Saturday, January 23, 2021

Maija Haavisto’s “Awards Season” is #237 in the never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM

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*** The CRC Blog welcomes submissions from published and unpublished poets for BACKSTORY OF THE POEM series.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


***Maija Haavisto’s “Awards Season” is #237 in the never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific poem and how the poet wrote that specific poem.  All BACKSTORY OF THE POEM links are at the end of this piece. 


Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem
from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form?
There was a contest for poetry about chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, an illness that I have. I had a piece in Finnish in my second poetry collection Hopeatee titled “Seremonia (Ceremony)” about being awarded a medal for mundane activities, which is a common thing we poke fun at in chronic illness communities. Just getting to the bathroom may take such a massive effort you feel like you should get an award for it.

        

Sometimes I just translate my poetry into English - as straight as a poem can ever be translated. Here, however, the original poem was dark and sarcastic, but the contest was looking for something hopeful and also spoken word-like. So I essentially rewrote the whole piece, just retaining the central concept and the way the poem lists activities that should yield you awards (while the only activity mentioned in both poems is feet touching the floor). While the original poem is titled "Ceremony" it doesn't actually mention anything about ceremonies, they're only implied. The final poem is quite different from my usual style, both in rhythm and its poignant dream-like atmosphere.


Where were you when you started to actually write the poem?  And please describe the place in great detail. While I'm a Finnish native, both the original poem and the new one were written in my home, in a suburb of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I'm boring (and disabled) and I write in front of my desktop computer, never in notebooks, on my phone or in cafés. There used to be five magnolia trees growing in front of my study room window, but sadly they cut down several of them, I assume for plant diseases, and of course they didn't bloom in winter, anyway.


What month and year did you start writing this poem? “Awards Season” saw the light in January 2019, in the span of a day or two. The original Finnish poem was written sometime in 2017 or 2018.





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?) For me, poems seem to fall into two categories: some just basically write themselves and only need small tweaks later, while others need tons of work and never seem to turn out right, until they finally come together. This was a case of the poem writing itself, I can't remember about the original Finnish poem anymore.


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 biggest edit was that I noticed only after finishing my poem that the contest had a very limited line count, which my piece heavily exceeded. Luckily it consisted of many short lines, so I cheated by combining many shorter lines into longer ones, but I didn't have to remove anything. This version, published later, follows the original format.


What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem? For me, it was a hopeful poem about dreams and the power of imagination, and of course, also the idea that disabled people sometimes spend a lot of effort on something the rest of the world doesn't recognize or even think about. But many people who have CFS/ME have found the poem deeply moving and some have cried reading it. It's quite interesting what abled people with barely any idea that someone can even be this sick (yet survive for years) take away from it, how do they interpret it.


Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why? Perhaps surprisingly, it would be "words laboriously uttered: / one, two, three / no, that's enough, please stop / don't wear yourself out" as that describes the harsh reality of severe CFS/ME. Many people with CFS/ME are entirely bedridden and even the tiniest bits of effort can make them collapse - speaking three words, if they are even capable of that, could literally exhaust them for days, it's not just a poetic device, but the shocking reality for many people. One of my best friends is this sick and it's absolutely heartbreaking.


Has this poem been published before?  And if so where? It was published in Kaleidoscope Magazine issue #81.
https://www.udsakron.org/wp-content/uploads/K81Final.pdf


Awards Season


glossy magazines tout

hottest pajama looks

palest facial tones

untouched by the savage sun

sexiest sunglasses

to match your pillowcase

most stunning impressions

left on the mattress


fancy ceremonies honor

toes touching the floor

heroic ventures to the bathroom

the superhuman strength

needed to chew food

best attempts to leave the house

words laboriously uttered:

one, two, three

no, that's enough, please stop

don't wear yourself out


empty chairs at gala dinners

hosting only we're-there-in-spirits

my cheek caressing the red carpet

of the so-called living room


would you spoon

more smoothie in my mouth

my darling

I swear the bits of kale

taste like finest chocolates in my dreams

next year, every year, in my dreams

I will win the trophy

for finest daydreams

moved to tears

in my whispered speech

I picture you

gently picking kale bits

stuck between my teeth


Maija Haavisto is the author of 17 books in Finnish, including the poetry collections Raskas vesi (Aviador 2018) and Hopeatee (Oppian 2020). Her poems have also appeared in some top Finnish literary magazines, such as Kulttuurivihkot and Lumooja. In English, her poetry has been published in Eye to the Telescope, Cosmospen and Kaleidoscope, with another scifi poetry publication forthcoming. She enjoys reading her poetry at open mics and hosting workshops combining hypnosis and writing poetry.


Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DiamonDie

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DiamonDie (also featuring some poetry readings but so far only in Finnish, though there's other content in English)

My Finnish blog: http://www.ilmestykset.net


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 


#233 Backstory of the Poem

January 18, 2021

“Death of a Carousel”

by Richard Weiser

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/richard-weisers-death-of-carousel-is.html 


#234 Backstory of the Poem

January 19, 2021

“Moon Child”

by Carol Berg

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/carol-bergs-moon-child-is-234-in-never.html 


#235 Backstory of the Poem

January 20, 2021

“In That Good Time”

by Kyla Houbolt

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/kyla-houbolts-in-that-good-time-is-235.html 


#236 Backstory of the Poem

January 22, 2021

“Epilogue: 10 Years Later”

by Lannie Stabile

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/lannie-stabiles-epilogue-10-years-later.html 



#237 Backstory of the Poem

January 23, 2021

“Awards Season”

by Maija Haavisto

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/maija-haavistos-awards-season-is-237-in.html 



Friday, January 22, 2021

Lannie Stabile’s “Epilogue: 10 Years Later” is #236 in the never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM

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***Lannie Stabile’s “Epilogue: 10 Years Later” is #236 in the never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific poem and how the poet wrote that specific poem.  All BACKSTORY OF THE POEM links are at the end of this piece. 


Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? During the initial COVID-19 lockdown in Michigan, I got this idea to write a book that used horror movie tropes to engage in a conversation about sexual violence. For a handful of poems, I wanted to use specific references, like When a Stranger Calls, The Evil Dead, and House of Wax. For this piece, I was sitting on the couch eating Pad Thai with peanuts, watching a random horror movie that I don’t remember the name of, and I was thinking, “Why do I insist on doing things that are bad for me?” Like eating peanuts or having sex with men. So, I just started writing about that thought. I came up with the line, “words tumble in my mouth,” and that weirdly induced the image of the dead woman in the dryer in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Everything kind of flew together after that. 


Where were you when you started to actually write the poem?  And please describe the place in great detail. I was sitting in our family room (Below Right), smack dab in the middle of our gray, three-cushion couch, eating Chicken Pad Thai with peanuts, even though I’m technically allergic, and I was watching a horror movie. I wish I could remember which one, but I can tell you it was a really cheesy one from Netflix. I obviously wasn’t paying close attention. The plastic food container was on the couch to my left, and I had my laptop on my knees. 


What month and year did you start writing this poem? May 2020


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’m one of those people that edits as I go, so I never know how many drafts I have. I can tell you, however, that this piece came out basically whole and polished. That doesn’t often happen, but it’s magic when it does. 


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? I changed the title to “Epilogue: 10 Years Later” for a better fit with the horror movie tropes. It used to be “Slasher Flicks Are Often Parables on Life-Long Healing.” (Left: Lannie Stabile in May of  2020.  Copyright granted by Lannie Stabile.)


What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem? I hope it’s accessible to non-horror movie fans. And for people who are fans, I hope the niche references excite them. Personally, I was geeked to include Brandy (Right) in a poem.


Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why? 

“I walked into that room voluntarily,

his tongue the only hook in my lip.

 

Our clothes the only dirty 

linen tumbling.”


Even though I write a lot about my rape, it never gets easier. 


Has this poem been published before?  And if so where? This piece is currently unpublished.


Epilogue: 10 Years Later


I’m sitting on the couch

watching a horror movie

 

and eating Pad Thai

with crushed peanuts,

 

even though I am allergic.

So what if my throat shrinks

 

when the one thing

I really need to talk about

 

is a decade old 

and growing.

 

Words tumble in my mouth,

clunky and expired

 

like bodies in an industrial dryer.

A memory looping, looping.

 

I think about Brandy

in I Still Know 

 

What You Did Last Summer,

how her scream fell out

 

with the dead laundress,

but snagged

 

at Mekhi’s spontaneous

tracheotomy.

 

Like Miss Norwood, 

I’ve developed calluses 

 

on my fingers from counting

how many times I’ve relived

 

a drunken summer party.

How many times I had too many

 

wine coolers washed down

with agave-flavored peer pressure.

 

My throat closes up 

when I remember how

 

I walked into that room voluntarily,

his tongue the only hook in my lip.

 

Our clothes the only dirty 

linen tumbling.

 

Dreadlocked Jack Black

was stoned when he died,

 

garden shears

piercing his Hawaiian shirt. 

 

I too have been impaled 

while intoxicated.

 

And I can tell you

senses are not dulled,

 

but alive and kicking

the sheets off the bed.

 

Sometimes your friend

is the man in the slicker,

 

holding an ice hook 

to your trembling body,

 

daring you to move 

on from the summer.

 

As I spoon rice noodles

into my mouth

 

I taste the sweet nuttiness

and watch the credits roll.


Lannie Stabile (she/her), a queer Detroiter, is the winner of OutWrite’s 2020 Chapbook Competition in Poetry; the winning chapbook, “Strange Furniture,” is out with Neon Hemlock Press.  (Left:  Lannie Stabile in January of 2021.  Copyright granted by Lannie Stabile)


She is also a back-to-back finalist for the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 Glass Chapbook series and back-to-back semifinalist for the Button Poetry 2018 and 2019 Chapbook Contests.  Lannie currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Barren Magazine and is a member of the MMPR Collective.  Find her on Twitter https://twitter.com/LannieStabile 

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

#201 Backstory of the Poem
July 30, 2020
“Gentle Women, Adult Female Persons, and Housewives in Indonesia ♀” 
by Kimberly Burnham

#202 Backstory of the Poem
July 31, 2020
“192”
by Don Yorty

#203  Backstory of the Poem
August 01, 2020
“I want to unfold the disease”
by Vanessa Shields

#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

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

#206 Backstory of the Poem
August 08 2020
“Un Poco Pequeño”
by Damon Chua

#207 Backstory of the Poem
August 10, 2020
“mary lou williams’s piano workshop (after Fred Moten)”
by Makalani Bandele

#208 Backstory of the Poem
August 18, 2020
“Roll Credits by KCK”
by Casey Kirkpatrick aka KCK

#209 Backstory of the Poem
August 21, 2020
“Ancient Pyramid”
by Mark Tulin

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

#211 Backstory of the Poem
August 27, 2020
“89 Tears”
by Robert Carr
  
#212 Backstory of the Poem
August 28, 2020 
“Food and Water”
by Brooke McNamara

#213 Backstory of the Poem
August 30, 2020
“To hold, to hollow”
by Meghan Lamb

#214 Backstory of the Poem
September 01, 2020
“Would It Be Too Much”
by Justine Quammie

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

#216 Backstory of the Poem
September 23, 2020
“About My Death”
by Jennifer Barber
 
#217 Backstory of the Pome
October 09, 2020
“Leash of Deer”
by Catherine Graham

#218 Backstory of the Poem
October 11, 2020
“Sticky”
by Susan Tepper

#219 Backstory of the Poem
November 22, 2020
“Penguins”
by Volodymyr Bilyk 

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

#221 Backstory of the Poem
December 17, 2020
“Amaterasu”
by Nan Lundeen

#222 Backstory of the Poem
December 28, 2020
“Disclaimer”
by Randall McNair

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

#224 Backstory of the Poem
December 31, 2020
“Elegy for Michael”
by Paul Nelson

#225 Backstory of the Poem
January 01, 2021
“No One Is Home”
by Katrina Lippolis

#226 Backstory of the Poem
January 03, 2021
“Dream Truth”
by Rachael Ikins

#227 Backstory of the Poem
January 04, 2021
“Hologram”
by Lucille Lang Day

#228 Backstory of The Poem
January 08, 2021
“Transition”
by Bartholomew Rothrauff

#229, 230, and 231 Backstory of the Poems
January 10, 2021
“Armed With Imagination”
“Overthrown”
“We Siblings Three”
by Randal Burd

#232 Backstory of the Poem
January 13, 2021
“Adventsmarkt in Wurzburg”
by Arthur Turfa

#233 Backstory of the Poem
January 18, 2021
“Death of a Carousel”
by Richard Weiser

#234 Backstory of the Poem
January 19, 2021
“Moon Child”
by Carol Berg

#235 Backstory of the Poem
January 20, 2021
“In That Good Time”
by Kyla Houbolt

#236 Backstory of the Poem
January 22, 2021
“Epilogue: 10 Years Later”
by Lannie Stabile
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/01/lannie-stabiles-epilogue-10-years-later.html 


#237 Backstory of the Poem
January 23, 2021
“Awards Season”
by Maija Haavisto