Holy Bananas! Happy Anniversary, Blog!

Well holy shit! 

Can you believe that it has already been one entire year since I started this little blog?  That's right, on May 31, 2011 I decided that I needed a little accountability in my writing world and "loose leaf and spiral bound" was born...

So, I'm sure you're wondering if it worked, right?  As of today, I am happy to report that I have in fact kept the promise I made to myself and have sent out poems each and every-single-frickin' month.  BAM!  That's right folks, I have submitted to eleven different literary journals and magazines and will be mailing number twelve tomorrow (because why wouldn't I procrastinate until the very last minute of the very last day of the month). Again I say to you, and with borderline excessive enthusiasm, BAM!

In all honesty, I am very proud of my meager success.  No, I haven't been picked up for publishing yet (suck) but I have managed to set a goal and keep it (yay). Along the way I have attracted some visitors to this random blog (still stunned by this) and for some reason these people keep coming back (y'all are nuts)!  For this I say, "thank you" and hope you take my gratitude seriously. I know I joke around quite a bit and protect myself with a heavy layer of sarcasm, but I am just an over-anxious, obsessive compulsive woman who definitely worries if she's good enough to make it in the world of Poetry with a capital 'P'. This blog is a small slice of that previously mentioned meager writing success and I am grateful to those who support it by clicks, visits, browses, forwards, links, etc.

Here's to another year of writing and submitting...and (fingers-crossed) publishing.

In honor of celebrating anniversaries - here is a photo me and the hubs celebrating our anniversary.  Awww! 

Zodiac Exercise #5 - Taurus

Hey there writing exercise! Long time, no see! To pick up where I last left off - - here we go with #5, titled...

In a bind
You call yourself independent. What you are is isolated.
Never wanting me to take the lead, but never wanting to be left behind.
I can see you debating me, but I cannot see your intent.
Will you love me so fiercely? Push me to be my best for you?
And why? For my gain or your pride?
You expect reciprocity without earning it.
Because you are stubborn...
and foolish...
and dammit, you are loyal.
This loyalty will be the tie that binds. A chain holding me to you.
And you to your independence.

Reading instead of writing. It's like filling up the gas tank.

I have used the past few days (or if I am being honest, the past week) to focus on reading instead of writing. Sometimes you need to refill the gas tank, right? Right.

What did I read, you ask? Well, I'll tell you...I read the Hunger Games trilogy (yeah, I finally jumped on that train), then I re-read "The Summer of Black Widows" by Sherman Alexie, "Bite Me" by Christopher Moore, and then I devoured "The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson (so good!). It's true that only one of those books is a collection of poetry - - but to me it doesn't matter the genre, only that I am reading.

It seems imperative to expose yourself (heh, not like that you dirty bird) to as many different lives, dreams, opinions, and stories as possible. You'll never experience everything all on your own, sometimes you've got to hear it from someone else. After all, isn't that one of the reasons why people write?  To share their story in hopes of connecting with someone else and pulling emotion from a complete stranger?

More than I can hold

Some days I want to write it all down and get it all out because it hurts to keep it all in...whatever "it" may be.

There is significant frustration that comes from not being able to adequately convey feelings through simple words. For every second wasted thinking over synonyms is a second more that the frustration and anger can fill up and take over the original emotion you were writing about. You must bring yourself back to the exact moment you first felt compelled to write, center yourself, and start fresh. There are days when I have more inside my head and heart than I can hold.

It may seem as though I am phoning it in with this blog post - but it's been a struggle to identify exactly how I feel these past few days and what kind of mood this is. It feels like cobwebs on my face and I can't quite pull them away to examine them up close. Once I get it together, there should be a poem waiting for me.

Sharing the Joshua Tree

Okay gang.  It's been quite some time since I have posted.  No more chit-chat. Here we go.

Once again, I called upon my friend Zak to supply me with a picture to use as a writing prompt. He did not fail me.

So, here is the photo...

"Desert near Joshua Tree" Photo credit: Zachary Chipps 2012

And here is my piece titled, "Sharing the Joshua Tree"...

Deserts are never deserted. This isolation is all in your head.
No one could be alone here.
Not really. Even when you try.
This is the land of solace. No pretenses.
You will be seen, but not judged. You will be weighed, but not measured.
This place doesn't care if you remember your dreams. Only that you have them.
Just open your eyes and go.
Follow the horizon divide, mountainside, or center line. It's all the same as long as you are going.
Somewhere. Anywhere.
I will share my Joshua Tree with you.
Because we are never alone here. Not really.
Even when we try.