As it was for most of us, the global pandemic and its aftermath was a very traumatic and trying time for me. A very deep and personal betrayal led to the end of a ten year relationship, just in time for the entire world to be closed as I started my search for a new direction in my life. Then I had a stroke, which resulted in an arduous rehab to recover my dominion over my own faculties.
But one thing remained constant: my love and desire to write poetry and make books. And as often happens when one has a guiding light in life, the path ahead revealed itself when I showed the faith and resolve to move forward. The Universe seems to sense when we are ready for our next adventure, and the path reveals itself.
I reconnected with literally the first person I friended on the internet, Tré, and we began working on a project called Moonscape: Haiku Phase I, which was to be a year-long exploration of how the moon affects our lives: in haiku and illustration form. The format was that one of us would write a haiku and share it with the other, who would then write a haiku in response. After a year of this Tré began working on the illustrations for the 70 haiku pairings, and despite having gone through some very serious medical challenges also, Tré finished 70 illustrations in three months.
Yesterday was the official release of our first book together, Moonscape!
But more than just seeing our own vision realized, we're also offering a spotlight for other poets to share their work.... Wolf Twin Review. Having made the decision to leave Zombie Logic Press and Review in the past, I had no idea how much I missed providing an arena for other poets to shine. Please check out our first few featured poets at Wolf Twin Review
I am so proud and overjoyed with what Tré and I have created together, and as I did with Zombie Logic Press, Zombie Logic Review, and Outsider Poetry, I want to share it with the entire community of poets and writers I have been lucky enough to meet and call colleagues these past 35 years.
Also, I want to share two of my favorite pages from Moonscape.
Page 10
Page 56
I could have chosen any two pages of the seventy to represent what I loved about working with Tré as a fellow haikuist and illustrator, but what I like about these two is I think they accurately represent the range of emotions and human experiences we went through over an entire year, from the whimsical and carefree, to the deep and poignant. The moon really did bring out a full range of emotions in us. And I think we were able to capture that in Moonscape.
In short, it's nice to be back publishing poetry, my first love, and working with the best partner one could ever have, and I hope anyone who has been part of this journey in the past, and anyone who would like to join us on our journey in the future, will join our little wolfpack and howl with us.
Owwwwwwowooooooooooo!!!!!!!
It would be a great honor to us if you'd share our adventures at Facebook and Instagram or just send positive vibes our way as we take steps together towards our dream of continuing to create forever and offer platforms for others to share their creativity.
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