
her silence a hopeless vacancy.

(Notice the slight alteration of the opening phrase in the final line of the poem.)

This 10-line linked poem uses a conjunction to turn the stanzas. Most of the time we try to avoid using conjunctions in poems. This use, I think, works well as a volta.

Here is the one I did yesterday at the Pop Up. It is definitely a DRAFT!

The title is NOT what it will be eventually.

Ah, the teen years

Gym towels, dark funked-up germ habitat, affront
to the noses of female society. Locker room solution: AXE,
scent popular with the guys. Under their shirts, skin 
once baby-powdered and soft, this modern day scent 
too strong for breathing without gasping for real air.
Soap, hot water, clean towels, boys. We beg you!

			           But
		               to be fair

Do you remember the provocation of cologne
when it came to our own teenage love games?
Your face in his neck, breathing in the soft aroma of Canoe.
Buying the matching cologne at Woolworth's: Shalimar. 
Wanting to save every sense of him, his scent
on your hands, your sweater. Late night miracle.

What could YOU do with random lists of phrases, chunks of overheard conversation, an idea unfolding?

Also — some good news from the literary world: My book, Every Place I Look, women with embers at their feet, is a finalist for the Maine Literary Awards in the poetry category. The winning title will be announced on May 28th. Fingers crossed.

Also — an unpublished chapbook is a finalist in another contest. No details as to which contest until the announcement is made. It did not win first place, but as they say… nice to be on the short list. This chapbook and one other are now submitted (to two different presses) for possible publication. Fingers crossed.

All of this just scratches the surface of my “busy.” But a good problem to have I believe.

Until next time, I need to get going on finishing that Memorial Day poem.

Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock.