Esteem (poem)

Esteem

hold yourself 

high and

if you need to

you can

declare war on the 

dragonflies and 

the pumpkins

but never declare 

yourself invalid

or unworthy

(a fountain near Lake George, New York)

By Passion Alone (poem)

By Passion Alone

I am a writer 

by passion and 

by passion alone.

Give me money or

leave me unpaid. 

Recognize my name or

leave me living in anonymity.

I will move forward

with my craft

and ply my trade

as zealously as 

my want and need dictates.

Me with Angelina

May 2021

Make Blackout Poetry by John Carroll (review)

      I originally heard of blackout poetry a few years ago, back around 2015. I heard about it through the author Austin Kleon, in his book Steal Like an Artist. That book is not exclusively about blackout poetry, but Kleon mentions it a few times, as he himself has published a book, Newspaper Blackout, of his blackout poems. When I first heard of blackout poetry, my reaction was something like, "That's so cool! Why didn't I think of that?" 

     My first time actually making blackout poetry came in 2017. A local library, which hosted take-home art projects, gave patrons the supplies necessary to make a blackout poem. The kit even included a frame in which to put your final product. Sweet! I made the following poem,

     Shortly after making the above poem, I ordered the book Make Blackout Poetry by John Carroll from an online bookseller. I enjoyed the concept and process of blackout poetry so much that I could not resist buying the book. Make Blackout Poetry contains various texts, like fairy tale excerpts and dictionary entries, which you then use to make your poems. The paper the book is made of is thick enough to take the abuse of a black permanent marker without bleeding through to the next page. 

     Here is an example of a page I have turned into a blackout poem. The text is an excerpt from Victor Hugo's The Works of Victor Hugo.

     Although I also encourage you to buy used books or bundles of book pages from, say, Ebay or Etsy, I truly think that Make Blackout Poetry is a solid investment for folks looking to start a blackout poetry practice. Furthermore, the book would be fun to bring on a trip, and especially a creative writing retreat. Blackout poetry is a great "warm up" to get your creative juices flowing. If, however, you do not consider yourself a writer, I still think that you could benefit from trying out some blackout poetry. It is fun! Trust me!

a haiku for you

Preoccupied

writing a novel

I should not be dallying 

siren lure of books

Erica with a spell jar, late December 2020

sweet dreams are made of these

     I have often had weird, vivid dreams that seem to last for a long time. I frequently write down my dreams in my journal. If my journal is not handy or if I am stuck in bed, I will write my dreams on any available paper or type it out on my smart phone. On occasion, I will have a short dream or a dream I consider insignificant. I rarely record the details of such dreams. However, my dreams are usually as odd and complex as the one I will share with you all later on in this post.

     One of my friends, Joshua, is doing a project involving dreams. They posted a Google form the other day. The Google form asks you to share details of the dream you had the night before, like the characters, the plot, etc. This is the dream I shared with Joshua. 

"I was at an amusement park. I went on a ride that went through a house of some sort. I then went on a ride that somehow took you through Japan. This ride led to me being in an airborne contraption. We were in the contraption for a long time. This woman (I got the feeling she was an employee of the amusement park) was attempting to sexually assault the other passengers, but I somehow was able to manage not being attacked by her. We finally landed. It was a relief. I was then in a fast food restaurant with my dad, Rachel Z (a former classmate of mine from high school), and two employees of the restaurant. There was a snow storm and we were trapped in the restaurant. The lights went off and one of the employees went to go get help while my dad slept. Rachel and I ate cherry cheesecake."

What kind of dreams do you have? Do you ever use your dreams as a starting point for art and/or writing projects? 

bathtub poetry

I took a bath before to try to help with my fibromyalgia pain. I was reading a book called How Poetry Can Change Your Heart by Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley. I only got a few pages in when I realized I had a poem inside me, waiting to burst free. Luckily, I had my cell phone near the bathtub. I opened up my "Notes" app, where I regularly write poetry, and wrote this short poem. Do you ever write poetry in odd places?

We Will Not Be Silenced 

the stories they

whisper about 

behind the backs 

of the unfortunate 

protagonists are

the stories that

must be shouted aloud

in the most brash,

urgent way possible

two short poems

Mermaid Oracle
you put the shell to
your ear but
instead of the ocean
you heard
the hazel tree
tell you
grow grow



Betrayal, Heartache, and What I Wore
a dress of crimson velvet
crushed like our dreams
rough against my skin
like my ex-boyfriend's stubble

Composition (poem)

Composition 

You are from the plenitude 
of stars in our vast 
heavens. And you are
made of the clear water that
runs through deep 
valley streams. And 
most of all, you are 
dedicated to the 
planets, the estuary,
the quasars, the
leaves of marjoram, the 
jasper, and the 
totality of being.

Tapio (poem)

I wrote Tapio about ten years ago. I still remember exactly where I was sitting when I wrote it. I was sitting at a picnic table at a park near my house. This park is close enough that I can walk to it. So, one summer, I would pack up a bag and go sit at the park for a while. I wrote in my journal, wrote some poems, and even started writing a novel. Even though I enjoyed sitting at the picnic table in the summer, I couldn't help but wonder what the heavily-wooded park would be like in the winter. And thus, Tapio was born. Enjoy! 

Tapio

I sit here,
in brilliant solitude,
amongst the strong evergreens.

Snow has fallen.
The air is crisp.
The sky heavy and gray.

There is silence abound,
save for the charming sounds of nature-
a bird calling, a deer sprinting, a squirrel leaping.

The winter forest is
beauty, peace, joy.

The Bowl (flash fiction)

     A quick update: I've been having some terrible nights lately. I have a sleep disorder, which is exacerbated by my fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Last night, I wasn't able to fall asleep until 4am, and that was only after taking a sleeping pill. Needless to say, it is extremely frustrating. I was, however, able to write a short story last night. Writing the story made me feel at least a little bit productive. I'll share the story here. I would like to give a special thanks to my friends Kevin, Matthew, Jose, and Randall for giving me feedback on the story.

The Bowl 
     Jessica sat at her clean, uncluttered desk and stared out of the window. This window was her favorite, as it gave her a view of the courtyard. The other windows in her apartment looked out at the grimy streets below. 
     Her stare was broken when the sun caught on a piece of sea glass. Jessica frowned gently as she thought of Sean. Sean was the man who bought her the bowl that holds the pieces of sea glass. He brought it back from Japan for Jessica. They were engaged at the time. Although, at that point, Jessica already knew that it was over. She knew that Sean was cheating on her. 
     Jessica looked at her perfectly manicured hands. The ring may be gone, but the pain of the betrayal remains. She stood up and grabbed the bowl in both hands. It was heavier than she remembered it being when Sean first gave it to her. She then slammed the bowl on the floor, the sound reverberating throughout the room. Jessica looked at the shards and smiled. 

Things That Never Were (poem)

Things That Never Were

I dream of princes,
strong and handsome,
of busy songbirds
soaring in the
heavens above, and of 
extraterrestrial visitors 
feeding me their 
sacred blood,

yet I have 
never dreamed
of something 
as sweet 
as what I
wish you were.

Review of "The Artist's Library"

     I found out about the book called The Artist's Library while browsing for books on Amazon. Amazon suggested this book for me because I had viewed a book called Bibliocraft by Jessica Pigza (Pigza is a crafty librarian who also wrote the introduction for The Artist's Library). Based on the title and the synopsis, I immediately knew that I had to check my local library system (the Bergen County Cooperative Library System) to see if they had the book. To my great fortune, they did, and I so I requested it through the Inter-Library Loan. You see, if I were able to finish college and then go to graduate school, I would certainly look into becoming a librarian. However, even though I cannot finish the academic requirements to be a librarian, I still enjoy reading about libraries and librarianship. So, a book that combines libraries and the arts? Yes, please!

     The Artist's Library started off as a blog called The Library as Incubator Project. It's a great blog, but I hadn't heard of it before checking out The Artist's Library. The authors of The Artist's Library, Laura Damon-Moore and Erinn Batykefer, also created the blog (along with Christina Endres). I highly suggest you check out their blog, especially if you're not sure if you should buy The Artist's Library. The Library asIncubator Project shares many stories of artistic folks using their community's libraries in creative ways. This is basically about which the book aims to give suggestions. The Artist's Library, however, is much more straight-forward with their tips and instruction, and also contains fun exercises. The drawback to the book versus the blog is that the book only contains a few of stories shared on the blog.

     I'd recommend The Artist's Library to any artist, and especially artists living in the USA and other countries that have a solid system of free, public libraries. By the way, when the authors say “artist”, they're including a broad range of people, including musicians, actors, painters, poets, and the like. They are not only talking about professional artists, either. I found much of the advice helpful, even though I could be described as a hobbyist.

   The book gives you many suggestions on how to utilize the free resources available in libraries. The authors mostly focus on public libraries, but some of the advice can apply to other types of libraries you have access to, as well. For example, The Artist's Library gives you advice on how you can pitch a program idea to libraries so you can organize programs alongside librarians.

     I found The Artist's Library to be a fun and eye-opening guide. It's chock full of useful advice for artists, whether they be professionals or not. If you've ever wondered what your library has to offer you as an artist, The Artist's Library will provide you with ample tips and examples.

December 2014 Update

     Hi all! I've been crocheting up a storm. Most recently, I've made a cactus stuffed toy and two beanie-style hats. The cactus was for an online friend of mine who was nice enough to pay for both the cactus and the shipping (all the way to Norway!). I'd made my friend's mom a shawl, too. The shawl took me a long time to make, but it's worth it because I really wanted to show my support of my friend and his mom while they go through a difficult time. 

     I've also been making a wee bit of mail art and I wrote a short story that may become part of a novel. 

     The other fun thing I did was follow a suggestion from the lovely Ms. Keri Smith. In one of her books, How to Be an Explorer of the World, she suggests an exercise where you blindfold a willing participant and have them touch objects. They then have to guess what the object is. So, I made a texture board and had my mom touch the various objects and guess what they are. I told her that if she got at least 5/7 correct, I'd give her a prize. She got 6/7 correct, so I bought her a box of chocolates. It was fun! 

     Please pardon the look of my blog while I fix it up a bit. 

     Happy holidays, everyone!

Review of Gutwrench Press's "Keep Writing" postcard subscription

     I first heard of Hope (of Gutwrench Press) and her “Keep Writing” project when I was searching on Etsy for “postcard subscriptions”. I wanted to see what kind of independent artists offered a service where a postcard would be sent to customers on a regular basis, ideally once a month. Hope's listing for “ONE YEAR—Keep Writing Letterpress Postcard Subscription” came up on the first page of search results. And I'm so glad it did!

     The basic concept of Hope's service is that she mails you two postcards each month. Well, it's really one sheet of card stock that can be detached at the fold, but for simplicity's sake, I'll just refer to them as separate postcards. You get to keep one of the postcards and then you creatively respond to the prompt provided on the other one.

     I love to put the postcard (the one I'm supposed to keep) onto the door of my refrigerator. It makes me and my housemates smile to see Hope's work there. The postcard I'm supposed to mail back is even more fun, though. It's fun to give some thought as to how to creatively respond to the prompt. The prompts are not complicated, though. For example, December's prompt was about how you and your family celebrate the holidays. Hope posts all the responses on her Instagram account. It's fun to see your responses and others posted online.

     Gutwrench Press's “Keep Writing” postcard subscription service is a lot of fun. I highly recommend that anyone who enjoys postal delights (both receiving and giving) subscribe to this service. Thank you, Hope, for making the mail a lot more fun!

July art & a poem!

I've been crocheting a lot, but haven't really been making as much art as I'd like. Here are some pictures of the mail art I have made. Also, I'm including a picture of my mom holding my first-ever blanket! It's a yellow baby blanket made with a simple V-stitch. Also, here's a poem a wrote at the beginning of July:


Stumble

Laying in the grass,

my head on your belly,

I gaze at the sky.

We talk about what

it means to be

fully alive.

I don't want to merely glide

through conventional motions,

I say as I watch a heart-shaped

cloud pass by.

I want to stumble on a

path that is my own,

then rise, slightly bruised,

but better.