Up today, the spring issue of Menacing Hedge feature three of the pioneer wife poems, including one of my favorites “after the stillbirth, the pioneer wife dresses a rabbit.”
If you have been following the growth of the pw poems, I hope you’ll go take a look. More of her story is also coming soon in the next issue of Sou’wester - and soon her whole story will be a chapbook from Redbird Chapbooks! She is one busy lady.
I’m not making any promises about posting every day. And I’m certainly not making any promises about the drafts being anywhere near good or polished. But I’ll give it a shot.
Here is my attempt from today:
The Salem Judges Rationalize
In the service of our law: the book, the knife
In the service of the knife: the meat, the flesh
In the service of the flesh: the heat, the flame
In the service of the flame: the wood, the air
In the service of the air: the lungs, the ribcage
In the service of the ribcage: the elbows, the arms
In the service of the arms: the fingers, the hands
In the service of the hands: the water, the wine
In the service of the wine: the grape, the vine
In the service of the vine: the soil, the stake
In the service of the stake: the rope, the sin
In the service of the sin: the stake, the soil
the test, the toil
the air, the lungs
the mouth, the tongue
the wood, the air
the flame, the hair
the curse, the breath
the fear, the death
I’m sure you’ve all heard the theories about both good and bad things coming in threes. For instance, three sets of papers to grade today equals 210 papers, some bleary eyes, and an achy comment hand. On the other hand, a three-day weekend for President’s Day equals time tomorrow to sleep in, work out, and do some cabinet cleaning, which I actually like to do (well, compared to other types of cleaning).
But the really good thing is that, as of this weekend, I will have THREE books coming out this year. (No, that’s not a typo. Yes, I realize how blessed and lucky I am.)
In addition to my full-length manuscript with Sundress Publications and my chapbook with dancing girl press, Redbird Chapbooks has accepted my series called The Imagined Life of the Pioneer Wife for publication later this year. They make beautiful books, and I am thrilled to be working with them on this project, which you first heard about here earlier this fall when this persona hijacked all of my drafting and became somewhat of an obsession.
And from all these threes, what have I learned? That it pays to persevere. That it pays to let yourself be overtaken, whether with ideas or with the need for rest. That the best thing about all the other good things is having people with which to share the good news.
Last night at Molly Malone’s, my favorite Chicagoland reading/open mic hosted by Nina Corwin and Al DeGenova, I once again was rewarded with an evening of good words, good people, and good bar food. I joined my parents for dinner (our monthly ritual) before the reading and found myself a seat between my pals Kurt Heinz and Charlie Newman, charming guys and great poets, both. (It was also a good way to stay warm in the freezing cold, many-windowed “snug” room where the only warm place is the mic since there is a space heater behind it…) Plus, Charlie always gets tater tots at some point in the middle of the reading…and he shares.
The open mic was strong, as usual, with many readers new to Molly’s, a place that keeps attracting people in addition to keeping the old crew (of which I am officially now a part). Lots of sonnets for some reason – maybe because it’s close to Valentine’s Day? – and a Kurt poem with excellent rhythms and references to engines and a Charlie poem with the wonderful line “a woman drives a car across my heart with her eyes.”
But the highlight was the feature reading by Valerie Wallace, poet, feminist, Rhino editor, volunteer with the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, and all-around lovely human being. She read some newer poems and also read from her chapbook The Dictator’s Guide to Good Housekeeping (dancing girl press). (You can read the devastating title poem here.) Valerie is a poet I admire a great deal, not only for her poems, but also for her generosity of time and spirit. She was of great help to me when creating my artist’s statement for my residency application, and she is a relentless scholar and lover of her craft.
Last night, in the dark, a ray of sunlight still shone in the words – I was encouraged to keep working on my February poem a day despite the gray and gloom of this month that Clive Barker once called “the great, grey beast.”
I caught up tonight (two short poems, and not very good, but done), and I hope to be able to keep the streak alive.
The weather this week has been schizophrenic: freezing and clear, then accumulating snow. Sunny and cold, then cold and gray. And now, after a day of rain which is now turning into sleet, all we need is thunder and a sixty degree day to have had all four seasons in a week. My kind of town, indeed.
Speaking of weeks, one week in to February Poem-A-Day and I am on track. I can’t make any promises for the whole month, but so far so good. They’re not all gems, but some of the work is worth looking at again. I will share lines from Days 4-7 below. If you want to write, look for a prompt after the lines…
February 4
