Let Your Writing Live: Show Your Writing

Last week on my writing coach blog, I wrote about if and when to share your writing, particularly memoir-related work. I'm writing to encourage you to share your work in 2016. For real. Just a few kind words from (not particularly close) friends have gotten me moving again.

I've been submitting my poetry manuscript about early motherhood and it has been rejected. More than once, as rejections often go. I've been feeling discouraged and annoyed by the process on so many levels.

But then I started to share the poems, poems I once felt confident about, with some new readers. One, a new mom-friend-visual artist, shared that she had similar feelings about a miscarriage and early parenthood. Another, a poet who is a colleague, noticed the timeline in a way that I hadn't looked at it.

Those discussions really invigorated me. I've been wondering if the poems were self-indulgent or no longer relevant, since that time in my life has passed. But by talking about the poems and listening to reader's reactions, I am reminded by what motivated me to write them and share them in the first place.

Sure, a reader could easily say something superficial or mean, but we'll just ignore that possibility for now and try to keep that writing high.

No, this doesn't mean that I will take the praise and stop examining and editing the poems. It means that I will do that even better this time around, in an effort to honor the poems.

We write to connect with readers. Writing is worthless if it doesn't interact with a reader and participate in that conversation. If you feel your work is ready to be submitted for publication, why not look around you for readers? Let your work live.

Thinking of Peace

Humans continue to hurt each other. Why? How come? These are hard questions that I won't pretend to know the answers to. 

It is devastating. 

For now, I return to the poem Revenge by late Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, translated by Peter Cole, Yahya Hijazi and Gabriel Levin. I often think of this reading from the Dodge Poetry Festival in 2006. Perhaps one day it will no longer be relevant. You can also watch it here. 

For more poems, read through Split this Rock's database of social justice poetry. 

One Year Later: Toddler & A Manuscript

Hanging out in front of poetry

My son's one year birthday is coming up soon (we're still accepting ideas for his time capsule.) He's taking tentative, straight-legged steps and we're either close behind him or holding his hand.

And I have a rough draft of a full length manuscript. The manuscript spans my first pregnancy, a miscarriage, a second pregnancy, birth and one year of parenthood. About half of the book was written in the last twelve months. It is a very chronological and memoiristic manuscript. Some of the poems have been recently published poems. This summer, as I teach and parent, I hope to continue to edit and revise the individual poems and the manuscript as a whole.

This all adds up to quite a year! There are nights when we all sleep soundly for more than a few consecutive hours, and there are nights when we are so tired we can't remember having ever slept very long. It isn't easy to teach, write and run errands while co-parenting our son, but it is possible (most days).

I've been blogging monthly over at Minerva Rising on this topic of writing as a mamma. This most recent post is about being ok with sometimes not writing, as some writing friends who kindly shared their experiences said.

Overall, I hope that I remember in his second year that it is possible to write and parent, and ok if I don't. Some days we need to simply get through and be kind to ourselves and others. Other days the sun is shining, we're well-rested and we can write fresh lines.

Anniversary Vows & Poems

Every year my husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary by reading our wedding vows to each other. We usually walk around the monuments by the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., and find a quiet place to sit. This year, with the government shutdown and the rain, we read our vows at home. 

And, with the new addition of the bambino in our family, we've added to the tradition. Since the pregnancy, we've been slowly writing a list of wishes for our son. While it rained outside this morning, we sat together and read both our vows and the growing list to our growing son. 

Here are some of my favorite lines from Our Wishes for You: Things to Learn: 

Your great great Aunt Dora’s chocolate cookie recipe. 

How to twirl linguine on your fork. 

How to follow a hiking trail and read a road map. 

How to find and read books that will create memories. 

How to read between the lines.

How to merge onto a highway. 

How to drive stick (your father will have to do that.)

That there’s an order in which to watch the Star Wars Saga. 

How, as Nancy Ladd said, “to become ever more completely yourself.”

For more love poems, you might read the background of one of the poems from my poetry book, Unrest. You might also click through to read a recently published poem to my husband. Happy anniversary, love! 

Unrest @ Poets House Showcase in New York City

The Poets House hosts an annual Showcase featuring all of the poetry books and poetry-related texts published in the last year. I was very happy to have Unrest included in this year's Showcase, which opened on Thursday, June 27, 2013, and will be on view through Saturday, August 3. Click through to browse the catalogue and read a recent New York Times review of the show. 

Thanks to my mom, Melabee M. Miller, for kindly stopping by and taking some phone-photos of the room and my book. I'm sorry to miss the Showcase this year, but we're staying close to home in D.C. with the bambino for a few months. 

Order your own, signed copy of Unrest here. 

Poetry Reading this Sunday: Joaquin Miller Poetry Series

I'm looking forward to reading this Sunday with Terri Merz at the Joaquin Miller Poetry Series at the Rock Creek Nature Center in Washington, D.C., this Sunday afternoon. I hope to see you there! Click through for directions.

I'll be reading poems from my chapbook Unrest and some newer poems. I might even read some about pregnancy and my son. These are, of course, newer poems, but I think a few might be ready for an audience. I don't think that my writing style has changed, although the subject has deepened. And I'm more exhausted, so I'm writing in shorter (and fewer) spurts at this point. 

Unrest was published this winter. To learn more or to order your signed copy, click here. 

Pregnant Book Tour: Reading from Unrest

 

Reading poems - with a baby bump - at Cornelia Street Cafe, New York City

My first poetry chapbook, Unrest, was published last month and I've been reading from the book and newer poems. And, of course, I'm pregnant. Quite the busy and exciting combination.

I love sharing the book and poems with friends and new friends. Since I know I'll be super busy once the baby comes, it feels good to be out and about sharing the work that's most important to me. It has been particularly heartwarming to see friends smiling in the audience. Don't give up on me friends, I won't be in baby-hibernation forever.

I've been a bit nervous reading pregnant. My body is, um, noisier (toots, burps) than usual. Luckily that hasn't happened during a reading. I also have to go to the bathroom just about constantly, so I've been worried about standing on stage or listening to other performers and having to rudely excuse myself. So far, so good. Not every venue has supplied a microphone, either. I've been a bit out of breath with the pregnancy and it is hard to speak for long periods of time, let alone project my voice.

I can feel the baby move while I'm reading and listening to other writers or musicians. Maybe the baby loves the sounds? Or, maybe the baby is annoyed by the change in the schedule (I'm usually in bed or lying down quite early in the evenings these days.) Hard to say. We'll know more about each other once we meet this summer.

There are three more readings on the tour. I'd love to see you at one of them:

Big Blue Marble Bookstore, Philadelphia, PA
551 Carpenter Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19119
Finishing Line Press Poetry Reading with David Ebenbach, Alison Hicks, Chloe Yelena Miller, and Hila Ratzabi
Saturday, March 16th, 5 PM

Takoma Park’s Third Thursday Series, Takoma Park, MD
Poetry Reading with Four Poets
Takoma Park Community Center
7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Thursday, March 21, 7:30 PM)

Nora School Poetry Reading Series, Silver Spring, MD
Poetry reading with Rod Jellema, Chloe Yelena Miller and Marie Pavlicek-Wehrli
Thursday April 18, 2013; 7:30 PM