🌸 The World Is Too Much and Also BeautifulPoet Injuries/Baby Sock, Photobombing Dogs, Moon Missions, and More....
Hi Friend,
Happy Weekend! I’m back from the New Orleans Poetry Festival, where I taught a surrealist poetry class with poet and librettist Melissa Studdard. We were the last class, which made me a little worried because I thought everyone might be tired and thinking about midday snacks & drinks—however, I was so wrong! What a joy to be overfilled with people—two rooms, all chairs taken, and people on the floor—all writing surreal poems. It made me realize that even with everything in the world, people still want to create something, to write poems, to be in community. I needed that reminder. Melissa and I also did a little photoshoot for our poetry series, Poems You Need, and I, of course, wore the wrong shoes and sliced my foot (this should be no surprise to anyone who knows me—I always wear the wrong shoes). The problem was—we had no tissues to stop the blood; it was just me, bleeding onto my discount Italian flip-flops and the sidewalk like a very low-budget horror film. Our photographer, who turned out to be a quick-thinking hero, pulled out a tiny white baby sock (clean! her son’s!) she’d been using as a lens cover and saved the day. (And yes, I was fine, no stitches, just alcohol, Neosporin, and a very tight bandaid!) I won’t share photos of that, but I will share a favorite photo below. The one where I’m trying to get an author photo but I’m photobombed (photoboned?) by a dog who looks like he might be judging my shoe choice. Fair enough. . .he was a sweet pup. 💙
Of course, here’s the thing I keep learning again and again—nothing is ever just one thing. I keep realizing how much we live in the world of and/also. Yes, it was an inspiring festival and also my 92-year-old mom got a bad flu, fell, hit her head, and landed in the hospital. Yes, my book comes out in two weeks, and yes, I am on hold with Medicaid while purchasing her a walker online. Yes, there is joy, but there is also exhaustion. And yes, the world keeps handing us too much, and also we hold hands with joy when we can. (By the way, as of right now, my mum looks to be going home Monday. 🤞) So how do we keep going? Last time I suggested poetry and cookies. This time, I’ll suggest: we keep going by making small offerings—writing the poem, sending the text, saying hello to a stranger, calling a friend, calling our congressperson, showing up as best we can, even if we’re limping a little, even if we’re wearing a baby sock over our wounds. And maybe sometimes, we keep going by asking for a little help. (You can do that if you need to, you can also rest and stay home—that is okay too!)
The Importance of Preorders: A Memoir
Speaking of small things, I learned something yesterday I did not know, despite publishing my first book in 2003, I somehow did not know how much book preorders matter—like, really matter. Did you know this? I learned that apparently, the more preorders a book has, the more likely it is to end up in actual bookstores on the actual shelves—whhaaaat? Was I just floating around in a cloud singing “la-la-la I write poems and hope for the best”? (Yes. Probably yes.) So if you’re an author or poet, know that your preorders do matter—no matter where the preorder happens. (Of course, we can’t build our life around worrying about book sales because that’s a great way to just feel bad about ourselves—but it’s good to know as an author because until this year, I’ve never really even suggested preordering, I’ve mostly waited until the book is out!) So if you were planning to pick up Accidental Devotions, please consider doing a preorder (or order a copy for a friend) as it genuinely makes a difference—not just for me, but for the life of the book out in the world, for my press, and maybe even the small, lovely chance that someone might stumble across it when they didn’t even know they needed it. ALSO—if you do preorder and want a signed bookplate, just reply to this email or write me at kelli@agodon.com with your snailmail address and I will happily send you one with a sweet thank you note as well…I mean, as my poem says—
Other Good Things:
So that’s it for now. I hope this finds you in good shoes and waltzing into the small miracles of spring. Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading, for your joy, for your notes and emails and support, and for keeping me company on this strange and beautiful spinning planet—the images from Artemis II remind me that from up there, the borders we argue over don’t exist—all those invisible lines we keep insisting on while the earth just keeps being whole. Here’s one of my favorite images from the mission, it makes me cry (and I’m not even in an airplane right now):
Happy Spring! If all else fails, follow the blossoms—they seem to know what they’re doing. 🌸 xo, kells
📍Where to find me: Facebook, Instagram, Groovin’ on a Saturday Afternoon This post is public—feel free to share it with a friend, another poet, or any devoted reader. 💕 Thanks for reading Postcards from a Poet, a joyfully unpredictable newsletter with surprisingly good timing and that will always be free.
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