ugh...

So, all that blase talk below about round 2 being easier than round 1 was clearly delusional. Since each round has a couple phases - putting the poems in an order, letting it sit for 12-24 hours, going back and reading through and identifying what transitions don't work - I really spoke too soon. Or maybe I just shouldn't have read through them last night, when I was exhausted and trying to de-stress from a long day. For whatever reason, it was rather painful. I nearly gave up, found myself wondering why I even bothered to write. You have to learn to ignore those kinds of thoughts if you want to be a writer, I think.

But it reminded me of when I was in college studying with Suzanne Gardinier, who is an amazing teacher, and showed me how to really take a poem apart & put it back together. There's always a 'dark night of the soul' period in that process, too, right before it comes together beautifully & so satisfyingly. So I'm going to trust to that experience and hope this sonuvabitch comes together in the very near future. (It better, since I've only got about five days to my deadline.)

Update: I just went into round 3, and it is totally coming together! Very exciting.

For today's poem, I just flipped through the pages blindly and chose one. It ended up being rather fitting, since it's supposed to snow later.

winter poem

snow falls.
the clouds hide the stars.

but in the streetlight
a thousand stars
fly towards earth.

the wind's icy teeth
rakes through my bones.

i am alone
but comforted
by the world's desolate cries.