An Update: Poetry

An update is long overdue. My writing has changed and I feel like I, myself, have changed.

I stopped working on my novel, A Beautiful End. My life is very busy, so novel revisions are difficult to fit in. But I didn’t stop writing. I wrote more poems. And in the process I have become more confident in my poetry writing and more ready to share some poems.  I recognize that poetry writing is an important part of my life and every bit as valid as novel writing.

I have looked back on my novel writing and pondered on my lack of desire to pursue revisions. In my last two novels I’ve tried to imagine what it might be like to live in the near future of ongoing climate changes. My novels consider a possible future that is constantly changing. And despite my willingness to address these possibilities head-on, changes are happening more rapidly than I could imagine. It seems like no amounts of revision could fit my novel in its entirety to a more likely reality than I had imagined.

In my poetry, I live in the present, stopping only to consider how future possibilities impact us right now. This is how I am living my life right now: in the moment, as much as I can.

In light of that, it is my intention to post more poems on my blog. For me, poetry writing is a deeply personal process, and it doesn’t allow for frivolity. In other words, my poems come from my heart and from my inner wisdom.

Many of my poems reflect my process of learning how to live in a world that is in so much change. They are particularly about learning how to accept the acceleration in changes to our planet that can no longer be halted.

I hope you enjoy my poems. I hope they touch your heart and in some small way help you to find your own way in these troubling times.

*  *  *

For today, I wish to share a little poem I jotted down while in the park. I have promised myself to explore the concept of death, that it might not be limited to the big scary picture of a human suffering on a death bed. 

A Fleeting Visit

An insect lit down
On my arm
Revealed its delicate beauty
Yellow-jointed brown legs
Transparent veined wings
Compound eyes
Then flitted away
A death to me
Such a fleeting visit
Here and gone

A Short Update on "A Beautiful End"

I’ve been eager to post an update on my progress with my novel, A Beautiful End. I started a blog post last October, just before the start of the 2017 month of writing with nanowrimo.org, but life was too busy. November started and I got on with the task of writing that I had assigned myself. December was it’s usual self, monopolized by things Christmas. In January I returned to writing, to finish November’s task. It is done, and now the blog post is finally being written.

I veered away from the expectations of NaNoWriMo this past November. The idea is to write a new novel and to just write like crazy and never look back until the month is over. It is a very effective way to get a big chunk of writing done and to fall into the creative flow. But this time I wrote slowly and thoughtfully. I rewrote the first part of A Beautiful End. This was a new experience for me, to write the same story over again. From my perspective, it was a great success! I wrote a better story, even though the plot was essentially the same, and I improved my writing ability as I went along. It was just the right thing for me.

Next steps include doing revisions on this first part, based on anything I find and then based on feedback from readers. I’m looking forward to the moment when I can present my novel to the world as a finished project!

Poetry: This Autumn Farewell

This Autumn Farewell

Amid the dull browns of
Climate changed autumn
Brilliant beauty
Lay at my feet
No longer trapped
On its branch

A month and another
Warm days
Despite autumn's light
Wintry days
Before their time
Strong winds
Time and again
Whipped the leaf
At long last
Forced its release
Defied the tree’s grip

Bright red veins
Shone in the sun
Its leaving
Announced

Amid the dull tones of
Climate changed autumn
This brilliant leaf
Shouts its farewell
Bids us enter
Endless winter of
Extinction

In Honour of Beta Readers

I have been making many changes to A Beautiful End. The credit for many of these changes goes to other people. They say it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village to raise a novel. I birthed the novel, but it’s the feedback from beta readers that is helping to make the novel into the story it needs to be.

I have had some very helpful input from three readers so far. Countless mistakes have been pointed out. I had no idea there were so many, although as a percentage of the total words, it’s probably not that much. But what really amazes me is the ideas and questions I have received from them that help me to make really important changes to the story. They knew just what information to give me, what questions to ask, and each of them had their own contributions.

One of the comments I received propelled me to consider adding some to a section of the novel. I spent most of April writing poetry instead of working on revisions, by participating in Camp NaNoWriMo (campnanowrimo.org). I used it to set my own goal for the number of lines of poetry. I wrote an amazing 1208 lines, which was a total of 42 poems. Out of those, eight poems that could possibly be used in my novel. I expect to choose five or six of them. I can’t tell you how I will use them, because that would spoil the fun of reading it. I do believe they will enhance the story and be more than just “filler”. The good news is that the first readers enjoyed my story enough that I can ask them to reread the part with the poems so they can confirm for me whether the story is improved by them.

I am now working on my third revision of A Beautiful End. This revision will include changes suggested by my third beta reader as well as the work needed to incorporate the poems. There are more readers who have comments coming, so I expect further revisions.

I am so looking forward to completing the process and having my novel ready to share with the world!

Poetry: Spring Snowstorm

I took a break from novel revision to write a poem. It's a true story.


Spring Snowstorm

I walk into the snowstorm
Welcome the cold sting
Of windblown snowflakes
As the Arctic bleeds
Over the land

The misplaced storm
Returns to me
Invigorating winter
Unmistakably
Fully
Alive

My eyes are misty
Tears for Mother Earth
I mourn loss of sea ice
Deep sadness fills my boots

I sit against a tree
Where snowflakes tickle  my face
I am grateful
For its strength
Today