Thursday, December 31, 2020

Paul Nelson’s “Elegy for Michael” is #224 in the never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM

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The other images are granted copyright permission by the copyright holder, which is identified beneath each photo. 


*** The CRC Blog welcomes submissions from published and unpublished poets for BACKSTORY OF THE POEM series.  Contact CRC Blog via email at caccoop@aol.com or personal Facebook messaging at https://www.facebook.com/car.cooper.7


***Paul Nelson’s “Elegy for Michael” is #224 in the never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific poem and how the poet wrote that specific poem.  All BACKSTORY OF THE POEM links are at the end of this piece. 


Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? Michael McClure died on May 4 and I found out, I believe, May 5 and May 6 at 6:48am, I finished this sonnet which is from a series called Sonetos de Cascadia. 

They are “prose sonnets” my friend Matt Trease (Left) (https://www.facebook.com/mjtrease/friends) pointed out. Essentially 14 line prose poems. (Sometimes 15.) Since this series was my current one (at the time) I put the grief I was feeling for this beloved teacher/poet/hermano into the poem knowing I’d have 14 long lines to get it done. Since I compose projectively, there may have been a few tweaks right after composing, when reading it aloud to myself, but minor ones. A comma. Fixing a typo. That kind of fine-tuning. McClure taught me much about this stance toward poem-making and of course I learned a lot about it reading his poems, interviews and essays and most of all the first time I interviewed him. 


Click on the Blue link below to learn how to write a prose sonnet

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/how-write-sonnet-into-prose-13631


Charles Olson calls Projective Verse “a use of speech at its least carless and least logical.” Denise Levertov called her take on spontaneous composition “Organic Poetry” and said that “form is never more than a revelation of content.” Robin Blaser and Jack Spicer called it “The Practice of Outside.” So, I take the energy of an event or events and let the composition proceed via the sounds of syllables as they occur to me while composing, along with other cues.


Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail. I was at my desk (Below Left), looking at Lake Washington from Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood, in the TUX woo kwib watershed in the Cascadia bioregion. Lake Washington is a 19 mile-long lake, created by retreating glaciers, which separates Seattle from the “East Side” suburbs that include Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond, Washington. There are coots, eagles, osprey, beavers, herons, crows, seagulls, hummingbirds, ducks, geese and many other critters who can be spotted from my writing window. A marina is just beyond our deck. The Cascade foothills are visible and, at the time of year Michael died, the sunrises over Mercer Island are rather spectacular. TUX woo kwib is the aboriginal name for the creek that flows into the lake here. 

My mornings usually start by 5 and my partner and I have a caffeinated beverage. She has coffee. I have a matcha latté. After that, I write 1,000 words in my journal, do prayers, divination and yoga before breakfast. The space in which I may write a poem is often available in this morning ritual time.


What month and year did you start writing this poem?  May 2020. My Mac Pages program, which offers a “Browse All Versions” option says there are no other versions of this document. I usually compose on the Mac via Pages. (Right: View from Paul Nelson's writing space.  Credit and copyright granted by Paul Nelson)


How many drafts of this poem did you write before going to the final? (And can you share a photograph of your rough drafts with pen markings on it?) One (Left: Paul Nelson in April of 2020.  Copyright granted by Paul Nelson)


Were there any lines in any of your rough drafts of this poem that were not in the final version? And can you share them with us? No. I have found writing projectively that any phrase that makes it into the poem is a necessary one. If a poem does not work, it is because it did not incubate long enough, or the energy which started it was not felt strongly enough and so I will skip over that poem when creating a book, or just cast it aside.


What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem? I think what the readers take from the poem is an experience unique to each reader. I hope they will see my love and appreciation for having known Michael McClure (Right) in this lifetime and that he enriched my life immeasurably, which I have written about many times before. I hope they will also get some sense that death is not an end, but a return to an existence which makes the beloved part of everything and not simply “gone” though they are gone in a way as well. Michael was inspired very much by Hua-yen Buddhism(https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/eastern-religions/buddhism/hua-yen-buddhism) which suggests “an interdependent co-origination of the universe” and that rings true to me. So, I would hope that some of that reflection is experienced by the readers of the poem.


Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why? The first line. How to hold grief at bay enough to start writing and yet have enough of the life force of that grief to propel the poem is a tricky balance. 


Has this poem been published before? And if so where?  I don’t think so. I believe it was rejected by Rattle Magazine for their “Poets Respond” project.


Sonetos De Cascadia 6-May-2020 


“THE MOMENT OF EMOTIONAL PASSION

         is a flame swirling out of childhood.”


— Michael McClure

Dharma Devotion 77 


BACKSTORY OF THE POEM LINKS 

001  December 29, 2017
Margo Berdeshevksy’s “12-24”
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-new-crc-blog-series-backstory-of-poem.html

002  January 08, 2018 
Alexis Rhone Fancher’s “82 Miles From the Beach, We Order The Lobster At Clear Lake Café”
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-new-crc-blog-series-backstory-of-poem.html

003 January 12, 2018 
Barbara Crooker’s “Orange”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-new-crc-blog-series-backstory-of-poem_12.html 

004 January 22, 2018 
Sonia Saikaley’s “Modern Matsushima”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-fourth-installment-of-new-crc-blog.html

005 January 29, 2018
Ellen Foos’s “Side Yard”

006 February 03, 2018
Susan Sundwall’s “The Ringmaster” 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/02/6-backstory-of-poem-susan-sundwalls.html

007 February 09, 2018
Leslea Newman’s “That Night”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/02/7-backstory-of-poem-that-night-by.html

008 February 17, 2018
Alexis Rhone Fancher “June Fairchild Isn’t Dead”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/02/8-backstory-of-poem-june-fairchild-isnt.html

009 February 24, 2018
Charles Clifford Brooks III “The Gift of the Year With Granny”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/02/9-backstory-of-poem-gift-of-year-with.html 

010 March 03, 2018
Scott Thomas Outlar’s “The Natural Reflection of Your Palms”

011 March 10, 2018
Anya Francesca Jenkins’s “After Diane Beatty’s Photograph “History Abandoned”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/11-backstory-of-poem-after-diane.html

012  March 17, 2018
Angela Narciso Torres’s “What I Learned This Week” 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/12-backstory-of-poem-series-angela.html

013 March 24, 2018
Jan Steckel’s “Holiday On ICE”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/13-backstory-of-poem-jan-steckels.html 

014 March 31, 2018
Ibrahim Honjo’s “Colors”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/14-backstory-of-poem-ibrahim-honjos.html

015 April 14, 2018
Marilyn Kallett’s “Ode to Disappointment”

016  April 27, 2018 
Beth Copeland’s “Reliquary”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/04/16-backstory-of-poem-reliquary-by-beth.html

017  May 12, 2018
Marlon L Fick’s “The Swallows of Barcelona”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/05/17-backstory-of-poem-swallows-of.html

018  May 25, 2018
Juliet Cook’s “ARTERIAL DISCOMBOBULATION”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/05/18-backstory-of-poem-arterial.html

019  June 09, 2018
Alexis Rhone Fancher’s “Stiletto Killer. . . A Surmise”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/06/19-backstory-of-poem-stiletto-killer.html

020 June 16, 2018 
Charles Rammelkamp’s “At Last I Can Start Suffering”

021  July 05, 2018 
Marla Shaw O’Neill’s “Wind Chimes”
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/21-backstory-of-poem-wind-chimes-by.html 

022 July 13, 2018
Julia Gordon-Bramer’s “Studying Ariel” 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/22-backstory-of-poem-studying-ariel-by.html 

023 July 20, 2018 
Bill Yarrow’s “Jesus Zombie”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/23-backstory-of-poem-jesus-zombie-by.html 

024  July 27, 2018 
Telaina Eriksen’s “Brag 2016”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/24-backstory-of-poem-brag-2016-by.html 

025  August 01, 2018
Seth Berg’s “It is only Yourself that Bends – so Wake up!”

026  August 07, 2018
David Herrle’s “Devil In the Details”
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/26-backstory-of-poem-devil-in-details.html 

027  August 13, 2018
Gloria Mindock’s “Carmen Polo, Lady Necklaces, 2017”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/27-backstory-of-poem-carmen-polo-lady.html

028  August 21, 2018
Connie Post’s “Two Deaths”
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/28-backstory-of-poem-two-deaths-by.html 

029  August 30, 2018
Mary Harwell Sayler’s “Faces in a Crowd”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/29-backstory-of-poem-faces-in-crowd-by.html 

030 September 16, 2018
Larry Jaffe’s “The Risking Point”
 
031  September 24, 2018
Mark Lee Webb’s “After We Drove”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/09/31-backstory-of-poem-after-we-drove-by.html

032  October 04, 2018
Melissa Studdard’s “Astral”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/32-backstory-of-poem-astral-by-melissa.html

033 October 13, 2018
Robert Craven’s “I Have A Bass Guitar Called Vanessa”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/33-backstory-of-poem-i-have-bass-guitar.html 

034  October 17, 2018
David Sullivan’s “Paper Mache Peaches of Heaven”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/34-backstory-of-poem-paper-mache.html 

035 October 23, 2018
Timothy Gager’s “Sobriety” 

036  October 30, 2018
Gary Glauber’s “The Second Breakfast”
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/36-backstory-of-poem-second-breakfast.html 

037  November 04, 2018
Heather Forbes-McKeon’s “Melania’s Deaf Tone Jacket”
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/37-backstory-of-poem-melanias-tone-deaf.html

038 November 11, 2018
Andrena Zawinski’s “Women of the Fields”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/38-backstory-of-poem-women-of-fields-by.html

039  November 00, 2018
Gordon Hilger’s “Poe”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/39-backstory-of-poem-poe-by-gordon.html 

040 November 16, 2018
Rita Quillen’s “My Children Question Me About Poetry” and “Deathbed Dreams”

041 November 20, 2018
Jonathan Kevin Rice’s “Dog Sitting”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/41-backstory-of-poem-dog-sitting-by.html 

042 November 22, 2018
Haroldo Barbosa Filho’s “Mountain”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/42-backstory-of-poem-mountain-by.html 

043  November 27, 2018
Megan Merchant’s “Grief Flowers”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/43-backstory-of-poem-grief-flowers-by.html 

044 November 30, 2018
Jonathan P Taylor’s “This poem is too neat”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/44-backstory-of-poem-poem-is-too-neat.html 

045  December 03, 2018
Ian Haight’s “Sungmyo for our Dead Father-in-Law”

046 December 06, 2018
Nancy Dafoe’s “Poem in the Throat”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/046-backstory-of-poem-poem-registering.html

047 December 11, 2018
Jeffrey Pearson’s “Memorial Day”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/47-backstory-of-poem-memorial-day-by.html 

048  December 14, 2018
Frank Paino’s “Laika”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/48-backstory-of-poem-laika-by-frank.html

049  December 15, 2018
Jennifer Martelli’s “Anniversary”
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/49-backstory-of-poem-anniversary-by.html

O50  December 19, 2018 
Joseph Ross’s “For Gilberto Ramos, 15, Who Died in the Texas Desert, June 2014”

051 December 23, 2018
“The Persistence of Music”
by Anatoly Molotkov
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/51-backstory-of-poem-persistence-of.html 

052  December 27, 2018
“Under Surveillance”
by Michael Farry
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/52-backstory-of-poem-under-surveillance.html 

053  December 28, 2018
“Grand Finale”
by Renuka Raghavan
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/53-backstory-of-poem-grand-finale-by.html

054  December 29, 2018
“Aftermath”
by Gene Barry
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/54-backstory-of-poem-aftermath-by-gene.html 

055 January 2, 2019
“&”
by Larissa Shmailo

056  January 7, 2019
“The Seamstress:
by Len Kuntz
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/56-backstory-of-poem-seamstress-by-len_6.html

057  January 10, 2019
"Natural History"
by Camille T Dungy
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/57-backstory-of-poem-natural-history-by.html 

058  January 11, 2019
“BLOCKADE”
by Brian Burmeister
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/58-backstory-of-poem-blockade-by-brian.html 

059  January 12, 2019
“Lost”
by Clint Margrave
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/59-backstory-of-poem-lost-by-clint.html 

060 January 14, 2019
“Menopause”
by Pat Durmon

061 January 19, 2019
“Neptune’s Choir”
by Linda Imbler
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/61-backstory-of-poem-neptunes-choir-by.html 

062  January 22, 2019
“Views From the Driveway”
by Amy Barone
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/62-backstory-of-poem-views-from.html 

063  January 25, 2019
“The heron leaves her haunts in the marsh”
by Gail Wronsky
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/63-backstory-of-poem-heron-leaves-her.html

064  January 30, 2019
“Shiprock”
by Terry Lucas
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/64-backstory-of-poem-shiprock-by-terry_29.html 

065 February 02, 2019
“Summer 1970, The University of Virginia Opens to Women in the Fall”
by Alarie Tennille

066 February 05, 2019
“At School They Learn Nouns”
by Patrick Bizzaro
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/66-backstory-of-poem-at-school-they.html

067  February 06, 2019
“I Must Not Breathe”
by Angela Jackson-Brown
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/67-backstory-of-poem-i-must-not-breathe.html

068 February 11, 2019
“Lunch on City Island, Early June”
by Christine Potter
 https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/068-backstory-of-poem-lunch-on-city.html

069 February 12, 2019
“Singing”
by Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/69-backstory-of-poem-singing-by-andrew.html 

070 February 14, 2019
“Daily Commute”
by Christopher P. Locke 

071 February 18, 2019
“How Silent The Trees”
by Wyn Cooper 
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/71-backstory-of-poem-how-silent-trees.html

072 February 20, 2019
“A New Psalm of Montreal”
by Sheenagh Pugh
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/72-backstory-of-poem-new-psalm-of.html

073 February 23, 2019
“Make Me A Butterfly”
by Amy Barbera
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/73-backstory-of-poem-make-me-butterfly_23.html 

074 February 26, 2019
“Anthem”
by Sandy Coomer
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/74-backstory-of-poem-anthem-by-sandy.html 

075 March 4, 2019
“Shape of a Violin”
by Kelly Powell

076 March 5, 2019
“Inward Oracle”
by J.P. Dancing Bear
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/76-backstory-of-poem-inward-oracle-by.html

077 March 7, 2019
“I Broke My Bust Of Jesus”
by Susan Sundwall
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/77-backstory-of-poem-i-broke-my-bust-of.html 

078 March 9, 2019
“My Mother at 19”
by John Guzlowski
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/78-backstory-of-poem-my-mother-was-19.html 

079 March 10, 2019 
“Paddling”
by Chera Hammons Miller 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/79-backstory-of-poem-paddling-by-chera.html 

080 March 12, 2019
“Of Water and Echo”
by Gillian Cummings

081   082   083    March 14, 2019
“Little Political Sense”   “Crossing Kansas with Jim
Morrison”  “The Land of Sky and Blue Waters”
by Dr. Lindsey Martin-Bowen
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/81-82-and-83-backstory-of-poems-by-dr.html 

084 March 15, 2019
“A Tune To Remember”
by Anna Evans
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/84-backstory-of-poem-tune-to-remember.html 

085 March 19, 2019
“At the End of Time (Wish You Were Here)
by Jeannine Hall Gailey

086 March 20, 2019
“Garden of Gethsemane”
by Marletta Hemphill
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/86-backstory-of-poem-view-from.html 

087 March 21, 2019
“Letters From a War”
by Chelsea Dingman
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/87-backstory-of-poem-letters-from-war.html 

088 March 26, 2019
“HAT”
by Bob Heman
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/88-backstory-of-poem-hat-by-bob-heman.html 
 
089 March 27, 2019
“Clay for the Potter”
by Belinda Bourgeois
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/89-backstory-of-poem-clay-for-potter-by.html 

#090 March 30, 2019
“The Pose”
by John Hicks 

#091 April 2, 2019
“Last Night at the Wursthaus”
by Doug Holder
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/91-backstory-of-poem-last-night-at.html 

#092 April 4, 2019
“Original Sin”
by Diane Lockward
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/92-backstory-of-poem-original-sin-by.html

#093 April 5, 2019
“A Father Calls to his child on liveleak”
by Stephen Byrne
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/93-backstory-of-poem-father-calls-to.html
 
#094 April 8, 2019
“XX”
by Marc Zegans
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/94-backstory-of-poem-xx-by-marc-zegans.html
 
#095 April 12, 2019
“Landscape and Still Life”
by Marjorie Maddox

#096 April 16, 2019
“Strawberries Have Been Growing Here for Hundreds of
Years”
by Mary Ellen Lough
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/096-backstory-of-poem-strawberries-have.html

#097 April 17, 2019
“The New Science of Slippery Surfaces”
by Donna Spruijt-Metz
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/97-backstory-of-poem-new-science-of.html

#098 April 19, 2019
“Tennessee Epithalamium”
by Alyse Knorr
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/098-backstory-of-poem-tennessee.html

#099 April 20, 2019
“Mermaid, 1969”
by Tameca L. Coleman
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/99-backstory-of-poem-mermaids-1969-by.html

#100 April 21, 2019
“How Do You Know?”
by Stephanie

#101 April 23, 2019
“Rare Book and Reader”
by Ned Balbo
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/101-backstory-of-poem-rare-book-and.html
 
#102 April 26, 2019
“THUNDER”
by Jefferson Carter
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/102-backstory-of-poem-thunder-by.html

#103 May 01, 2019
“The sight of a million angels”
by Jenneth Graser
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/05/103-backstory-of-poem-sight-of-million.html

#104 May 09, 2019
“How to tell my dog I’m dying”
by Richard Fox
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/05/104-backstory-of-poem-how-to-tell-my.html

#105 May 17, 2019
“Promises Had Been Made”
by Sarah Sarai 

#106 June 01, 2019
“i sold your car today”
by Pamela Twining
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/106-backstory-of-poem-i-sold-your-car.html

#107 June 02, 2019
“Abandoned Stable”
by Nancy Susanna Breen
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/107-backstory-of-poem-abandoned-stable.html

#108 June 05, 2019
“Cupcake”
by Julene Tripp Weaver
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/108-backstory-of-poem-cupcake-by-julene.html

#109 June 6, 2019
“Bobby’s Story”
by Jimmy Pappas
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/109-backstory-of-poem-bobbys-story-by.html

#110 June 10, 2019
“When You Ask Me to Tell You About My Father”
by Pauletta Hansel 

#111 Backstory of the Poem’s
“Cemetery Mailbox”
by Jennifer Horne
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/111-backstory-of-poem-cemetery-mailbox.html

#112 Backstory of the Poem’s
“Relics”
by Kate Peper
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/112-backstory-of-poem-relics-by-kate.html

#113 Backstory of the Poem’s
“Q”
by Jennifer Johnson
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/113-backstory-of-poem-q-by-jennifer.html

#114 Backstory of the Poem’s
“Brushing My Hair”
by Tammika Dorsey Jones
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/114-backstory-of-poem-brushing-my-hair.html

#115 Backstory of the Poem
“Because the Birds Will Survive, Too”
by Katherine Riegel 

#116 Backstory of the Poem
“DIVORCE”
by Joan Barasovska
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/07/116-backstory-of-poem-divorce-by-joan.html

#117 Backstory of the Poem
“NEW YEAR”S EVE 2016”
by Michael Meyerhofer
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/07/117-backstory-of-poem-new-years-eve.html

#118 Backstory of the Poem
“Dear the estranged,”
by Gina Tron
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/07/118-backstory-of-poem-dear-estranged-by.html

#119 Backstory of the Poem
“In Remembrance of Them”
by Janet Renee Cryer
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/07/119-backstory-of-poem-in-remembrance-of.html

#120 Backstory of the Poem
“Horse Fly Grade Card, Doesn’t Play Well With Others”
by David L. Harrison

#121 Backstory of the Poem
“My Mother’s Cookbook”
by Rachael Ikins
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/08/121-backstory-of-poem-my-mothers.html

#122 Backstory of the Poem
“Cousins I Never Met”
by Maureen Kadish Sherbondy 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/08/122-backstory-of-poem-cousins-i-never.html

#123 Backstory of the Poem
“To Those Who Were Our First Gods”
by Nickole Brown
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/09/123-backstory-of-poem-to-those-who-were.html

#124 Backstory of the Poem
“Looking For Sunsets (In the Early Morning)”
by Paul Levinson
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/09/124-backstory-of-poem-looking-for.html

#125 Backstory of the Poem
“Tracy”
by Tiff Holland

#126 Backstory of the Poem
“Legs”
by Cindy Hochman
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/09/126-backstory-of-poem-legs-by-cindy.html

#127 Backstory of the Poem
“Anathema”
by Natasha Saje
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/09/127-backstory-of-poem-anathema-by.html

#128 Backstory of the Poem
“How to Explain Fertility When an Acquaintance Asks Casually”
by Allison Blevins
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/128-backstory-of-poem-how-to-explain.html

#129 Backstory of the Poem
“The Art of Meditation In Tennessee”
by Linda Parsons
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/129-backstory-of-poem-art-of-meditation.html

#130 Backstory of the Poem
“Schooling High, In Beslan”
by Satabdi Saha

#131 Backstory of the Poem
““Baby Jacob survives the Oso Landslide, 2014”
by Amie Zimmerman
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/131-backstory-of-poem-baby-jacob.html

#132 Backstory of the Poem
“Our Age of Anxiety”
by Henry Israeli
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/132-backstory-of-poem-our-age-of.html

#133 Backstory of the Poem
“Earth Cries; Heaven Smiles”
by Ken Allan Dronsfield
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/133-backstory-of-poem-earth-cries.html

#134  Backstory of the Poem
“Eons”
by Janine Canan
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/134-backstory-of-poem-eons-by-janine.html

#135 Backstory of the Poem
“Sworn”
by Catherine Zickgraf

#136 Backstory of the Poem
“Bushwick Blue”
by Susana H. Case
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/136-backstory-of-poem-bushwick-blue-by.html

#137 Backstory of the Poem
“Then She Was Forever”
by Paula Persoleo
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/137-backstory-of-poem-then-she-was.html

#138 Backstory of the Poem
“Enough”
by Kris Bigalk
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/138-backstory-of-poem-enough-by-kris.html

#139 Backstory of the Poem
“From Ghosts of the Upper Floor”
by Tony Trigilio
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/139-backstory-of-poem-from-ghosts-of.html

#140 Backstory of the Poem
“Cloud Audience”
by Wanita Zumbrunnen

#141 Backstory of the Poem
“Condition Center”
by Matthew Freeman
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/141-backstory-of-poem-condition-center.html

#142 Backstory of the Poem
“Adventuresome Woman”
by Cheryl Suchors
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/12/142-backstory-of-poem-adventuresome.html

#143 Backstory of the Poem
“The Way Back” 
by Robert Walicki
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/12/143-backstory-of-poem-way-back-by.html

#144 Backstory of the Poem
“If I Had Three Lives”
by Sarah Russell
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/12/144-backstory-of-poem-if-i-had-three.html

#145 Backstory of the Poem
“Reservoir”
by Andrea Rexilius

#146 Backstory of the Poem
“The Night Before Our Dog Died”
by Melissa Fite Johnson
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/01/146-backstory-of-poem-night-before-our.html

#147 Backstory of the Poem
“Pileated”
by David Anthony Sam
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/01/147-backstory-of-poem-pileated-by-david_14.html

#148 Backstory of the Poem
“A Kitchen Argument”
by Matthew Gwathmey
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/01/148-backstory-of-poem-kitchen-argument.html

#149 Backstory of the Poem
“Insulation”
by Bruce Kauffman
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/01/149-backstory-of-poem-insulation-by.html

#150 Backstory of the Poem
“I Will Tell You Where I’ve Been”
by Justin Hamm

#151 Backstory of the Poem
“Comfort”
by Michael A Griffith
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/151-backstory-of-poem-comfort-by.html

#152 Backstory of the Poem
“VAN GOGH TO HIS MISTRESS”
by Margo Taft Stever
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/152-backstory-of-poem-van-gogh-to-his.html


#153 Backstory of the Poem
“1. Girl”
by Margaret Manuel
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/153-backstory-of-poem-1-girl-by_12.html

#154 Backstory of the Poem
“Trading Places”
by Maria Chisolm
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/154-backstory-of-poem-trading-places.html

#155 Backstory of the Poem
“The Reoccurring Woman”
by Debra May

#156 Backstory of the Poem
“Word Falling”
by Sheryl St. Germain
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/156-backstory-of-poem-word-falling-by.html

#157 Backstory of the Poem
“Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup of 7,000 Jews Detained in an
Arena”
by Liz Marlow
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/157-backstory-of-poem-vel-dhiv-roundup.html

#158 Backstory of the Poem
“Why Otters Hold Hands”
by William Walsh
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/03/158-backstory-of-poem-why-otters-hold.html

#159 Backstory of the Poem
“The Invisible World”
by Rocco de Giacoma
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/03/159-backstory-of-poem-visible-world-by.html

#160 Backstory of the Poem
“Last Call”
by Ralph Culver

#161 Backstory of the Poem
“ALIVE”
by David Dephy 
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/03/161-backstory-of-poem-alive-by-david.html

#162 Backstory of the Poem
“Mare Nostrum”
by Janice D Soderling
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/03/162-backstory-of-poem-mare-nostrum-by.html

#163 Backstory of the Poem
“Winnipeg Noir”
by Carmelo Militano
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/03/163-backstory-of-poem-winnipeg-noir-by.html

#164 Backstory of the Poem
“Needlepoint Roses”
by Jason O’Toole 
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/04/164-backstory-of-poem-needlepoint-roses.html

#165 Backstory of the Poem
“Singing, Studying on Whiteness, This Penelope Strings”
by Jeanne Larsen

#166 Backstory of the Poem
“How To Befriend Uncertainty”
by Prartho Sereno
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/04/prartho-serenos-how-to-befriend.html 

#167 Backstory of the Poem
“Shostakovich: Five Pieces”
by Pamela Uschuk
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/04/pamela-uschuks-shostakovich-five-pieces.html

#168 Backstory of the Poem
“Bouquet for Amy Clampitt”
by Peter Kline
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/04/peter-klines-bouquet-for-amy-clampitt.html

#169 Backstory of the Poem
“Heartbroken”
by Catherine Arra
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/catherine-arras-heartbroken-is-169-in.html

#170 Backstory of the Poem
“Silence – a lost art”
by Megha Sood

#171 Backstory of the Poem/ May 09, 2020
“Horribly Dull”
by Mark DeCharmes
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/mark-ducharmes-horribly-dull-is-171-in.html

#172 Backstory of the Poem/ May 12, 2020
“Celebrating His Ninety-Second Birthday the Year his Wife Died”
by Michael Mark
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/michael-marks-celebrating-his-ninety.html

#173 Backstory of the Poem/ May 14, 2020
“Night Clouds in the Black Hills” 
by Cameron Morse
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/cameron-morses-night-clouds-in-black.html

#174 Backstory of the Poem/ May 18, 2020
“I’ve Been In Heaven For Long”
by Evanesced Dethroned Angel
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/evanesced-dethroned-angels-ive-been.html

#175 Backstory of the Poem/ May 20, 2020
“Tutti-Frutti”
by Barbara Crooker

#176 and #177 Backstory of the Poem/ May 25, 2020
“My Small World” and
“My Mistake”
by Tina Barry
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/tina-barrys-two-prose-poems-my-small.html

#178 Backstory of the Poem/ June 05, 2020
“Against Numbers”
by Andrea Potos
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/06/andrea-potoss-against-numbers-is-178-in.html

#179 Backstory of the Poem/ June 15, 2020
“Wish”
by Julie Weiss
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/06/julie-weisss-wish-is-179-in-never.html

#180 Backstory of the Poem/ June 20, 2020
“The Tree That Stood Beside Me”
by Carly My Loper

#181 Backstory of the Poem/ June 23, 2020
“Electric Mail”
by Julie E. Bloemeke 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/06/julie-e-bloemekes-electric-mail-is-181.html

#182 Backstory of the Poem
June 24, 2020
“Her First Ten Days”
by Julieta Corpus
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/06/julieta-corpuss-her-first-ten-days-is.html

#183 Backstory of the Poem
June 26, 2020
“Outside My House Is A Guava Tree”
by Dr. Ampat Varghese Koshy
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/06/dr-ampat-varghese-koshys-outside-my.html

#184 Backstory of the Poem
July 2, 2020
“Torpor”
by Victor Enns
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/victor-ennss-torpor-is-184-in-never.html

#185 Backstory of the Poem
July 5, 2020
“A Way of Life”
by Dan Provost

#186 Backstory of the Poem
July 6, 2020
“The Alabama Wiregrassers”
by Charles Ghigna
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/charles-ghignas-alabama-wiregrassers-is.html

#187 Backstory of the Poem
July 7, 2020
“The Seer”
by Kathleen Winter
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/kathleen-winters-seer-is-187-in-never.html

#188 Backstory of the Poem
July 11, 2020
“Stuck At Home”
by Valerie Frost
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/valerie-frosts-stuck-at-home-is-188-in.html

#189 Backstory of the Poem
July 13, 2020
“Between the Earth and Sky”
by Eleanor Kedney 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/eleanor-kedneys-between-earth-and-sky.html

#190 Backstory of the Poem
July 14, 2020
““ΜΕΡΕΣ  ΥΠΟΜΟΝΗΣ/ Days
of patience” 
by Eftichia Kapardell’

#191 Backstory of the Poem
July 15, 2020
“Threnody by the President for Victims of COVID-19, Beginning with a Line from Milosz”
by Ralph Culver
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/ralph-culvers-threnody-by-president-for.html

#192 Backstory of the Poem
July 16, 2020
“Will Be Done”
by Tom Hunley
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/mark-antony-rossis-vox-vigilante-is-192.html

#193 Backstory of the Poem
July 17, 2020
“The Love of Two Trees”
by Hussein Habasch
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/hussein-habaschs-love-of-two-trees-is.html

#194 Backstory of the Poem
July 18, 2020
“June Almeida”
by Lev RI Ardiansyah
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/lev-ri-ardiansyahs-june-almeida-is-194.html

#195 Backstory of the Poem
July 19. 2020
“After Grano Maturo”
by Matthew Gavin Frank

#196 Backstory of the Poem
July 20, 2020
“Practice”
by Linda Neal Reising
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/linda-neal-reisings-practice-is-196-in.html

#197 Backstory of the Poem
July 21, 2020
“Will Be Done”
by Tom C Hunley 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/tom-hunleys-will-be-done-is-197-in.html

#198 Backstory of the Poem
July 22, 2020
“Shroud”
by Ted Morrissey
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/ted-morrisseys-shroud-is-198-in-never.html

#199 Backstory of the Poem
July 23, 2020
“Being In Love at Fifty”
by Anne Walsh Donnelly
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/anne-walsh-donnellys-being-in-love-at.html

#200 Backstory of the Poem
July 25, 2020
“Star pinwheel poem”
by Andrea Watson

#201 Backstory of the Poem
July 30, 2020
“Gentle Women, Adult Female Persons, and Housewives in Indonesia ♀” 
by Kimberly Burnham
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/kimberly-burnhams-gentle-women-adult.html

#202 Backstory of the Poem
July 31, 2020
“192”
by Don Yorty
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/don-yortys-192-is-202-in-never-ending.html

#203  Backstory of the Poem
August 01, 2020
“I want to unfold the disease”
by Vanessa Shields
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/vanessa-shieldss-i-want-to-unfold.html

#204 Backstory of the Poem
August 06, 2020
“A Bone of Contention with the Ghost of John Lennon Over Strawberry Fields Forever”
by Ruth Weinstein
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/ruth-weinsteins-bone-of-contention-with.html

#205 Backstory of the Poem
August 07 2020
“Statement by the Pedestrian Liberation Organisation”
by Thomas McColl 

#206 Backstory of the Poem
August 08 2020
“Un Poco Pequeño”
by Damon Chua
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/damon-chuas-un-poco-pequeno-is-206-in.html

#207 Backstory of the Poem
August 10, 2020
“mary lou williams’s piano workshop (after Fred Moten)”
by Makalani Bandele
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/makalani-bandeles-mary-lou-williamss.html

#208 Backstory of the Poem
August 18, 2020
“Roll Credits by KCK”
by Casey Kirkpatrick aka KCK
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/casey-kirkpatricks-roll-credits-by-kck.html

#209 Backstory of the Poem
August 21, 2020
“Ancient Pyramid”
by Mark Tulin
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/mark-tulins-ancient-pyramid-is-209-in.html

#210 Backstory of the Poem
August 23, 2020
“How Far the Storm?”
by Charles Malone

#211 Backstory of the Poem
August 27, 2020
“89 Tears”
by Robert Carr
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/robert-carrs-89-tears-is-211-in-never.html
  
#212 Backstory of the Poem
August 28, 2020 
“Food and Water”
by Brooke McNamara
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/brooke-mcnamaras-food-and-water-is-212.html

#213 Backstory of the Poem
August 30, 2020
“To hold, to hollow”
by Meghan Lamb
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/meghan-lambs-to-hold-to-hollow-is-213.html

#214 Backstory of the Poem
September 01, 2020
“Would It Be Too Much”
by Justine Quammie
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/09/justine-quammies-would-it-be-too-much.html

#215 Backstory of the Poem
September 15, 2020
“Darkest days. . .Loneliest nights”
by Aaron R

#216 Backstory of the Poem
September 23, 2020
“About My Death”
by Jennifer Barber
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/09/jennifer-barbers-about-my-death-is-216.html
 
#217 Backstory of the Pome
October 09, 2020
“Leash of Deer”
by Catherine Graham
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/10/catherine-grahams-leash-of-deer-is-200.html 

#218 Backstory of the Poem
October 11, 2020
“Sticky”
by Susan Tepper
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/10/susan-teppers-sticky-is-218-in-never.html 

#219 Backstory of the Poem
November 22, 2020
“Penguins”
by Volodymyr Bilyk 
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/11/volodymyr-bilyks-penguins-is-219-in.html 

#220 Backstory of the Poem
December 05, 2020
“the creature of bad habits”
by Erik Fuhrer

#221 Backstory of the Poem
December 17, 2020
“Amaterasu”
by Nan Lundeen
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/12/nan-lundeens-amaterasu-is-221-in-never.html 

#222 Backstory of the Poem
December 28, 2020
“Disclaimer”
by Randall McNair
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/12/randall-mcnairs-disclaimer-is-222-in.html 

#223 Backstory of the Poem
December 30, 2020
“Broken Rainbows”
by Steve Wheeler

#224 Backstory of the Poem
December 31, 2020
“Elegy for Michael”
by Paul Nelson
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/12/paul-nelsons-elegy-for-michael-is-224.html 

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