My Dramatic Monologue Published! 🎉

Excellent news! A poem of mine with a new character in a historical poetry series I’ve been working on was just published today at Songs of Eretz!

Check out the poem, and then head over to the issue to read my complete notes about the poem, to see a historical photograph of an iron lung, and to read the work of the talented fellow poets in the issue, which is dedicated to dramatic monologues. 🎉

Flora in the Iron Lung and the Mirror

Melanie Faith

I don’t want to be a complainer. It’s good,

it’s exceedingly good that you’re here. You

came all this way. You look well. You look

so handsome, but then, you always did. I wish

I could reach out of this machine and touch you

after all this time. I wish… well,

let me dwell on something

easier. Let me tell you something nice

Sister Mary Joseph, the afternoon nurse, did.

She’s the young one who wrote to you. Yes,

her penmanship is impeccable. Well,

she sat reading to me. One day,

out of nowhere, she stopped

mid-sentence, and she looked over

and something like sunlight broke over

her face: You know, I see no reason why

we couldn’t jimmy-rig a mirror

right up here. She put the book

upside-down on her seat. That’s how

my machine grew this mirror. She left the room,

came right back.

Sister Mary Joseph’s the tall one—

you haven’t met her—

it didn’t take much for her to reach up and

add it to my machine. You could call it

a fancy modification for my entertainment,

my instant twin and constant company.

I make faces at myself now

into the long hours when there’s nobody

and nothing else.

You’d be surprised on

an endless stretch of days, how many faces

you can pull—butterfly-pinned as I am

inside this darned machine—with just a nose,

two lips, a tongue, and two eyes that

never stop seeing.

Poet’s Notes: This poem is a part of a recent collection I’m working on writing about (among other things): an iron lung, a librarian, and a love triangle. This poem explores polio patient Flora, whose childhood flame, Harry, visits her sickbed. This visit sets off the conflict between Harry and his current love, Helen (the protagonist librarian).   

Read the rest at Songs of Eretz, Winter issue.

⭐ My Narrative Poetry Article Published at Women on Writing's Craft Corner! ⭐

Super excited that my article about narrative poetry was published at Women on Writing today in the Craft Corner. 🪻🥳

I had a blast talking about this meaningful type of poetry as well as my own writing practice, and I packed it with tips for writers exploring this exciting form of verse!

Signed copies of Does It Look Like Her? available at my Etsy store: clickety-click. Also, available (unsigned) through Amazon: clickety-click.

Also, If you, your friends, or your students or writing group are interested in learning more about writing poetry, I have a lot more writing advice and fun prompts for poets in my Vine Leaves Press book, Poetry Power (scroll to the second book on the page for links to Poetry Power ) ! Check it out: Poetry Power: clickety click and at Amazon:clickety-click.

Copies for Signing Have Arrived! 🥳

Great news: my copies for signing have arrived. If you’d like a signed copy, here’s the link to my Etsy shop:

Does It Look Like Her: Signed Poetry Book— Clickety Click!

Copies [unsigned] are also still available through Amazon: Book Clickety Click!

I also had a ridiculous amount of fun creating this self-portrait with my book. 😁

Thanks for all of your support, and here’s to books and poetry! 📔

Does It Look Like Her? Book Birthday! 🎂

It’s book-birthday time! 😊So excited to release my little-book-that-could out into the world of readers. It’s available now at Amazon: clickety-click. 🥹📚

Photo: Free Stock at Unsplash.com, courtesy of Laura Adai

For anyone who’d like a signed copy, I have some books en route: I’ll post that link to my Etsy when I have copies in hand, likely later this week or early next, so sayeth the postal estimate. 😉  

If you’re on Goodreads, please consider adding my book as a want-to-read and/or leaving some stars and a short review at Goodreads or Amazon—reviews make a huge difference in championing a book and are much appreciated. 💗

 A poem from the collection to celebrate book-launch day🎊 :

Alix Encourages a Discouraged Student Who Stays After Class at the Art League 

it’s okay

to be tired

of it all and

yet to keep

showing up

in fact, what

they don’t

tell you is

we all do,

it’s how we get

to a breakthrough

Photo: Free Stock at Unsplash.com, courtesy of Ashe Walker

Sneak Peek: "Does It Look Like Her?"

Care for a glimpse at my poetry collection’s plot? Ta-da! 🎊📚

Alix briefly meets an accomplished artist at a coworker’s dinner party and subsequently sits for a painting that becomes well-known. But Alix is neither a one-trick pony nor an ingénue; she’s 47 and embarking on her own painting and teaching journeys while starting her life over with her young son.
 
This collection of narrative poetry spans years and POVs—including Alix; her son, Sam; her ex; and her colleague, Meghan—and explores what it means to pursue artistic passion, the personal meanings we overlay onto art and artists in a society not conducive to art-making, ambition at midlife, the indirect route to so-called overnight success, and more.
 
Includes Questions for Discussion, Reflection, or Journaling as well as Additional Reading Suggestions.