I had two literary goals for 2021:
- Write fifty poems, and,
- Review ten books, which I listed in the post
I achieved the first goal easily. I took an eight-week class where we were expected to produce two poems a week, then I participated in Poetry Postcard Month (August), during which I wrote a poem a day for 31 days. I added a few more classes, experienced a few afternoons of inspired creativity, and there they were–fifty poems. In January I envisioned these poems would emerge in a near-publishable state, but that is not the case. Here are fifty poems that resemble ragged fragments and childish musings, prose-like yawns, and over-written misery parties. They need work, but most of them won’t withstand it. As soon as I start poking, they’ll fall apart and scatter like a broken eggshell. And that’s fine. I don’t want to hawk a bouquet of bad poems. I’ll look for possibilities among them and perhaps find one or two.
As for the second, I’ve written three reviews so far, so here is where my energy will go. I have Erica Goss’s Guide to Writing Poetry Book Reviews at hand for help. I intend to write brief one or two-paragraph reviews to post on Amazon or GoodReads. This is the kind of writing I usually enjoy–sharing my favorite parts of what I find in a chapbook.
I hope to report back that I have succeeded in this. Please wish me luck!