I was stuck on this one for a while, but I decided to try it as a villanelle. That worked. Sort of.
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Never compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do.
Winning By Michelle Garren-Flye
I win again, don’t try to deny it! My victory doesn’t have to be scored; I won against myself, you should try it!
Numbers aren’t needed if I supply it… but there you go, acting like you’re bored. No matter, I win, you can’t deny it.
The world should rejoice with my win while it is still fresh; I’m ready to be adored! I won against myself, you should try it.
You can’t take it away or define it. I know I have won, my inner crowd roared! I win again, don’t try to deny it.
Now don’t worry about what that guy hit; his score doesn’t matter, it’s my record. I won against myself, you should try it.
For self-improvement this works, apply it and your faith in yourself will be restored. I win again, don’t try to deny it; I won against myself, you should try it.
Lol. I’m starting to think these freaking fortune cookies are trying to tell me something. And unfortunately for them, I’m not in the mood to write love poetry.
Still, when I got this one, “Love makes the world shine”, I thought, well hell. Maybe I should try a villanelle. (Yes, I rhyme in my thoughts.)
Villanelles were originally meant to be love songs. The form definitely lends itself to that. So I gave it a try. My original thought was an astronaut floating in space looking down at the bright sparkling lights of the cities and towns with affection. However, my brain immediately asked me why he was out there? And this is what I got.
It’s been a while since I wrote a villanelle, and this one was literally finished about five minutes before I wrote this. Still, it’s not awful.
Enjoy!
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Love Lights Up the World By Michelle Garren-Flye
Floating in space, feeling fine, beauty below fills you with pride; what makes the world shine?
Golden lights that’ll make you pine for all you’ve ever been denied— but you’re out in space, feeling fine.
Surely such beauty is benign and should not be denied. It’s what makes the world shine.
Mysterious glow sends a sign that will not ever be denied even out here in space, feeling fine.
The stars themselves must align to serve as such a bright guide, and that’s what makes the world shine.
Escape the tendrils meant to entwine— be careful you do not collide! Safe now, floating in space, feeling fine.
You just couldn’t be part of that design no matter how much you have tried. Love is what makes the world shine, but you’re floating in space, feeling fine.
If you follow my writing at all, you know I am fascinated by different styles of poetry. I’ve written haiku, sonnets, villanelle and am now tackling the dreaded ghazal. I’ve often said that if I have writer’s block, I will write haiku to break it.
So when one of my favorite e-newsletters arrived in my mailbox featuring an article about Oulipo, an organization of French novelists and poets, I was intrigued. These writers believe writing with certain constraints actually inspires creativity. For example, very restrictive forms of poetry as far as rhyme and/or length and even more daring constraints on works of fiction. Like writing an entire novel without using the letter “e”. Some of these works have been translated from French to English…also without using the letter “e”, if you can believe that.
What would it be about restricting yourself that actually inspires creativity? I can’t answer this, but I know that historically adversity can lead to great works of art. The Renaissance, for instance, was conceived during the darkness of the Bubonic Plague. Amazing works of art resulted from the pain of the Aids epidemic. Wars have always inspired great art. And the Covid-19 lockdown released a flurry of works of art, literature, and music that we are only beginning to appreciate.
Is it because we as humans have to hope that adversity creates great work? And following that, do we as artists create artificial constraints on our work just so we can burst out of it? Does restriction force something else out of us? Or is writing a sentence without the letter “e” just silly? (Or: Is it silly to try to show our thoughts without using a common symbol?)
I can only really answer to what works for me (and it’s not not using the letter “e”). Although I don’t totally agree with Robert Frost that “Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down”, I do believe that I write good sonnets…and haiku…and villanelle. Not sure about ghazal yet. What do you think?
Star Falls
By Michelle Garren-Flye
Recite poetry in a husky voice—I hear your calls!
Tell me the story of the world and the star that falls.
How is it okay to whisper it all in my ear?
Count every moment from now to when the star falls.
It won’t matter anyway, I won’t let myself care.
I’ll run away—I swear I will—run ‘til that star falls.
But wait!, you say, are you sure that’s really okay?
The moments don’t pause, though, no, not until the star falls.
You’re silent at last, peace surrounds me and I will stay.
Last chance to wish on my whisper (sun’s rising!)…and star falls.
I’ve been making up some graphics to help me promote Learning Curve, which will have its official release day next week. If you can’t wait, you can order it on Amazon now, of course, but if you’d like a signed copy, my bookstore is the place to come, specifically next Friday from 5-8 p.m. (although any other of my open times works as well).
Here’s a bite-size tidbit to help you decide if you want to join me on the learning curve of life…
Happy December! It’s cold today. My hands are cold as I type. But it doesn’t usually stay cold here for long. Tomorrow will be warmer. Maybe I’ll find something else to write. Any suggestions?
I just sent my latest poetry book, Learning Curve, to the printer. This is the third poetry book in my Poietry Diaries series, my sixth poetry book overall. I think. If I counted them right…
Anyway, it’s done. I started this one in July. Now in mid November, almost exactly four months later, it’s done. And I’m proud of it. The poems are well written, edited and illustrated. The format of the book makes sense. I’ll be proud to have it on the shelf at my store. It’s a good addition to my repertoire.
Here’s the blurb for it:
Learning Curve is a contemporary collection of poetry written in the style of villanelle, originally a rustic Italian song, later developed into a French form of short poetry and then into a format with a rigid and demanding rhyme scheme and format. Award-winning poet Michelle Garren-Flye takes on this form in the latest volume of her Poetry Diaries, taking the reader along on not only an emotional journey but also one that promises to introduce the reader to a beautiful form of song-like poetry that will delight and enchant any poetry lover.
Let the reader beware, however. As the poet acknowledges, poetry is the most true of any form of literature. If the truth is anywhere, it’s definitely in these pages.
And finally, it took me a while to decide on how to format this book. It’s a little different from my others. For one thing, I went with black and white again. I was going to go with all simple line drawings, which is more my forte anyway, but I wound up adding shades of grey (lol) to many of them. Here’s one I particularly like that I thought I’d share with you. If you like it, stay tuned. Release date will be announced soon!
Poem and illustration copyright 2022 Michelle Garren-Flye
This Sunday, November 20, I get to do something I don’t often get to do anymore. I’ll be just an author selling her books.
I’m not totally certain I remember how to do that…
Running a bookstore was a dream of mine for a long time. I used to haunt the two little bookstores in my hometown. The Book Nook was my favorite because it was used books that I could actually afford. (I did buy my first new hardback book there, though. Black Beauty and Other Horse Stories. It cost $15 and I still own it.) Highland Books was where I went to dream. I didn’t have enough money usually to buy the books, but the owners were tolerant and didn’t say anything if I curled up in a corner with a brand new science fiction novel they knew I couldn’t buy. I wonder how many people bought books there that I had already read?
But I digress. I dreamed of owning my own bookstore for a long time but I didn’t realize that when I got one, I couldn’t just be an author anymore. Yes, I write in my bookstore. And sometimes I sell one of my own books. I’m on the bestseller table here, so I do sell some here and there, and it’s definitely exciting when I do. But I’m mostly here to sell other people’s books.
On Sunday, however, I will be at the New Bern Farmer’s Market from 1-4 p.m. with a slew of other authors, all selling our own books! I’m planning to take all the books I have here at the store (well, maybe leave one copy of each on the shelf) and hope to sell them and maybe get some people reading my poetry.
And still I won’t be able to resist asking what kind of book people like to read. And I know enough of the other authors there so I’ll know if their books are a better fit than mine. And I won’t hesitate to send them that way…so it might not be that different from being in my little bookstore at all. 🙂
It’s been a bit since I last updated. I’m busy busy getting Learning Curve finished up. Sometimes it amazes me how synchronous bookbuilding can be. I set out to write fifty villanelles. Actually, I set out to master the art of the villanelle, which is an accomplishment in itself. During the course of writing villanelles, it occurred to me that I could make a book out of them. It also occurred to me that two of my previous poetry books were actually the beginning of a series that Learning Curve could continue.
Synchronicity, man.
And now I’m putting together Learning Curve, and synchronicity seems to be more a factor than ever. I didn’t write the villanelles with any sort of organization or sections/chapters in mind. And yet, they seem to be dividing themselves up perfectly in groups of ten. Almost perfectly, anyway.
For me, this part of bookbuilding takes some time. I have been drawing all along while writing villanelles, and many of those illustrations are finding their way into my book. But I’m also drawing special illustrations for some of my poems. I’m putting together each page separately, just as I’ve done for past books, but I think I’ve gotten better at it.
Plus, it’s been very synchronous.
One of the illustrations from Learning Curve. Copyright 2022 Michelle Garren-Flye
Well, not quite. I’m a bookmaker, not just a writer. Now I am entering the phase of putting the book together. In some ways it’s more fun. In others, I miss the constant search for rhyme, the debate about rhythm, thinking in verse.
I’m trying something different with the illustrations this time. I’ll still have them. This is going to be a black and white book, though, so it will be less expensive. And I sort of felt like the color in my other books sort of interfered with the poetry. Maybe not quite as much with 100 Days as Hypercreativity, but some. And villanelle, man. Villanelle needs to be admired for what it is.
I had never heard of villanelle before July 16 of last year. I had just written Far & wee, my book of 20 sonnets. I felt fairly confident I had a good grasp of sonnet writing and I wanted to try something new. I asked on Facebook what kind of poetry I should try next and a friend suggested villanelle.
The more I researched villanelle and tried to write it, the more it became obvious that I’d have to write much more than twenty to come close to mastering the form. There’s so much to think about. Not only rhyme, but placement of the rhyme. And finding new rhymes. I mean, you could write ten to twenty villanelles with rhymes ending in -ay and -ate but it would get old. (Trust me.)
So this book is going to be a bit different, even, than the other two in my poetry diaries series. It documents what was going on in my life somewhat, but it’s also a literary journey for me. I’m learning how to write something new and hopefully you’ll be able to see that I get better.
I know some of my favorite poetry that I’ve written thus far is in this book. I won’t tell you which ones they are. I’m also kind of fond of some of the illustrations, even though I don’t imagine I’ve improved that much in that respect. (That is not false modesty. I have improved, but only so far.)
So, I’m off to make a book. Hopefully I can have it done soon. Maybe even in a week or so.
The other day I wrote that I had completed my fortieth villanelle. This project has taken much longer than my last one (Far & wee). I’ve been writing villanelle since July. I still haven’t perfected it, but the forty I’ve kept are decently passable. Some are even quite good. I think there’s at least one that’s among my favorite poems I’ve ever written.
I’m trying to write fifty total for the book. And I haven’t yet figured how I’ll illustrate them, although I’ve also been drawing at the same time. I have an idea or two. We will see what works out.
At any rate, although I can see the finish line, I’m so far away still! So even after a busy day, I take my computer up to my room with me and before I sleep I try to write a little. Yesterday was one of those days. Busy from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. I collapsed and ate a bagel and watched a bit of television with my daughter. And then I went to bed and wrote.
A line and a half.
It took me thirty minutes.
And still when I closed the computer, I was happier than I would have been if I hadn’t written anything. Because I knew today I would finish that poem. I haven’t done that yet. But I did finish the first verse. And I like where it’s going.
BREATHE: Michelle Garren-Flye 