I used to rant like fruit gone rotten

This is day 26 of 30-day blog challenge. Read day 26: “Where does creativity come from”

Many people don’t know I published a book of poetry. Fewer care, I’m sure. But, because I have way too much to do to write a blog tonight, I’ll share. The best reason to consider buying a copy of “Beyond the Eyes” is my sister’s work. Cyan Jenkins is a freelance illustrator, and this book was created as her senior project. She graduated from the Ringling College of Art in 2009. Then she and I both got married that same year. I married in March (while she was on spring break), and she married in June, shortly after she graduated. She and I each had our first baby in 2010, but she had her son before I had my daughter so she got me back for marrying first.

I’m proud of the work Cyan and I did together. I enjoyed watching her illustrate my poems. She breathed life into my imagination in a cool way. Some of the images I wouldn’t have thought up. She just took my words as inspiration to paint.

One of the poems in “Beyond the Eyes” speaks to a much darker time in my life. My husband and babies really took a chunk of my dark side away.

Reading this now makes me critical of my earlier work. Rambling madness and desperate cries for meaning and attention. But, I shouldn’t be so hard on myself I suppose. I like the like about chord tones because I know I got that from my husband trying to teach me about playing guitar. One day I will practice and become greater at guitar. Until then, I have Russell Eldridge.

I rarely write poetry anymore. I mean to get back to it, but for now I feel disconnected from the craft because I used it for so long to purge those feelings I couldn’t share with anyone else.

If you have any desire to read “Beyond the Eyes,” contact me and I can send you a copy. Cyan may still have some as well, but you certainly don’t need to pay Amazon prices.