Last Page

Composed 4/14/16
Description: For Day 14 of NaPoWriMo. Can you believe it? I’m actually caught up! And I even have a poem stewing for tomorrow! Anyway.

Today I filled up the last page of my “creative” notebook: a small, lined book I usually carry around with me in order to scribble down ideas, lists, a few lines that pop into my head, or even complete poems.

The Notebook

This notebook became a way to write down and contain my ideas in an organized place; in other words, a way to avoid writing things down on “Scraps of Paper“: receipts, random loose-leaf, napkins, etc. (i.e. things that get lost easily). Usually these are first drafts that get transferred to a Word document where they’re edited and then (ta dah!) sent to you.

Anyway, I so rarely reach the end of any notebook that this is kind of a momentous occasion for me. The beginning of this notebook coincides pretty closely with my resurgence into writing and my beginning leap into poetry. Obviously, two-hundred-something poems later, it’s been a huge success.

So what do you do when you reach that last page? That thing that symbolizes so much time and hard work and even a new section of your life?

Well, you write an ode of sorts to it, naturally.

Last page
It’s taken awhile to get here
And I’ve seen too few of your kind
I hope to not disappoint
With these last few scribbled lines
Then again
It’s not the end
You’re more like a bookmark to me
This is only one small finale
The start of many beginnings
Still
I feel good
You’ve given me so much pride
So thanks for the memories
Thanks for the ride
I guess this is goodbye then
I’ll move on to something else
But I’ll always hold you high
Up on my bookshelf

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Another Feature & A Question

Hey everyone!

I am super excited to say that, for the second time this semester, I have work being published in my university’s literary arts (online) magazine, thematically titled “Luminous” (defined as “a radical change in perspective”).  This semester is strange, because they usually only do one magazine per semester.  However, this semester they decided to do two!  I feel really lucky that this happened, because this is the last year I’ll be able to submit anything to my school’s magazine.  Therefore, I am ecstatic that I have two chances to be published!  Writing for the magazine has been a great experience and has exposed me to a lot of great stuff in addition to giving me more confidence as a writer. There is also an open mic night for the mag’s release tomorrow, which I am super pumped about!

I had two poems and a prose piece selected (this seems to be a theme with me): Winter Blessings, We Forget, & Consequences. I am glad these were selected, because I have some of my personal favorites here!

To change topics a little, I have a question for all you followers out there.  Over the last few weeks I have been considering making a “best of” page for this blog in order to highlight some pieces (and perhaps direct some traffic to old posts, which, admittedly, have a tendency to get dusty).  However, I am not sure how to select what is “best of!” Should I just link to pieces I particularly like? Pieces that have been published or recognized in some capacity (like the ones shown above)?  Should I open up a post or poll for YOU readers to say what you like?

I’d love your feedback!

Apathy

Composed 1/10/14
Description: n/a

I see others succeed
And I think
That could have been me
If I tried

But I didn’t

And
It’s too late now
Or did it even matter?

I don’t care
But was that first
Or a shield
To guard my pride?

Exciting News!

This evening I received an email letting me know that three of my poems were accepted into my university’s literary arts magazine!

Considering I was extremely nervous about submitting my poetry, this makes me pretty ecstatic!  It’s essentially the first official “pat on the back” I’ve gotten specifically for my poetry. And with how crazy school has been lately, I needed this bit of encouragement.

I must say, I have to thank my blog and my followers for this triumph.  It was starting this blog that encouraged me to get into poetry, and the resources, prompts, and likes and comments I’ve received from the blogging community have greatly increased the amount of writing I do. So thank you all for contributing to my growth as a writer! Without this blog encouraging me to continue writing, I doubt I would have had anything to submit and/or the motivation and confidence to write and submit something, especially a poem.

By now I am sure many of you are on the edge of your seat with suspense. What fantastic poems were selected?

The lucky winners are: A Brief Romantic History, Flowers, and How Love Grows.

As you might guess from reading these poems, the topic of this magazine was “Growth.”

 

Wow, as a total coincidence, this is also my 100th post!