Friday, June 10, 2016

Tupelo 10/30: Tourist Season

Dear Reader,

I am one-third done with this challenge!! 

And I am excited about this, not in the "thank goodness, only twenty days left," but in the "wow, I'm doing this, I'm doing this!" 

Today's poem still needs some work. I know, I was just celebrating this project, and in the next sentence I'm telling you I gave you a lackluster draft. Have mercy, friends. 





The poem is wading into uncomfortable territory: privilege. Right now, the poem is paying attention to dwindling resources and how tourists and locals have different priorities. I feel like the bones of this poem are here, but I need to interrogate the role of the speaker more, which means I need to interrogate my own privilege more. 

Here is an excerpt of "Tourist Season" (read the full poem on Tupelo Press' 30/30 blog):


"Without rain with what will farmers pay
their debts? Not blood, but dust or stone
from a stone. Surfers lament the river

mouth hasn’t burst, and though they think
their lives depend on a good swell, twice
my neighbors have prepped their fields,

borrowed money for seed...."


I'm chipping away at my poetry incentive requests. If you would like to title one of my poems, select five words for a poem, give me a potential theme/topic, offer a formal challenge, or receive a chapbook at the end of this project, please see my first posting for incentive amounts and make your way to the Tupelo Press donation page. Be sure to select my name from the scroll down tab titled "Is this donation in honor of a 30/30 poet?" 

Yours in poetry,


Emari

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