Clean

Greetings, poetry lovers! As National Poetry Month draws to a close, I wanted to share some poetry-related news with you.

First, I’m excited to announce that my poem “The Morning After” has been chosen to appear in the 2017 Texas Poetry Calendar. The calendar is always beautiful and I know I’ll be in good company there. My piece will most likely be in the month of December because it’s a Christmas poem of sorts, but that’s all I’ll say about it. You’ll have to pick up a copy of the calendar to find out more.

But wait, I have more good news! Last week, The Bohemian Freethinker interviewed me as a featured poet on her blog. What an honor! To read the interview, click here.

Also, my good friend Ashley Davis—horror writer, poet, and mother of twins—posted a great list of poem recommendations on her blog. While many of the selections are ones I knew, “Sleep Suite” by Sharon Olds and “Home (Initial Findings)” by Franny Choi were both new to me and both blew me away. Plus, Ashley was kind enough to include one of my poems in her list, and I thank her for that.

And finally, last Thursday was Poem In Your Pocket Day. I spent the afternoon with some lovely students at McCallum High School, talking about poetry and sharing some of my work. And, of course, I carried a poem in my pocket.

Below is my poem, “Clean,” published here for the first time:

Clean

Thursday, April 21st
was “Poem in Your Pocket” Day—
between folds of denim
I tucked a haiku away.
The verse gave form to my footsteps
and structure to my weekday.
Seventeen lightweight syllables,
a literary stowaway.

April 22nd was Laundry Day.

productivity
eclipses poetry—I
wash my pocket poem

Unfolding the damp remnant,
I see the poem has transformed,
gone through a cold-rinse revision.
Words/melt/together,
            syllables slide
from one line
            to the next,
abandoning the rules of the haiku
for something softer,
           fresher
and entirely
            more free.

© Carie Juettner, 2016