Photo courtesy of Alex Geerts on Unsplash.com.
Happy Fall! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve leapt onto this blog, and I wanted to pause to share best wishes and some poetry from my latest collection, Does It Look Like Her? as well as some insights and the link to my awesome new online poetry class that begins Friday, October 18th.
Playing with imagery is a must-have when I pen poems.
This poem stacks imagery to create tension, a scene, and to introduce the reader to the protagonist:
Photo courtesy of Ryan Stone on Unsplash.
Art Fair
a barebones cabin
last night was sickle moonlight, I took a drive
I’m just trying to make a concert out of it
it’s very good you are where you are
today: a canopy with paintings in the sun, open-air
I took home the canvas of the floating arm, palm open
I carried it in both hands like a heavy sack of groceries
I wonder if you’d like me here
Making characters is such a fun part of writing linked narrative poems. Here’s a fun one, about my artist protagonist’s son:
Sam Speaks of Demeter, the Famous Portrait of His Mother, Part One
Age 8:
Photo courtesy of Aedrian Salazar on Unsplash.com.
My mommy
is in this picture
in a museum
that this man painted.
It’s kind of a big deal.
He’s a real artist.
Last week, we went
to see it. It was kind of funny
to see Mommy’s face
there on the wall. I waved
when we walked in, and
Mommy said, “I’m the real one,
over here,” and she made
our special scrunched face,
and we laughed about it.
Part of the joy of this collection of poems is that I drop hints about what the painting and the woman may or may not look like, such as in this poem, while giving some wiggle room for the readers to imagine the protagonist in their own ways:
Why You Love Her
Imagine a painting
on a wall above a sofa
where you cannot recall later
if the sofa was gray, bright,
plain or a floral or striped or
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash.com.
if it had any pattern
or pillows. Imagine a figure
so occupying your senses:
a woman, middle-aged, beginning
to soften at the mouth,
her eyelids a little sleepy, her neck
starting to striate with pin-fine lines
you barely notice. Her eyes are alert,
her chin slightly resistant. A woman
prepared.
Design courtesy of Women on Writing. Photo by moi.
Want to read more: get a copy of Does It Look Like Her? today:
or, for signed copies, at my Etsy page: clickety-click
Super excited to be teaching a brand-new, fun online poetry-writing course through Women on Writing. Sign-ups now; class begins on Friday, October 18th!
Learn more at Women on Writing: clickety-click-click
I also wrote a book called Poetry Power with tons of exercises and inspiration to keep your poetry pens moving. Signed copies also available at my Etsy, WritePathProductions.
To autumn and poetry! ✍️🍂