Begin a Foolish Project

This is our classic week of review, recalibration and resolutions. What were the highlights of 2011? How do you want 2012 to be better, different?

A classic week for hopes and dreams. I’ll be getting back to that theme at some point in 2012. Not sure when, because shortly into the year, I’ll be switching gears, moving over to Italy for three months, and blogging about that experience. The Boatyard blog will be quiet until I get back…but the brain will continue to mine this vein.

Volume II of Poems from the Boatyard is pretty well under wraps, and goes on hold now as I wait to submit—in 2013! I’ve found the workload on book marketing and selling to be much higher than I anticipated, and I need to pace myself! A book tour is tentatively in the works for late summer/early fall 2012. After that, I’ll submit my second manuscript.

In the meantime, another manuscript (a baby one) is going to Poetic Asides—The November Poem-A-Day Challenge. I barely made it across the finish line on that one, but did it, and after a series of revisions this month, off it goes tomorrow, just in time for the New Year’s Eve deadline.

Another submission to Atlanta Review is in the works as well.

I came within an email of having one poem published alongside a Mako Fujimura piece, Waterflames, the subject of the poem. Mako is one of my art heroes, so this would have been awesome; unfortunately, the gallery wouldn’t give permission to reprint the artwork. Dang.

So, no end of writing projects, but a little pause in it all to wish you a dream-building new year. And just in case you're feeling any trepidation about those dreams, here’s a little kick-in-the-butt from Hafiz:

“Fear is the cheapest room in the house.
I would like to see you living
In better conditions.”

And one from 13th C. Persian poet Rumi:

Move from within.
Don’t move the way that fear wants you to.
Begin a foolish project.
Noah did.

My father did. Will you?!

Happy New Year and thanks for helping to make 2011 an exciting one for this poet!