Back in 2008, I took a course at the Muse Online Writers Conference called “How to Turn Your Poetry Into a Saleable Chapbook.” I had a lot of poems under my belt and wanted to create a cohesive collection.
I looked over all of my poems, and sorted them into themes. I found a lot of them were on the darker side: death, pain, abuse. Of course, a lot of those were from my teenage days. You know how teenage angst can get. But I still use poetry to deal with the darkness.
With encouragement, I went ahead with the dark theme. Chose my title, Chiaroscuro. My initial tag line was: Exploring the darkness, bringing the monsters of death and abuse into the light.
What was initially a 25 poem chapbook later expanded to a book length collection so I could enter it into a local writing competition. I didn’t win, but I did get valued feedback from my peers, and wrote what is now the introduction.
During April Poetry Month of 2013, I wrote some promising poems that fit the theme, so I polished those to fill out the content some more.
And now it’s become a digital book.
I looked over all of my poems, and sorted them into themes. I found a lot of them were on the darker side: death, pain, abuse. Of course, a lot of those were from my teenage days. You know how teenage angst can get. But I still use poetry to deal with the darkness.
With encouragement, I went ahead with the dark theme. Chose my title, Chiaroscuro. My initial tag line was: Exploring the darkness, bringing the monsters of death and abuse into the light.
What was initially a 25 poem chapbook later expanded to a book length collection so I could enter it into a local writing competition. I didn’t win, but I did get valued feedback from my peers, and wrote what is now the introduction.
During April Poetry Month of 2013, I wrote some promising poems that fit the theme, so I polished those to fill out the content some more.
And now it’s become a digital book.
Excerpt
Anniversary
The door lifts to the bleak garage--
flashbacks barrage,
emotions show,
eyes overflow.
One year has passed since he's been gone;
my heart's withdrawn.
His red race car
sits like a scar.
My finger traces through the dust
as thick as lust;
I draw a heart
and then depart.
The door lifts to the bleak garage--
flashbacks barrage,
emotions show,
eyes overflow.
One year has passed since he's been gone;
my heart's withdrawn.
His red race car
sits like a scar.
My finger traces through the dust
as thick as lust;
I draw a heart
and then depart.