Published

Being able to have my work published has been pretty amazing to me.  I am hoping this leads to a lifetime of contribution to the wide world of print.  My poetry teacher says she teaches college to "support her poetry habit" as poets in general don't tend to get paid a lot.  I have been able to earn a little money, which is encouraging, but there is nothing that beats the satisfaction I feel to have other people want to publish my work.  I have always written but didn't get too serious about it until Fall 2010, all my publications have been happening this year, which has been very exciting for me.

Here is what is out there so far:

Mused (Bella Online's Literary Journal) published my creative non-fiction piece, "Composition of a Lie" and my poem "Insomnia".  Here is the link if anyone is interested, there are a lot of great pieces in their journal: http://www.bellaonline.com/review/issues/spring2011/.  Here is "Insomnia", I'll post the story in another post.

"Insomnia" was inspired by how I feel when I can't sleep.  When Justin is gone on a campout, I have a hard time sleeping so the bear metaphor kind of came together for me.

Insomnia

A bear,
shaggy with midnight
darkness, comes stomping into my
room at night.
Shaking my bed, he plops down his giant
behind, surveying
me with hunger.
Moonlight reflects off
his jagged teeth, he opens
massive jaws as I quickly
feed him my insecurtites, flawed
logic, overactive imagination.
Chewing, gorging, inhaling,
finally burping his satisfaction.

Seeing him clearly now,
moonlight illuminates
how silly he looks all
fat and bloated--
I peer closely,
he is licking his stained
mouth, swiping a paw
across his wet nose, staggering
in exhaustion.
He moans as his stomach
distorts, twisting in
agony with indestion
of my thoughts.
I begin laughing.  He is huffing,
sulking his way out of my room.
Smiling, I fall asleep.


My poem "Ready to Love" won 2nd place in the Red Rock Writer's Contest and was published in their Chaparral Poetry Forum Chapbook. The poem is posted on my blog already.  It's one of my favorite poems I've written.

Weber State's literary journal, "Epiphany" published "Star Gazing" (posted on blog already) and my piece "Composition of a Lie" actually won first place in the Creative Non Fiction category.  That was beyond awesome for me!  I was able to get a cash prize, a t-shirt, certificate and about 20 copies of the journal to hand out.  Very, very cool!

My latest publishing news is that West Ward Quarterly will be publishing my piece, "Backyard Ecosystem" in their Summer 2011 and "Santcuary" in Fall 2011.  I was thrilled to be picked up by this journal!

"Backyard Ecosystem" was inspired by Walt Witman's poetry about the nature around him.  When we first moved to our house, our backyard seemed positively alive to me and I loved it.  I love the worlds that exists in the nature all around us.  This was a fun one to write, it came in one chunk and I was pretty happy with the result.  This poem is lovingly dedicated to my back yard!  This poem was part of my collection I presented at NULC (all in the "Conferences" post).  The moderator, who is a professor at Weber, talked to me after and told me how much she enjoyed my poems, this one in particular.  I think this will resound with anyone who gardens, mows or meditates in their yard.

Backyard Ecosystem

My backyard is crawling with creatures, above,

below, plowing through mud,

digging in dirt, jumping through branches.

Ants, giant reds, create castles while

medium blacks in nearby kingdom build forts and

little brown laborers heave dirt for huts.

Cockroaches tumbling over each other in

private darkness beneath heavy

stone steps and tree stumps.

Crickets chirping at night and

fleeing by day from hungry lizards that are

sliding across the still branches of the tree,

holding fragile nests of beautiful birds, covering

the entire spectrum of colors, gray, red, orange, blue, yellow.

Their love songs make me smile as I watch

tropical hummingbirds fluttering, drinking sweet

nectar warmed by the sun.

Worms squirming in rich soil while ladybugs,

praying mantis, white flies, squash bugs

battle over my vegetables. Flies buzzing, guarding

my compost and bees kissing my flowers, spreading their

pollinated love across the land.

My yard, God’s creatures, my happiness.

"Sancuary" was inspired after the floods of January 2011 near our home.  The kids and I walked down to the river, after the water receded, and found the familier river path drastically altered.  There was a sandbar in the middle full of Canadian geese.  They were so serene and beautiful, it took my breath away.  I am often in awe of the majesty of God's creatures and His world.  When I wrote the poem, I was surprised to find it take a religious turn but I think that is how I viewed this reverent moment.

Sanctuary

River fingers part, forming a sand bar

sanctuary for wintering geese.

Free from predators, they quietly sit on

on marshy pews,

creating a sacrament of the

present moment.  Soft sunlight

shines a benediction upon

dappled grey wings, a blessing on

bowed black heads.

Sensing a reverence, the breeze

whispers a hymn as the river

rolls gently by.

                        Looking like saints in the stillness, geese

quietly tuck their beaks into their

sides, preparing for the sleep only

sanctuary can give.