Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Martha Silano’s “G the F Knows”is #241 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*** The CRC Blog welcomes submissions from published and unpublished poets for BACKSTORY OF THE POEM series.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

***Martha Silano’s “G the F Knows”is #241 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?
The poem “G the F Knows” began halfway through an early-morning jog in May 2020, nearly two months into what became a six-month daily writing practice. I sat on a park bench, pulled out my phone, and typed out a first draft in the Notes feature in one frenzied block of text. (Right: Martha Silano sitting on the park bench where she wrote "G the F Knows".  Copyright y Martha Silano)

What got me writing that morning was jogging past a bunch of swirling pink pedals corralled into a parking lot dotted with signs that said things like KEEP MOVING and CROWDED PARKS LEAD TO CLOSED PARKS. In a flash of metaphorical insight, the petals looked a lot like our human selves before the pandemic shut down our lives: swirling and congregating in large, tight groups, away and towards each other without restriction. (Left:  Photo credit and copyright by Martha Silano)
      
As always when writing first drafts, I let the poem wander wherever it wanted. I used to have to make a conscious effort to stifle my inner critic, but these days it usually happens more naturally. As I typed, I made a leap from the petals dancing, to humans dancing at a Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks concert (Right), to the giant construction project going on next door to where I live, to Pence refusing to mask up, to the behaviors of wild and domesticated ducks, to a Nature explanation of how the virus hijacks our cells. Here’s what I wrote:


Once I’d run out of things to say, I jotted a few notes for when I got home and started crafting this word dump into a poem:

Maybe never say the actual:Ducking 
Mucking
Ruckus-ing
Omfg
Ransacking 
Mangling 
Even a fucking duck knows to keep its distance 

Later that day, when I copied and pasted the poem into a Word doc, I began arranging the text in two blocks of text, side by side, with a space between them. This was an intuitive decision, a way to structurally represent the distance between us and them—not only Covid social distancing, but the haves and have nots (those deemed essential or unemployed versus those privileged to work from home), and also the gaping divide between those who despise their President and those who continue to believe whatever he tells them, including one day — it’s like a miracle — [the virus] will disappear.

As I worked on this poem, it became clear that enjambment and sound were what I’d need to focus on most, but also the job of taking technical language from scientific articles about the spiking mechanism, etc., and low-browing/poeticizing the diction. I wanted more consonance, assonance, rhyme, slant rhyme, and alliteration, so I changed “to make of our democracy / a dictatorship” to “to make of our democracy a mockery,” for instance. I also tinkered a lot with the ending. In draft two the poem ends

the prez is a shill for the rapers and drillers The glory is catchy the ratings my ratings!
The vandals have business this pox is nifty I’m not talking about the literal virus


Looking at it now, I can tell I was working things out but hadn’t gotten it right yet. Things like the prez cares more about ratings than the virus, or that the virus is a metaphor.                    
So, here’s where I was at the end of Draft 2:



By draft 3, I pretty much had the opening and body but still hadn’t found the ending. I knew the poem wasn’t done yet, so I kept working on it. My process is to read the poem aloud and make changes according to my ear mostly, but also for clarity and concision. Here’s what the poem looked like after the third major revision:


I was getting closer but still didn’t feel like I’d condensed the language enough or made the poem sing the way I wanted it to, so I kept weeding out inessential lines and reworking clunky phrases, like “from deepest Florida” (who cares Petty is from Florida?) and “host race for the prize / race configuration in its tracks” (I can’t even figure out what I was trying to say!), and “this sending millions to the number / they dig a body under” (not sure what I was doing there).

Where were you when you started to actually write the poem?  And please describe the place in great detail.
I was halfway around a 2.5 paved trail that loops around Seattle’s Seward Park (Above Left), a 300-acre expanse that juts into lake Washington. Seward Park contains a swath of old growth coniferous forest containing dozens of 500+ year old Douglas firs and Western Red Cedars, at least two active bald eagle nests, and many other resident and migrating birds, including kingfishers, cormorants, ospreys, mergansers, and pileated woodpeckers. It is my favorite place to walk, jog, practice yoga, and paddleboard. During the punishing year of 2020, it served as a place of refuge and respite. 
        
I don’t often stop halfway through a run to write a poem, but occasionally an opening line or image pops into my head, in this case the swirling pink petals in the parking lot, and I fear I will forget it if I don’t stop and write it down.                                                                                                       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?) Three major drafts (plus at least six passes through to tinker with the music, linebreaks, syntax, etc.). During the drafting process, I never printed out this poem or marked it up with a pen. (Above Left:  Martha Silano in the Summer of 2020 when she wrote "G th F Knows" Copyright by Martha Silano)

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?
Yes, many lines were cut – probably two-thirds to three-quarters of the poem got cut and replaced by the time it was finished.                                                                In the first draft, I used the f-word outright, but I soon decided it would be best to replace an actual swear word with words that almost sound like fuck. Out of nowhere, Wilfred Owen’s (Right) “Dulce et Decorum Est” popped into my head:

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge…


I remembered how my teacher David Wagoner (Left) had shared it was better to choose words that sound like swear words than use actual swear words.                                 Because I do often listen to my teachers—even ones I studied with decades ago—I switched out f-ck for duck and began the poem with “what drug what dirge,” a sideways nod to Owen and his sluggish poem of woe.  

In the final draft, I sent to Sixth Finch, I still wasn’t sure about the
ending but decided it was time to test it out on an editor.   
https://www.facebook.com/groups/164051662618 

What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem?
I want readers to experience the intoxication of language’s sense and sound-making capabilities. I also wanted to convey my feelings about the pandemic, my nostalgia for the freedom to cluster together, but also my anger toward those who refuse to wear masks, and for the way our leaders botched their initial response to a deadly virus. Mostly, though, I wasn’t thinking about readers; I was following the poem’s lead—what it wanted to be—as is often the case. 
 
Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why?
Probably where the petals “move like we all moved,” because I was feeling very nostalgic for times when we could boogie on crowded dance floors, but also anger when our Vice President refused to mask up at the Mayo Clinic (“a foot apart not unlike our VP … sin mascara”), and in general at the current administration’s politicization of scientific facts (i.e., wearing a mask slows the spread of the virus) and mangling of the English language (“fake news,” “alternative facts,” “voter fraud,” “Mexican judge,” “China virus,” “witch hunt,” etc.), which can only be described as fascistic (“to make of our democracy a mockery / to strangle the language pandemically …”). 
 
Has this poem been published before?  And if so where? “G the F Knows” appears in the Summer 20020 issue of Sixth Finch, http://sixthfinch.com/silano1.html 
 

      
Martha Silano has authored five poetry books, including Gravity Assist (Saturnalia Books, 2019), The Little Office of the Immaculate Conception, winner of the 2010 Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize and a Washington State Book Award Finalist, Reckless Lovely (Saturnalia Books, 2014).  She also co-authored, with Kelli Russell Agodon of The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice.  
Martha’s poems have appeared in Poetry, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, Paris Review, AGNI, North American Review, American Poety Review, New Ohio Review, Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Kenyon Review Online, Blackbird, Copper Nickel, Mississippi Review, and elsewhere.  Her poem “Love” appears in The Best American Poetry 2009.  Martha teaches at Bellevue College. 

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

#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


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


#238 Backstory of the Poem
January 24, 2021
“Scrap”
by Luanne Castle

#239 Backstory of the Poem
January 25, 2021
“Removal”
by Caroline Smith 

#240 Backstory of the Poem
January 26, 2021
“Rain Noir”
by Lucia Orellana

#241 Backstory of the Poem
January 27, 2021
“G the F Knows”
by Martha Silano