Poetry Day

Even this dark cloud coming can't shadow my lovely day doin' poetry for the book with my exceptional editor :-) We spent four hours eating sushi and reading poems aloud, playing with imagery, rearranging the order, and chewing over what works and what needs work.

It's exciting to work on this heart project for me. I can't spend too long dwelling on how my poems aren't clever or as worthy as other people's - they're not, but they are mine and I made them, and with the massaging they are getting now, I think they will end up being a coherent body of work that might give a few people some enjoyment.

This is why, really, I've never felt any pull to be part of the poetry scene in Melbourne (or Australia more generally). Exposure to other working poets has a crippling effect on my creativity and self-belief, rather than an empowering one. I love *reading* (or listening to recorded readings of) poems by established and emerging poets. I just don't want to actually meet them or have to talk to them about MY poems. My Imposter Syndrome takes care of that.

But working one-on-one with my editor is entirely different. It feels intensely engaging and great. I think we have a final set and a running order now, which is extremely exciting but also nerve-wracking!

Next step: follow up on design elements, learn how to do a proper layout, and write the introduction text / story for each poem. We're still on track for June 2018 launch, even factoring in my blackout zone between late March and early May (due to Japan trip). I think I will feel shy and embarrassed and a little bit thrilled to let this word baby lose on the world.

(This is post #17 in NaBloPoMo. 17 down, 13 to go!)