It has been a while...

Hi Everyone!!!

OK, so it's been a long time since I have done any serious writing, let alone any published here.  This last year was tough - really tough - to want to write.  I know - with all that time, my heart just wasn't in it.  Especially for the poetry challenge.  It was all so new and surreal, I just had to take a while to stay away from it.  I felt like my poetry was getting rather bland.  So I needed to take some time away and think about it.  

SO - there is some good news:  I will be back at the annual National Poetry Month Challenge this year!!!  The energy is back, and maybe so is a little bit of my voice.  BUT - this is not going to necessarily be like other challenges.  Usually, I do them haphazardly, often in the waning moment before getting to bed, or I wake up and get them done, etc.  This year is going to be themed.  I often do not do themes because I find them restricting.  Well, what that means is that I've been picking the wrong themes.  So it's time to pick a new one for this year, and this leaves me a month to think about it, and get my ideas in order to write.

Now, for those unfamiliar with it, the challenge is this: each day, I will write (and publish here) a new and original poem.  These will likely be unpolished.  Typos, etc will happen.  The point is that it's an exercise, and I am inviting you all to join me.  Yup - send me something you write, and I will publish it and give you the credit you deserve for it.  Or, just follow along.  Or, do your own and don't share it.  It's entirely up to you!

What theme am I using?  I'm not telling you yet, because I'm still figuring out the finer points.  Suffice it to say, some of this is likely going to get a little uncomfortable for some people.  I normally stay away from the uncomfortable stuff because, frankly, it's not fun to write about, and no matter what, someone always has a bone to pick about it, and makes the proverbial "federal case" out of something that doesn't amount to much - or at least, it shouldn't.  That's gonna change this year.  I'm not going to apologize for it, because I don't think art (even bad art) should apologize for existing.  We're human, and we're messy, at times.  The idea behind poetry is to reflect some of that "messy" along with some of the "bright and shiny," and that is what I am going to attempt.  

So, stay tuned, everyone out there, and check back soon!!  Until then - 

Thanks for reading,

Me