Here’s today’s poem, followed by the source text:

our truck, our dog

after all the bad nights

and my failure to mother

after all the need we failed to repair

we took a vacation

evacuated our home of bad luck

and there in the beautiful forest

then in the deep air of summer

my husband broke down

the petrified beautiful night

was our last close call

Today’s an erasure…

12/1/82

Stone

misfortune

abounds

To you

I am

absolved

From Conscience Letter 233, Received December 8, 1982

For the month of April, I’ll be taking on a 30/30 project for ELJ Publications, the amazing press that published my first book, How to Break My Neck.  My poems will be posted here daily, so read up, my friends! I’m taking a stab at found poetry.  My texts will be the “conscience letters,” which are letters written to–and collected by–the Petrified Wood National Park.  I’ll cite the dates or cataloging number used by the park service.  The letters can also be found in a book called Bad Luck, Hot Rocks.  Let’s get it rolling!

Nicole Ross Rollender was kind enough to pose some seriously challenging questions about the writing process for How to Break My Neck. Give it a read at her wonderful Carpe Noctem blog. And you can sign up to receive updates from her when she posts!

Come see me! I’m happy to have a few readings coming up, and I hope to schedule more.

Wednesday, February 17 at noon, Harper College (Room L109) in Palatine, IL

Sunday, February 21 at 1:30 with ELJ authors Joyce Goldenstern and Sandy Marchetti, Sulzer Regional Library, Chicago, IL

Thursday, March 31 at 5 pm with authors from ELJ and Orange Monkey, Ham and Eggs Tavern, Los Angeles, CA (During the AWP)

Questions? Reading requests?  Email me!  I would love to hear from you. jwalshpoetry (at) yahoo.com

How to Break My Neck–my first full-length collection–has arrived!  It’s beautiful, and I am so grateful to ELJ Publications for their vision and support.  I do hope you’ll consider buying a copy.  You can go to their site to order the book, or you can buy directly from me via PayPal.

Y’all.  The  book is ready for pre-order.  It’s at the printers.  This is real!

http://www.booknook-eljpublications.com/store/p68/How_to_Break_My_Neck.html

Hi all–Here are links to a couple of publications.  The first, Ninth Letter, posted my poem “The Library Again” from last year’s Illinois Emerging Writers Gwendolyn Brooks Competition.  The second, Yellow Chair, has a piece I am quite partial to, “The Eyesore, The Nuisance,” from my new project of rural Gothic poetry.  More to come soon!