In Daily GET ON WITH IT

Thanks go to The Sister (aka Boonder) for making today’s update easy. I’ve re-uploaded “In Daily Prayer” to the poetry tab.

https://thestoryfolder.com/poetry/in-daily-prayer/

You can tell this was not only a Christmas present (Advent wreath in the bottom left corner, anyone?) but an old Christmas present, back when my sister and her husband had only one child. They’re up to three now, but The Sister was good enough to scan this and pass it on anyways when I called, lamenting loudly about how much I hate drawing. I’ll be haranguing IT Guy and his wife for a chance to scan their poem/picture, created the same Christmas this one was – it was a theme year. If all goes well “Lessons in Counting” will be up next week.

Actually, in a fit of pique* – before I called my sister – I almost re-uploaded all of my old poetry today, tired of stretching it out like this. I’ve discovered that not all of the poems conjure any particular visuals to go with them, so I probably will be uploading them a very small handful at a time. There’s a few I have vague picture ideas for, but many of the remaining poems just don’t really lend themselves to illustration. Also, I’m back in I-hate-art mode, probably because I’m gearing up to start illustrating my next picture book project.

In other news that will interest probably no one but me, I’m planning on posting my religious/political poetry on my personal Facebook page, rather than through TheStoryFolder business page like I have been. While my religious (and subsequently political) views form the bedrock of my worldview, I’ve always intended my writing to be for a secular audience. In other words, I’ve never planned on becoming a Christian writer – instead, a writer who happens to be Christian. The religious/political poetry will go up as-is on my site (I really do write poetry for my own pleasure – and when I’m short on cash and need a Christmas present idea), but I’m not planning on promoting them through my business page on Facebook. Thus they’ll go up on my personal page instead.

The distinction is perhaps silly, considering that I write under my real name. Also, that anyone following me on TheStoryFolder Facebook page was invited through my personal page. Still, it helps me to organize my writing intentions in my head, and that is excuse enough for me.


*Clearly I’ve been reading too many historical romances lately.

In Weekly Despair

I am very nearly officially out of poems to upload. I think I’ve said that before, but I’m actually starting to mean it. Good gracious, I’m actually going to have to write original content again. While I’m lamenting that, here’s a poem I wrote for my sister and her husband:

In Daily Prayer

Another Christmas present from a couple of years ago. I know how long it’s been because there are now two children in the household rather than just the one mentioned in the poem, though they’re still getting up by the light of moon (because my three-year-old nephew is apparently just a naturally early riser and the baby has an internal alarm that’s triggered whenever her mother is about to drop off to sleep; my brother and his wife, on the other hand, managed to produce a child that gets up after eight, so if I ever have children I’m going to be asking them for advice).

Also, this one is practically plagiarism, as you may have noticed (if you’re at all familiar with common Lutheran prayers, which, of course, everybody totally is). I love borrowing other people’s work, putting together a mashup, and calling it an homage. Good times. Actually, the more structure a poem has the more I like writing it. It’s fun to try and work around whatever rules I’ve chosen for a particular project. Sometimes I think I have such a hard time focusing on any of my novels because the playing field is just too open-ended. The amount of options bog me down when I write general fiction (I have spent years arguing with myself about the best way to start chapter one in a novel that I threaten to deep-six every other month), whereas a poem is both short and girded by pretty strict rules. You want to say something long and complicated? Oh, I’m sorry, you have ten syllables and a rhyming word to work with, now describe the difference between sanctification and justification in five words or less.

(Well, shoot, I just realized now I’m going to have to try that at some point. If only to find out if it can actually be done.)

In the meantime, enjoy, even if you’re not into the common table prayer. Just try not to focus too much attention on all the slant-rhyme.