#94 Backstory of the Poem "XX" by Marc Zegans

Chris Rice Cooper 

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***This is the ninety-fourth in a 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. 

#94 Backstory of the Poem

“XX”

by Marc Zegans

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? The poem simply labeled XX, but known as Prolixity, is one of a series of verse fragments that bring to life a fictive world known as the Typewriter Underground.  The premise behind this series of fragments is that they emerged sometime after the disappearance and loss from common memory of a subculture that withdrew from the digital age and returned to the more intimate process of self-expression through type.  

     Central to the myth is the notion that members of this subculture typed on single sheets, shared with friends and other members of what became known as the typewriter underground.  This particular fragment describes a central character in the underground, Prolixity Ferris, an hypergraphic dakini.

     I was writing fragments for the underground at a fevered pace during the summer of 2016 and first got the idea for Prolixity in late July or early August of that year.  I was living in a tiny studio apartment at the back of a house in Santa Cruz that summer, very cramped, with little space, but a nice small garden to look out onto. The room was so small that I did all my writing on my bed. So as not to get cabin fever I would journey out, walk on the beach, spend time in town and think about my characters as I traveled about, then would return at night and write until very late in the evening.

     

This is not my usual writing process, I normally conceive my poems as I’m writing them, working through the invention and the expression in a simultaneous process.  In developing the material I wrote for the typewriter underground that summer, the process was more one of conjuring characters to the point where they were ready to leap onto the page, and then delivering them quickly as full blown poems, reading them aloud, and then going through a process of careful, but rather minor editing. 

       I conceived Prolixity in a flash, a person compelled ever to write, on everything and everywhere.  She began walking around with me as I travelled about town, and as we walked together, I began to learn her writing habits, her nature, her story and the roll she occupied in the typewriter underground.  Prolixity begins as an innocent, a driven naïf, but evolves a practice of tremendous spiritual depth and great beauty, but one, except for its outward expression, that is largely internal. She is evolving almost entirely internally, through the mastery of her instrument and her channel, rather than the way most of us do in fits and starts through bruising interaction with the world. She is self-possessed and self-contained, so the question became how do I render her story and her character in a way that’s true to her nature, and that comes alive on the page.  

     For me the answer came in the form of a three part narrative beginning with her compulsion to write on all surfaces at all moments, but especially on her body using a henna brush, then her abrupt turn from pens and styli to the typewriter, and in the end the gathering, by magnetic attraction, of acolytes and followers who facilitated her flow without disturbing her self-possession, or depriving her of her warmth and quirky humor.

     I wrote bits of lines first, the way a visual artist makes a rough sketch, left them for a while, wrote more perhaps a day or two later, then got the idea of the narrative that matched the character, and her transition to type and the world of the underground. 

     At that point I wrote a full draft in one burst of several hours and then called up Susannah Melone, an actor, playwright and poet, living in New York, who had been doing me the great honor of letting me read her first drafts from the underground. Susannah gave me a warm ear, and useful feedback on this piece of work in its most fragile and emergent stages.  She also, as she would tell you, fell in love with the character.

     I tend to process language through sound more than vision, so for me reading work aloud, and reading it to a receptive, intelligent and vocally skilled audience is very important in the early stages of completing my poems.  I find the music and the flow in the piece by voicing it, and I discover how it is working and what it needs by reading it aloud to an attentive listener.  I later get input from folks who look at the words on the page, but I begin with the poem as song and that’s where it comes to life.  

     After reading Prolixity to Susannah, the poem was essentially done. I made a few small adjustments after we talked, and then in 2018, when the poem was going to be included in a theatrical production of the typewriter underground at the Henry Miller library (Above)  in Big Sur (Below) (both as a live performance and in a silent film made for the event) I made a few refinements to the piece.  

     I completed the poem when I did final editing for its inclusion in the collection that was released on March 1^st by Pelekinesis, La Commedia Sotterranea della Macchina da Scrivere: Swizzle Felt’s First Folio from the Typewriter Underground.

Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail.     I was in this tiny studio on Morrissey Avenue, above the freeway in Santa Cruz.  The room was perhaps 250 square feet in total. I was subleasing it from a graduate student who was traveling overseas. It had a somewhat uncomfortable queen bed by a window that looked out onto a pretty, but un-kept, garden, fenced with weathered natural wood, a skinny black shelf with a barstool next to the bed, no other chair in the room, a small, compact kitchenette, not separate from the room, nice wood floors, and a pair of small French doors that opened onto the garden.  It had the feeling of a well-organized ship’s cabin, efficient, but little room for movement.  The room created a feeling of compression that was unwelcome when I was not writing, but established a strong focal container for the work when I was engaged directly in writing or editing.

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?) I sketched notes and then essentially wrote the poem in one major draft.  After the principal draft was complete, I only made minor adjustments.  I did all the writing and editing on a computer, did no pen mark-up whatsoever until I was pulling typos out of the galleys at the very final stage of the project.  I don’t have photos to share.

What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem? I want readers to feel the joy of Prolixity, her purity, her strength; her full expression without apology for who she is.  My experience so far is that people bond with Prolixity very strongly.

    When I read verse from the typewriter underground, people often come up to me and tell me how strongly they relate to her, or how much they love her. Both the filmmaker, Jenn Vee, and the actors who have read Prolixity and the dancer who has brought her extraordinarily to life have inhabited 
her with great joy and wisdom. 

Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why? The section where she is in perfect flow as she writes on her body, to write this piece about the purity of her presence in this self defining act, I had to write from a place of absolute inner stillness and pure presence to the character and the moment.  Making the lines was an act of pure love and I was shaking, perhaps laughing with the universe, when I was done with this section.  It’s where I think the poem becomes something more than words on a page, put in a certain order with line breaks.

“She developed almost magic capacity


To cover every inch of her skin with writing

Often flowing from the henna brush in her toes

Onto the small of her back, the back of her thighs

The curve behind her ears, and the lids of her eyes,

Each word in its shape and intent fitted perfect


To its cutaneous locale—a completion

Of a thought suspended until ink it resolved.“

     I was also filled with a kind of playful joy in writing the final line of the poem, because it is a silly, playful reference to John Coltrane, expressed in her voice with pure, shining delight. When I read the poem to others, the folks in the audience who get the reference always laugh with recognition, and others who don’t know the reference laugh with a kind of reflected light from Prolixity’s character, one that glows on after the poem is done. 

     The two sets of laughs and facial expressions in response to this line are so different from each other. It’s wonderful to observe and there’s a deep truth to that experience, because it demonstrates that the cultural reference isn’t necessary to the completion of the character.  Rather, its existence adds a layer of texture to the material.  If the reference were necessary, it would be a prop to the poem, rather than an enhancement. I think the line works because you don’t need to know the reference to know that the line is true to her character.

Has this poem been published before? And if so where? No, but it’s been produced on stage several times, and it’s been the inspiration for a silent film.

Anything you would like to add? For me, the heart of the typewriter underground has been a desire for the verse to function as a catalyst to diverse, joyful and wildly imaginative creative expression.  You can see some of this in the silent film about Prolixity produced by Jenn Vee, and in this photo, which pairs live stage performance by Carri Newhouse as prolixity with the film playing above. In this particular production the poem was read by a wonderful actor Monique Rose who goes by the stage name No Existo.

XX

Prolixity Ferris’s writing instruments


Were legendary—tile marker for the shower


Wax pencil for glass, henna for her paper skin,

Vintage fountain pens whose nibs cut paper, “just so,”

And an armada of pencils, pens, quills and styli.

Since the day she had formed her first letter, words flowed

And flowed and flowed and flowed, until


She had filled her small world with calligraphy.


If a surface was empty her words flew to it.

And so she became a high master of Yoga.

Through exotic poses arranged into series


That were formally known as “the Pen Asanas,”

She developed almost magic capacity


To cover every inch of her skin with writing

Often flowing from the henna brush in her toes

Onto the small of her back, the back of her thighs

The curve behind her ears, and the lids of her eyes,

Each word in its shape and intent fitted perfect


To its cutaneous locale—a completion

Of a thought suspended until ink it resolved.

What then brought this miraculous hypergraphic

Dakini into the world of typewriter strikes?


Some said it was the adrenaline rush of pure speed.

Others claimed that eyes to page freed her mind

Some said it was the unending brown paper rolls

Which her students and acolytes stole from restrooms

And placed in symmetric columns by her machine

Standing gravely by, like musical page-turners


Ready to seamlessly replace a finished roll

Her typographic flow never interrupted.

The rolls ceremoniously connected end-to-end


By the most fastidious gluists and binders


Became known as the great scroll of Prolixity


And to the mystically inclined, the Wheel of Ferris

Believing that it unwound the cycle of life.

The activity that surrounded Prolixity


Neither attracted nor concerned her. She just typed


And when handed a silk glove by an apostle


Who noticed that she had typed through her right hand skin

She proclaimed, “A glove supreme” and continued on.

Marc Zegans is a working poet and spoken word artist. His collections include The Underwater Typewriter, Boys in the Woods, Pillow Talk, and The Book of Clouds. He has recorded two albums, Night Work and Marker and Parker, the latter in collaboration with pianist Don Parker.  Marc has worked regularly in immersive theater as a producer, author and performer, and has been introducing audiences to the Typewriter Underground in live performances since 2016. Marc’s Typewriter Underground saw its debut as a full theatrical production directed by Janice Blaze Rocke at the Henry Miller Library, Big Sur in June 2018.  He lives by the coast in Northern California. Marc’s poetry can be found at marczegans.com, and he can be reached for creative advisory services at mycreativedevelopment.com.

Eric Edelman, illustrator of La Commedia Sotterranea, is an accomplished collage artist who resides in New York.  His work can be found at Art of RetroCollage — The Metaphysical Art of Eric Edelman

Folks interested in ordering the collection that contains Prolixity can go to http://www.pelekinesis.com/catalog/marc_zegans-la_commedia_sotterranea_della_macchina_da_scrivere.html

My poetry website is http://marczegans.com

My website for creative advisory services is http://mycreativedevelopment.com

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”

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/5-backstory-of-poem-sidewalk-by-ellen.html

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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/chris-ricecooper-caccoopaol.html

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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/04/15-backstory-of-poem-ode-to_14.html

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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/06/20-backstory-of-poem-at-least-i-can.html

021  July 05, 2018

Marla Shaw O’Neill’s “Wind Chimes”

https://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!”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/25-backstory-of-poem-it-is-only.html

026  August 07, 2018

David Herrle’s “Devil In the Details”

https://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”

https://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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/09/30-backstory-of-poem-risking-point-by.html

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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/35-backstory-of-poem-sobriety-by.html

036  October 30, 2018

Gary Glauber’s “The Second Breakfast”

https://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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/37-backstory-of-poem-melanias-deaf-tone.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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/40-backstory-of-poems-my-children.html

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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/045-backstory-of-poem-sungmyo-for-our.html

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”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/50-backstory-of-poem-for-gilberto-ramos.html

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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/55-backstory-of-poem-by-larissa-shmailo.html

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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/60-backstory-of-poem-menopause-by-pat.html

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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/65-backstory-of-poem-summer-1970.html

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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/02/70-backstory-of-poem-daily-commute-by.html

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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/75-backstory-of-poem-shape-of-violin-by.html

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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/80-backstory-of-poem-of-water-and-echo.html

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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/85-backstory-of-poem-at-end-of-time.html

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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/03/90-backstory-of-poem-pose-by-john-hicks.html

#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
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/94-backstory-of-poem-xx-by-marz-zegans.html