Tracks in Snow

I disappeared for a bit. Trying to get myself situated for the upcoming winter months. Yesterday, I proof-read my manuscript Within Reach latest version. It's nearly perfect! So excited about this ! Just a few more months . . . Once the manuscript was accepted (April 2008), I decided to put it away, so I would be excited about reading the poems when the book was released. Most books are in a 2 year queue, or so it seems. I didn't send this manuscript to a lot of competitions. Three places in total. 1. Tupelo Press. The manuscript was so close to being published by them-- it was fifth on the table and they only took four. I still have the letter from Jeffrey Levine. Then I submitted it to Backwaters Press, who also wrote a lovely letter, then Cherry Grove Collections. Big thank you to Kevin Walzer! It's been quite wonderful seeing these poems again. My rediscovery-- thinking about why I wrote them (time and place), and I've enjoyed the editing process too. In this latest pass, I read the manuscript six times, including backwards-- literally reading the lines backwards. To make sure I "saw" everything. It's amazing how our brains fill in the blanks. So, hopefully, the next pass will be, perfect!


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Have launched a winter poetry project with 29 poets from the Just Poets membership.
This year we're doing chained Hay(na)ku. Following the form's rule of tercet (3 lines) and 6 words total, this is going to be quite a challenge. In its origin, the form is one word, two words, three words. or the order in reverse, or any word combination in three lines, such as:

1,2,3
3,2,1
2,3,1
3,1, 2
1,3,2
2,2,2
4,1,1
1,1,4
1,4,1


In our teams, one person will create a hay(na)ku, then the second person will read the poem and select one word that will be repeated in the linked poems. That word may be modified by other team members to be plural or singular or -ed, ing

example: wing. Could be modified to: wings, winged, winging.

Our teams have captains who are in charge of the completed linked hay(na)ku poems. There will be 5-6 completed poems. Most of our teams are 5-6 members. Each participant will have the opportunity to begin the Hay(na) ku chain and be the second person who selects the repeat word.

Last year we did a linked cinquain project and it was wonderful. I've given copies of the anthology to quite a few people. When it was read at our celebratory reading, I thought it was better than church. I felt spiritually moved by the poems.


This week I have to prepare for the semester's start on Wednesday! I know, the time off has been an eyeblink. Hope your new year is off to a terrific start.