My First Confession

Explorations of the OronocoI love the idea of confession, not poetic confession or religious confession but blogger confession --- nothing too messy; nothing too dangerous. But what do I know? The true name of this activity is the sacrament of penance. It seems to be pretty popular. I came across this article on Andrew Greely's The Poetry of Catholicism: Living Between Absurdity and Faith. And without knowing his work I recognized that this is where I like to exist best: between absurdity and faith.

Dear Reader,

This is my first confession in actually, Forever.

How does one confess anything on an open access blog? Here the idea of  confession becomes inextricably linked with exhibitionism. It cannot be otherwise.

And yet...I promise to do my best to be authentic and even a little vulnerable.

I confess this feels a bit odd. I also confess that at one point in my life I seriously considered converting to Catholicism.

Something true: my manuscript newly titled, A Spy in the Afterlife, is a terrifying book for me to have enter the world. It details a time in my life --- 30 years ago --- which I still understand as my own personal apocalypse. It's taken 30 years for me to be able to write poems about this time --- to not be able to write except about this time. 

For better or worse, one poem, Shadowbox, was published by the Academy of American Poets so I guess the secret is out.

Did I say yet that I am not a fan of confessional poetry? Elizabeth Bishop was known to respond to confessional work with, "sometimes I wish they'd kept it to themselves." I agree with her. Of course I can also confess that I've taken her as my dead mentor poet. That's another blogpost!



I am looking forward to 2018 as my year of possibility and magic. I want to move through my life like the woman in Remedios Varo's painting(see above) --- Varos --- a Spanish painter who spent most of her life in Mexico City --- I've written about right here.  I have an ekphrastic poem inspired by this painting to be published this spring. This painting, "Creation of the Birds" has haunted me for years. The poem took years as well. Dear Reader, I am a very slow writer. As I get older, this bothers me more and more.

Creation of the Birds
And so dear Reader,

So what have I revealed? A love for the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop and the painting of Remedios Varo. My hope is that their work will inspire you as well. Oh yes, that I am working on a 5th book, A Spy in the Afterlife that gives a surreal retelling of a difficult time in my life.

Should you have any thoughts on Bishop, Varo, or A Spy in the Afterlife --- I would love to hear your comments. Is anyone out there? I'm hoping so. It was my first confession and I don't want to have to go it alone. Isn't that why we're here --- to be a little less alone?