Issue 17: A new kind of newsletter…and a new way to engage with the chapbook!
Plus, it's now available at Gramercy Books in Bexley!
Hellllooooo, Strawberries!
Let’s begin with the now-obligatory update on your chapbook orders: More and more (and more!) folks have reported they’ve received their copies. (Hooree! And phew!) If you have NOT received yours, please reply to this email with:
Your mailing address, and
The # of copies you ordered
Thank you. And sorry. And thank you. And sorry.
A bookstore update! The ol’ chapbook is now available at Gramercy Books in Bexley, so if you or folks you know are in Central Ohio and want to support a wonderful local bookstore, head over and snag a copy! Big thanks to my sister Jess and my niece Tillie for leading the Midwest branch of my grassroots PR team. I don’t pay you two enough.
Poetry: A New Kind Of Newsletter…And A New Way To Read The Work
As (most) folks have their copies in hand, and as my motivation to promote the chapbook wanes, and I’d love for this newsletter to become a venue to do one of my favorite activities: to dig deeper into the work – to notice more, to look more closely, to squeeze more meaning out of each poem…and invite you all to do the same with me. I’m going to start writing some mini essays with different ways to engage with the poems and hopefully give you a refreshed, more meaningful experience if you’re inclined to revisit the chapbook.
Oh, and I’d love for this to be #interactive! At the bottom of the newsletter, I’ll leave some questions for you to consider. If you’re inclined, hit the “comment” button (it’s next to the “heart,” which you can also hit!) and let me know what you think.
Aaaaand…away we go!
6 Things To Notice/Consider About The First 6 Poems
Try this!
Consider the first six poems of the chapbook. Pick the one that’s your favorite. Or your least favorite. Or one that just kinda trips you up.
Then read on and see if these miscellaneous hints/questions deepen, illuminate, or complicate that poem for you. Let’s give it a shot!
1. “Double Double”: When the speaker of the poem says “Teach me,” who is he talking to? Could it be his loved one who appears at the end of “Notepads”? Or Brent who appears in “Brent”? Or perhaps even the reader i.e., his loved ones i.e., you? (By the way, when the speaker says, “Teach me…,” what does he want to learn?)
2. “Safety”: Hint – keep an eye out for references to hands, fingers, and palms (of all kinds)! (And keep in mind that the speaker in the poem – and the writer of the poem – really, really need those hands to, ya know, write a poem.)
3. “The Funny Thing About A Panic Attack”: Hint – the speaker makes a 9-1-1 call at the end of “Safety” and in the next poem, the paramedics arrive. What is the relationship between “a funny thing” (i.e., humor, joy, aliveness) and “a panic attack” (i.e., anxiety, grief, pain) in this poem and through the book? Where else in the book do those connect themes arise?
4. “Notepads”: What do you make of the last two lines? After suffering intense depression and achieving profound love in the process, what does it mean for the speaker that he can no longer find – and perhaps no longer has need – for his once-beloved notepads?
5. “I Found Some Of Papa’s Poetry, She Says”: Did this poem speak to your experience as a child/grandchild and/or a parent/grandparent? How do you balance wanting to be honest and vulnerable about your life – your pain, your trauma – but wanting to protect others as well? What responsibility do we have to share (or not to share), and what right do we have to know these truths about our beloveds?
6. “A Christmas Lyft To IHOP”: What do pancakes represent in this poem? (Psst...where else do you see references to breakfast foods – or more generally, carbs – throughout the chapbook?) Hint: The last poem, “I Wish You Superblooms,” is also about the speaker’s sister. Why end the poem – and the chapbook – with another reference to pancakes?
How did the questions/hints impact your reading of one of these poems? Did it change the meaning for you?
Was that, like, fun? Do you want more lil’ pieces like this that dig deeper into the work?
Anything else you’d like to add? (Anything at all!)
(Hit the comment button and let me know!)
With love and thanks and strawberries and pancakes,
Ben