Tupelo 24/30: Distracted by the Laundry

Dear Reader, 

Six! Six days, six poems. However, I have twelve donation prompts to work in. I have really set myself up for a high-wire act at the end. 

As I've noted in earlier posts, I've been on a writing residency at Rivendell in the Sewanee Valley. Besides writing a poem-a-day, I've been working on assembling my second manuscript. I'm excited to report that in the past few days I've catalogued all of the potential poems, noting things like form/speaker's perspective/major themes & images, physically laid out the manuscript (in the main house's tomb-like dining room), and organized it into one exciting (for me, anyway) book. 

Friends, it's real and it's big! Right now, it's 73 pages. That's about twenty pages longer than my first book. It's not the number of poems that differs but that the second book contains longer poems. In the last three and a half years, I think I've learned how to write into the material that matters to, and frightens, me. 

This 30/30 marathon has helped me to finish the collection and it has given me a different relationship with my process. It's showing me that even if I don't really know what write or how to enter a poem, I might play with language and tease something out. 

Today, I've written a poem for the wonderful title donated by my cousin Sharon Ferrucci, and since she gave me an "open theme" donation, I also am offering this to my friend and fellow poet Jackie Shelley. 

In my first book, The Things a Body Might Become (forthcoming July 2017, ELJ Editions), I explore a lot of personal and global domestic themes, writing about the matriarchs of my family and the idea of the matriarch in general. So when I sat down to write "Distracted by the Laundry," I wanted to return to those themes in a fresh way. What emerged was a zany poem that imagines tightrope walking the clothes line, which is a kind of metaphor for balancing a public life with a domestic one.  

Here is an excerpt from "Distracted by the Laundry" (read the full poem on Tupelo Press' 30/30 blog): 

"...There’s something

in the air, this wingless flight, but more

of a thrill when eyes are up. Harder

to toe-heel than stride. Watch a chemise

stand on end, filled like a sail it stays,

but too much lift and it’ll pull the clip,

drop, dangled one-armed in a sorry

breeze. I’ve always liked to climb,

but what to do when at the top, spin

around camera shot, one last gaze, then

what?..." 

Reader, thank you so much for following this blog and for sharing your kindness. 

If you've been unsure about sharing five words/a theme/something else, please muster the courage to contact me. 

I've realized that as much as this project has been about me taking a creative risk, it has also been a type of risk for those of you who wrestled with what words/phrase/title/theme you would send me. Please know that I am inspired by your connection to language and that this whole project affirms my belief that poetry matters. 

If you would like to donate to support my 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?" After you've donated, be sure to email (edigiorgio@gmail.com) or Facebook message me your requests. I don't want to miss your request!

Also, if you're enjoyed reading poetry this month, you might consider a subscription to Tupelo. You'll receive 9 books for $99, which is a steal! You can also *gift* this subscription to someone else (including me!)...I have friends and students who would be delighted to be the recipient. 

Yours in poetry,

Emari