CHRIS RICE COOPER BLOG is ART and HUMANITY Framed In The PhotoFeature Story

CHRIS RICE COOPER is a newspaper/fiction writer, poet, photographer, painter. CRC Blog is an INCLUSIVE & NON-PROFIT BLOG acknowledging ALL voices, ALL individuals, ALL political views, ALL philosophies, ALL religions including Islamism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Agnosticism, Atheism. She has a B.S. in Criminal Justice & completed her workshops required for her Master’s in Creative Writing. She lives in St. Louis. CRC website http://chrisricecooper.com/

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Arthur Turfa’s “Adventsmarkt in Wurzburg” is #232 in the never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM

*The images in this specific piece are granted copyright: Public Domain, GNU Free Documentation Licenses, Fair Use Under The United States Copyright Law.

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

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*** The CRC Blog welcomes submissions from published and unpublished poets for BACKSTORY OF THE POEM series.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

***Arthur Turfa’s “Adventsmarkt in Wurzburg” is #232 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. (Right Arthur Turfa in January of 2021. Copyright granted by Arthur Turfa)

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? I was honored to have been chosen as one of nine poets for the Tupelo Press’s 30/30 Project for December 2020. Each day we write a new poem.

https://www.tupelopress.org/the-30-30-project-december-2020/

Germany is my second home. I am fluent in the language, have
visited/lived there. I knew some of the poems would reflect some aspect of the nation, language, or culture. When I heard that the Advent/Christmas Markets were canceled there due to COVID-19, I knew I had the genesis of a poem. Thinking back to my Army deployment to Germany in 2005, there it was. The actual poem came quickly enough and took form easily. I didn’t have to do much revision. (Above Right: Arthur Turfa in Berlin in 2004. Copyright granted by Arthur Turfa)

Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail. I was in our den, which is a FROG. Most of my writing is done there. This time I was not listening to music ( I prefer symphonic/classical music, usually with strings, sometimes guitar). I was on the couch, with my feet on the coffee table. Our dog Magda, a chocolate lab was with me. (Left: Magda in the den where Arthur Turfa wrote "Adventsmarkt in Wurzburg" Copyright granted by Arthur Turfa)

What month and year did you start writing this poem? December 10, 2020. (Right Arthur Turfa with friend Kirsten Anke in December of 2020. Copyright granted by Arthur Turfa)

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?) There were really only two drafts. I started as a sonnet, but it did not gel.

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? The first verse that I rejected: “Fifteen years ago an ocean/separated me from those I loved best./Duties military and familial/ prevented a visit to my new home.” The revision actually was moving some things around in the latter stanzas.

I had “stills the sound before…” in the third line. When I finished, I decided to revise as I mentioned directly above. The flow as better that way.

What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem? The concept of place is very important to me. There I was, in a place dear to me, thinking about my family, who actually had moved from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, which we all intended to do together, and had visited for Thanksgiving.

Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why? Those were sad days, but at least I was not in a combat zone. My intention was to create something good from something sad; hard to do in 2020. I thought about the joy I had visiting the Adventsmarkt, and felt bad for all those deprived of it this year.

Has this poem been published before? And if so where? As I said earlier, this was part of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project. All poems are to be new.

Adventsmarkt in Würzburg / by Arthur Turfa

Fifteen Decembers ago

separated from those I love,

facing a hollow Advent/Christmas,

comfort sought I near the sea

of bright lights surrounding

the Marienkappele, aswirl

in color, aromas of baked goods

and sausages. By Glühwein warmed,

enraptured by familiar music sung and played,

on a cold Franconian night thinking of years

gone by and about my new home. Solace I

found , solace tendered to other now possible.

Only the lights of ambulances and police

cars illuminate the silent city in this somber

December. Memories console, hope inspires.

Arthur Turfa has had poetry published in many print and on-line publications, in the US and abroad, including The Petigru Review and Catfish Stew. He was in the Top Ten for the Pangolin Review 2019 Poetry Prize. His most recent poetry book is" Saluda Reflections, from Finishing Line Press." His most recent with award-winning artist Carol worthington-Levy is "All in the Family" from Blurb He is also editing a novel and some short stories. Semi-retired, he continues as an English adjunct for Midlands Technical College and as a supply pastor for the SC Synod (ELCA). He lives in Saluda County with his wife. (Above Right: Arthur Turfa in January of 2021. Copyright granted by Arthur Turfa)

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”

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!”

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”

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”

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”

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”

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_5.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

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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/95-backstory-of-poem-landscape-and.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/100-backstory-of-poem-how-do-you-know.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/05/105-backstory-of-poem-promises-had-been.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/110-backstory-of-poem-when-you-ask-me.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/115-backstory-of-poem-because-birds.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/08/120-backstory-of-poem-horse-fly-grade.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/09/125-backstory-of-poem-tracy-by-tiff.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/130-backstory-of-poem-schooling-high-in.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/135-backstory-of-poem-sworn-by.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/140-backstory-of-poem-cloud-audience-by.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/12/145-backstory-of-poem-reservoir-by.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/150-backstory-of-poem-i-will-tell-you.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/155-backstory-of-poem-reoccuring-woman.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/03/160-backstory-of-poem-last-call-by.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/04/165-backstory-of-poem-singing-studying.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/megha-soods-silence-lost-art-is-170-in.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/barbara-crookers-tutti-frutti-175-in.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/06/carly-m-lopers-tree-that-stood-beside.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/dan-provosts-way-of-life-is-185-in.html

#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’

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/eftichia-kapardells-days-of-patience-is.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/matthew-gavin-franks-after-grano-maturo.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/andrea-watsons-star-pinwheel-poem-is.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/thomas-mccolls-statement-by-pedestrian.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/charles-malones-how-far-storm-is-210-in.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/09/aaron-rs-darkest-days-loneliest-nights.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/12/erik-fuhrers-creature-of-bad-habits-is.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/12/steve-wheelers-broken-rainbows-is-223.html

#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

#225 Backstory of the Poem

January 01, 2021

“No One Is Home”

by Katrina Lippolis

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/katrina-lippoliss-no-one-is-home-is-225.html

#226 Backstory of the Poem

January 03, 2021

“Dream Truth”

by Rachael Ikins

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/rachael-ikinss-dream-truth-is-226-in.html

#227 Backstory of the Poem

January 04, 2021

“Hologram”

by Lucille Lang Day

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/lucille-lang-days-hologram-is-227-in.html

#228 Backstory of The Poem

January 08, 2021

“Transition”

by Bartholomew Rothrauff

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/bartholomew-rothrauffs-transition-is.html

#229, 230, and 231 Backstory of the Poems

January 10, 2021

“Armed With Imagination”

“Overthrown”

“We Siblings Three”

by Randal Burd

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/randal-burds-armed-with-imagination-and.html

#232 Backstory of the Poem

January 13, 2021

“Adventsmarkt in Wurzburg”

by Arthur Turfa

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/images-in-this-specific-piece-are.html

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Randal Burd’s “Armed With Imagination” and “Overthrown” and “We Siblings Three” are #229, #230, and #231 in the never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM

*The images in this specific piece are granted copyright: Public Domain, GNU Free Documentation Licenses, Fair Use Under The United States Copyright Law.

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

**Some of the links will have to be copied and then posted in your search engine in order to pull up properly

***Randal Burd’s “Armed With Imagination” and “Overthrown” and “We Siblings Three” are #229, #230, and #231 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 these three poems from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? There is a trio of short poems in my latest poetry collection, Memoirs of a Witness Tree (Kelsay Books, 2020), https://kelsaybooks.com/ which focalize on the idea of outgrowing childhood. Children can’t wait to grow up, to celebrate the next birthday, to reach that next milestone, etc. This is all well and good, but there is loss experienced with growing up which cannot be dismissed.

In my case, these poems are a nostalgic look back at a happy childhood. But some must deal with the loss, for whatever reason, of the happy childhood that wasn’t. In either case, the poem evokes emotion, either of happier times or of what could have been. Loss of innocence and missed childhood experiences are common themes in literature, common as are all themes that define some aspect of the human condition. (Left Randal Burd with his scoutmaster Paul Dale in 1989. Copyright granted by Randal Burd)

“Armed with Imagination” was conceived as a response to a prompt in a writers’ group asking poets to write about their favorite toy. “Overgrown” was written in response to a call for submissions themed around landscape and maps. “We Siblings Three” is sort of an ekphrastic poem in that it was inspired by Paul Klee’s 1930 abstract painting “Brother and Sister.”

Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail. When I first contemplated this question, my thought was of my physical location when writing these poems. This is not a very interesting story. I was sitting at the computer or somewhere else with a composition notebook or scrap of paper. But if the question is asking where was I in my life when I wrote these poems, that might be a bit more interesting. In the summer of 2018, I had a medical emergency at 39.5 years old which violently threw me out of the invincibility mindset of youth.

Everyone understands that at some point mortality will stare you in the face and force one to confront the impermanence of life. But I had always thought it would be a gradual acceptance, not three days in the ICU and a list of maintenance prescriptions. It didn’t help that my wife and I walked away from a nasty car wreck two years earlier relatively unscathed. I’ve always been a reflective person, but my medical emergency really forced me to take the blinders off.

What month and year did you start writing these poems? “Armed with Imagination,” “Overgrown,” and “We Siblings Three” were conceived of in the same order as the events they describe, with the first being written in August 2018, the second in April 2019, and the last in September 2019. (Right: Randal Burd's writing office. Copyright permission by Randall Burd)

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 have found that inspiration can strike anywhere. I have written poems on napkins at restaurants, on the backs of handouts at meetings, and even on scraps of paper in the car following a contemplative drive to or from work. But usually once the poems (or lines) are written down in the moment, they are soon transferred to the computer where the editing is done in electronic form. I really don’t have complete rough drafts on paper with pen markings as might have been the usual case with poets in previous years. (Left: Randal Burd in September of 2018. Copyright granted by Randall Burd)

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? My editing process is such a fluid process that complete rough drafts don’t usually exist. Sometimes I will finish a poem and share it with a few people only to make major revisions later. (Right: Randal Burd with wife Ashley. Copyright permission granted by Randall Burd)

But with the three poems here, these have survived pretty much intact from their conception. I do a lot of editing in my head as I write; I am not sure that is the best way to do it, but it is the way that comes most naturally for me. I have to be very deliberate to write my thoughts down without my internal editing filter polishing some before it gets to the paper. Sometimes I wish I had the same filter for speaking. (Left: Randal Burd Family in November 2018. Copyright permission by Randal Burd)

What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem? Appreciate what you have in the moment. Not just in childhood, but remember that today’s events will be tomorrow’s recollections. Make a concerted effort to cherish the people and relationships that matter in your life, because time moves forward and changes those dynamics as well. (Left: Randal Burd, in 1989, with wildlife artist David Plank whom Randal interviewed for his school newspaper. Copyright permission by Randal Burd)

Which part of the poem was the most emotional for you to write and why? All three of these poems evoked emotion for me, both because I am a sentimental person, perhaps overly so, and because they describe my life, and I have been blessed. (Left: Randal Burd, left, as Department Commander of Missouri in 2017)

Have these poems been published before? And if so where? “Armed with Imagination” was first published on January 5, 2019, by The Society of Classical Poets.

“Overthrown” was first published on July 3, 2019, by The Writers’ Café Magazine.

“We Siblings Three” was first published on September 12, 2019, by the now defunct Nine Muses Poetry.

All three of these poems appear in Memoirs of a Witness Tree (Kelsay Books, 2020).

Armed with Imagination

Imagination armed this youthful knight—

A plywood shield and sword of sapling wood

Created echoes in the neighborhood

Of backyard battles fought in fading light.

Envision how we must have been a sight

To see—a panorama understood

By only we who fought each chance we could

While lacking rhyme or reason for a fight.

The best of memories those days remain:

Each noble quest and faux chivalric deed.

Forever will they be accompanied

With yearning for just one last grand campaign.

Overthrown

I slowly cruised our former neighborhood:

Locations once familiar now are strange.

Most houses there are worse for wear and change;

No laughter echoes from the nearby wood.

When everyone grew up and moved away,

Our plywood platforms rotted in the tree.

No Robin Hood remained to climb and see

His merry men engage in daily play.

The paths we made have long since overgrown.

Our wooden forts became the forest floor.

Adventures don’t occur here anymore—

Our sacred places have been overthrown.

We Siblings Three

Attempt to add the hours we have shared:

One hundred thousand, maybe thousands more?

Our paths conjoined for several years before

We struck out on our own and even dared

Imagine we would chase our dreams beyond

The borders of our joyful, sheltered lives.

But now we live with husband and with wives

In separate towns and rarely correspond,

Or so it seems when measured and compared

To neighborhood crusades we daily swore

Would never end. But we would soon respond

To destiny. What from those days survives?

That we still share a special sibling bond

Though kept apart by long, infrequent drives.

Randal Burd has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for his poem “Humblest Apologies” in his book Memoirs of a Witness Tree (Kelsay Books, 2020) He also made Bookworm Reviews’ Best of the Best 2020 reading list. (Right: Randal Burd (right) at the Sons of Union Veterans of Civil War in September of 2017. Copyright permission by Randal Burd)

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”

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!”

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”

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”

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”

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”

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_5.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

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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/95-backstory-of-poem-landscape-and.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/04/100-backstory-of-poem-how-do-you-know.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/05/105-backstory-of-poem-promises-had-been.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/110-backstory-of-poem-when-you-ask-me.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/06/115-backstory-of-poem-because-birds.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/08/120-backstory-of-poem-horse-fly-grade.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/09/125-backstory-of-poem-tracy-by-tiff.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/130-backstory-of-poem-schooling-high-in.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/135-backstory-of-poem-sworn-by.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/140-backstory-of-poem-cloud-audience-by.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/12/145-backstory-of-poem-reservoir-by.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/150-backstory-of-poem-i-will-tell-you.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/02/155-backstory-of-poem-reoccuring-woman.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/03/160-backstory-of-poem-last-call-by.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/04/165-backstory-of-poem-singing-studying.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/megha-soods-silence-lost-art-is-170-in.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/05/barbara-crookers-tutti-frutti-175-in.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/06/carly-m-lopers-tree-that-stood-beside.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/dan-provosts-way-of-life-is-185-in.html

#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’

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/eftichia-kapardells-days-of-patience-is.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/matthew-gavin-franks-after-grano-maturo.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/07/andrea-watsons-star-pinwheel-poem-is.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/thomas-mccolls-statement-by-pedestrian.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/08/charles-malones-how-far-storm-is-210-in.html

#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

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/09/aaron-rs-darkest-days-loneliest-nights.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/12/erik-fuhrers-creature-of-bad-habits-is.html

#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

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2020/12/steve-wheelers-broken-rainbows-is-223.html

#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

#225 Backstory of the Poem

January 01, 2021

“No One Is Home”

by Katrina Lippolis

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/katrina-lippoliss-no-one-is-home-is-225.html

#226 Backstory of the Poem

January 03, 2021

“Dream Truth”

by Rachael Ikins

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/rachael-ikinss-dream-truth-is-226-in.html

#227 Backstory of the Poem

January 04, 2021

“Hologram”

by Lucille Lang Day

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/lucille-lang-days-hologram-is-227-in.html

#228 Backstory of The Poem

January 08, 2021

“Transition”

by Bartholomew Rothrauff

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/bartholomew-rothrauffs-transition-is.html

#229, 230, and 231 Backstory of the Poems

January 10, 2021

“Armed With Imagination”

“Overthrown”

“We Siblings Three”

by Randal Burd

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/randal-burds-armed-with-imagination-and.html