One of my favorite things about writing for Newcity is that they care deeply about their authors and our decisions. I’ve gotten great feedback on my work and I’ve never felt opposition to me giving pushback or even asking for ridiculous things like the poem quotes throughout this article. They’re ridiculous because that’s a lot of extra work in design and editorial, but I thought they really enhanced the piece and my editors and the staff listened and they did the thing. You need a copy of this article in print, it sings visually.
I cannot thank y’all enough, Todd, Nicky, Brian, and Jan! You’re a dream team.
Interviewing Mayda and avery was a three-hour experience in joy and camaraderie. I was so lucky to be a part of it and I had a blast. Go read their work today after you read this article!
Eric (he/him) is a poet, translator, and interdisciplinary artist. He is the author of the forthcoming Magical Poetics (Bloomsbury), translator of the forthcoming Saint Catherine of Siena: Prayers (One Subject Press), and author of three hybrid poetry books: Ca’Venezia(Partial Press, 2021), an artist’s book of hybrid writing and visual art; We Knew No Mortality (Acta Publications, 2018), poetry and memoir; and the poetry chapbook 30 Days Dry (Thought Collection Publishing 2015).
The street sun-lined is quiet and cold unfamiliarly. I rest in my bomber jacket waiting for
I am not twenty-one anymore and I do not drink. Do I want to visit a museum? I am
Too easy.
Feeling like the cold air is right. Like my crow’s feet dug in. I should be wise.
Have I lived too many me’s and strung out my soul? Atropos is hanging by a
Restless. Pining, but unwilling to act. I should steal something. I am far too good; I should act out. I could never! Even these thoughts hurt me.
Restless. Nothing I want but to
Move.
The younger me would do something,
Maybe too much, but something.
Is wisdom boring?
Will I fade away
Forgetting the details
Only walking
Never running again?
What do I love harder?
What passion is under the knitted blankets?
Where do I learn about Marcus Aurelius and have a heated argument with a fascist until he falls on his sword from my wit and warmth?
I tell myself if I cared more
If only I cared
But don’t I?
Isn’t the cold street
Empty only in this moment’s eyes
Which I could brighten
To see the jonquils
Peering through the mulch
Open-mouthed and beckoning?
Our leopard gecko, Cheese, in a photogenic moment (one of many).
DVD Poetry Side Quest
We’re gearing up to find a new apartment in June/July and that means purging. I started with books and didn’t really do what I’d consider a “purge,” though I got rid of more than one and that is a minor miracle. However, I did manage to actually purge DVDs.
I’m keeping some, but getting rid of all these. Various reasons. I thought of a fun game for them that’s better than shlepping them all to a store right away. If you would like to purchase one of these DVDs, I will mail it to you
AND I WILL INCLUDE a brand spanking new poem inspired by the film. Or what I remember of it.
How’s that for a weird side quest?
Intrigued? Email me your selection and your address and I’ll Venmo request you for $20 (which includes shipping).
Eric (he/him) is a poet, translator, and interdisciplinary artist. He is the author of the forthcoming Magical Poetics (Bloomsbury), translator of the forthcoming Saint Catherine of Siena: Prayers (One Subject Press), and author of three hybrid poetry books: Ca’Venezia(Partial Press, 2021), an artist’s book of hybrid writing and visual art; We Knew No Mortality (Acta Publications, 2018), poetry and memoir; and the poetry chapbook 30 Days Dry (Thought Collection Publishing 2015).
If you’d like to catch up on previous posts, visit “newsletter posts” from the menu on my website and enter the password: poetryismagic!
Sometimes, even newsletters are too much. I owe a great debt of joy-seeking cuore energy to poet, songwriter, and life-lover Danielle Gasparro for giving me the permission I needed from the universe (I convinced myself I needed permission) to reject permission and just send whatever moves me in my newsletters and social media accounts. Thank you, Danielle, for telling me to be the artist I am and not manicure my missives.
SO. I’m going to free up my patterns and explain them less.
I’ve begun an experiment in reclaiming my online presence. Thanks for being on this journey with me.
Spent a long time seeking out Saint Catherine at the Art Institute and found her passively cradling these flowers. This is how an artist portrayed the woman who begged God to crush her and remake her as a vessel of the eternal divine by showering her in blood.
When the light comes
–
Evolution ::
a voice that claims monstrosities,
The body’s inevitabilities.
I claim to know nothing, but in all knowable signs
If you’d like to catch up on previous posts, visit “newsletter posts” from the menu on my website and enter the password: poetryismagic!
Photo credit Olivia Welsh
Eric (he/him) is a poet, translator, and interdisciplinary artist. He is the author of the forthcoming Magical Poetics (Bloomsbury), translator of the forthcoming Saint Catherine of Siena: Prayers (One Subject Press), and author of three hybrid poetry books: Ca’Venezia(Partial Press, 2021), an artist’s book of hybrid writing and visual art; We Knew No Mortality (Acta Publications, 2018), poetry and memoir; and the poetry chapbook 30 Days Dry (Thought Collection Publishing 2015).
If you’d like to catch up on previous posts, visit “newsletter posts” from the menu on my website and enter the password: poetryismagic!
Highlights:
Whatnots
–
Sometimes life sneaks up and says “nope!” and plans get ripped out from under you, like the cozy rug of my planned visit to Louisville to premiere “Tomorrow, Overnight,” my Holocaust memorial poem. Same with the still winter chill in the air here on day one of March in Chicago.
Some days things suck, and then they don’t. I get to expand “Tomorrow, Overnight,” particularly the erasure sequence “On Conduct” (which is now going to be the full page length of the essay I’m redacting). Next week, I’ll be in Baltimore with all the poetry hooligans I could ask for. Magical Poetics is turned in (!) and due out late this year or early next. I’m writing a silly amount and am looking forward to sharing it with you.
Here are some more things that have given me joy lately. I hope you’re finding joy, too, despite the bleakness of the weather, the government, [insert modern horror here].
Eric (he/him) is a poet, translator, and interdisciplinary artist. He is the author of the forthcoming Magical Poetics (Bloomsbury), translator of the forthcoming Saint Catherine of Siena: Prayers (One Subject Press), and author of three hybrid poetry books: Ca’Venezia(Partial Press, 2021), an artist’s book of hybrid writing and visual art; We Knew No Mortality (Acta Publications, 2018), poetry and memoir; and the poetry chapbook 30 Days Dry (Thought Collection Publishing 2015).
I’m excited to support Tupelo Press by writing every day this month!
(March is my birth month, so you can expect some fiery Aries poetry if you stick around!)
I’m writing to ask you to donate, if you’re able. Here is the link to my donation page! Tupelo has been publishing since 2001, which is a nice feat for a small publisher, especially of poetry. Their journal, Tupelo Quarterly, published me last year, and I was so grateful for their support and how involved their editor was in the process. The press does wonderful things to foster young writers, often publishing first books for people who go on to big careers.
Each month, writers like me join the 30/30 project to write poems every day to be posted on Tupelo’s website. We get to share our poems in progress, which is very cool and raises our profiles, and we raise money for Tupelo.
Anything helps! If you can’t donate at this time, please share my poems and my fundraiser page with your friends and family. My work will be posted each day of March on this page! The first two poems are up, search for my name (they’re in alphabetical order).
Independent nonprofit presses are the lifeblood of today’s poetry. Without the hard-working folks at these presses, who publish work they believe in knowing that they’re not going to make tons of money off it, literature would be totally tied to profit and would stagnate. We always need people willing to risk it for art, and nonprofit presses like Tupelo are doing the work.
You’ve got these perks to look forward to if you donate and make sure your name is displayed:
$15 or more and I will send you a personalized postcard!
$25 or more and I’ll write a poem for you based on a prompt you give me!
($15 is about the price of a nice cocktail in Chicago, where I live, so keep that in perspective)
I’m excited to write for/with/amongst you this month!
-Eric
Follow my calendar for events!
I’ve added a handy calendar to my website so you can keep up with readings and events I’m a part of. Check the link out below, add the calendar to your Google Calendar or app of your choice, and stay tuned for more event announcements!
Eric (he/him) is a poet, translator, and interdisciplinary artist. He is the author of three books: Ca’Venezia(Partial Press, 2021), an artist’s book of hybrid writing and visual art; We Knew No Mortality (Acta Publications, 2018), poetry and memoir; and the poetry chapbook 30 Days Dry (Thought Collection Publishing 2015). Follow him at reshoemaker.com.
