It’s December 1 and both neighborhood cul-de-sac and ocean just beyond the edge are dark. A few lights are beginning to illuminate windows here and there, but this most immediate, surrounding world is largely muffled and still this morning.
A friend has mailed me coffee from afar and I’ve saved its opening and taste for this long weekend. Today, I brewed it in the French press. Pulled from the trunk a hand-pottered mug purchased in Homer while on writing residency at Storyknife a few summers ago. It is both the dark and light, dirt earthy tones and golden light creeping in around the edges. I’ve added just a bit of the good Irish stuff to it to enjoy the morning, put a cap on a fine, holiday weekend, and bust through the poetry that needs writing. My to-write list is longer than my arm.
But it is December 1 and there’s much to look forward to. My college daughter and her traveling cat will soon be home in a couple of weeks and Solstice to be celebrated soon after. I thank the editors of The Bluebird Word for including my poem “Tilt” in today’s winter issue publication. It is timely and I’m enjoying all of the poems gathered here in this space, this welcome to winter and December’s return.
Gosh, peeps, we’re knee-deep into October and on the occasion the skies clear, it shines around here, as bright as Rihanna’s song, “Diamonds.” Case in point, the sun’s slow descent to the horizon this very evening. See photos below, both taken from my writing desk.
I spent the morning submitting poetry to various publications and their calls for this or that. I also wrote up an application for a $500 writing grant possibility. I’m not sure what my chances are of being awarded such a gift, but I certainly have some ideas on how to use it this winter. First, I’d like to order a Little Free Library for my front yard to assemble and install, only, I’d name mine the Little Free Poetry Library. I’d go wild in its kit design and colors, maybe even install a tiny disco ball from the interior ceiling. First and foremost, I’d love to stock it well with the work and words of northern poets before moving onto the equally beautiful work and words of poets from Outside. Such a Little Free Poetry Library would certainly require its own Instagram page, just to keep everyone abreast of stock. My neighborhood can be tricky to find without a proper street sign.
The poet George Franklin served as guest editor for the Volume 9.1 Fall Edition of Sheila-Na-Gig. His curating is exemplary and I’ve enjoyed tiptoeing my way through the various submissions this season, akin to the speed of fall coming on. If you get a chance to read, please do so. Beautiful writing all around. And I’m both humbled and grateful to have a couple of poems included: “Cosmic Harvesting” and “This Is Not a Love Poem.” Thank you to George for including these summertime writings. I’m humbled and grateful when my work lands among the poets and pages of Sheila-Na-Gig. In fact, I’m happy to be part of this publishing family of poets with my own collection, Curating the House of Nostalgia (2020).
An additional note of interest as it relates to Sheila-Na-Gig, I offer a huge shout-out to Sheila-Na-Gig publisher Hayley Mitchell Haugen’s generosity. Books published by this press in 2022 and 2023 will be on display in New York City at the Poets House 28th annual Poetry Showcase. Curating the House of Nostalgia will be among them. A copy of each book will be on display facing frontwards for attendees to browse. Thank you, Hayley, for your above and beyond support of SNG poets! I’ve never been to New York City, but I’d love to be there in this moment to visit Poets House and browse all the offerings there.
The sun bright in my eyes, I set writing aside when the afternoon beckoned me out to the yard. There I cut back my raspberry patch, pruned the Japanese Maple, and cleared the porch of summer plants and pots. I hauled four leaf bags of clippings out to the overflow and feel pretty good about this first step in putting the yard to bed for winter. And of course, the drive yielded all kinds of sights: Humpback whales, migrating swans, snow creeping closer on the mountains.
October delights. Enjoy every moment.
Sun taking a slow dip this afternoon.
The later view from the writing desk here at home.
Kersten Christianson, Poet 