Dorothy Prizes and other blessings
No one gets into poetry for the money. But sometimes, the money from poetry can really help.
The last time I got a notice about the Dorothy Prize (and I didn’t know this yet, but good friend Kelli Agodon was a co-winner with me, back in 2007) I had just gotten back from an overnight hospital stay for a terrible asthma attack, our landlord hadn’t paid the propane bill (apparently) so our rental home’s propane tank was repossessed, and my mother was coming to stay in a house with no heat or hot water. To say the least, I was a little stressed. I walked back into the house from the car, felt so defeated about being sick and having no hot water or heat…and clicked on my e-mail account to read the good news. It could not have come at a better time to cheer me up.
This week was a little better than that – although I did have a very pricey surprise car repair this week, which I was stressing out about, and last night I was worried about the $30-odd dollar ferry tickets it took to get over to my reading in Poulsbo – having sold only one book. (It was a fun reading besides the lack of book-selling, with lots of friends, and a beautiful sunset on the way over.)
But it was a lovely and welcome surprise this morning to hear I had won a Dorothy Prize for my poem, “A Morning of Sunflowers (for Fukushima.)” Other winners include fellow blogger Matthew Thorburn. I am so grateful for any financial support from groups like the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg fund that are set up to help poets. There are so many stamps, and entry fees, and money spent on classes and books along the path to being a poet, that add up – this kind of gift can go a long way in helping a poet afford to keep writing.
The combination of unexpected February sunshine and this good news makes this an extra-nice Sunday! (and Happy Super Bowl, to those who observe it!)
Take My Breath Away…
Sorry to make that Berlin reference.
So, nothing quite as humbling as having to rely on others to help you just…breathe. I’ve spent several scary days literally doing nothing more than trying to breathe normally. My husband spent two sleepless nights in the ER with me and my mom actually flew out from the midwest to help take care of me. Takes the wind out of the sails of the “me, I’m immortal” feelings that someone my age (only 34 after all!) can often have. Missing AWP was a drag, but really, I am just happy I am still alive. Puts things in perspective and also reminds me about my own dreaded and hated physical frailty, which I can’t really ignore although I’d like to. I used to play basketball and soccer, for heaven’s sake, I white-water rafted and rappelled and mountain hiked for kicks and loved horseback riding and all that kind of cool fun stuff. Now I’m like, gee, hope I can go to the grocery store on my own soon, hope I’m healthy enough to go teach a class every day in March, hope I’m healthy enough to…well, you get the point, nothing too challenging on my list right now.
I was thinking of all those literary cliches of sick women – you know, the cousin in Heidi, the young guy in the Secret Garden, all those laudanum-waving women in Austen and Bronte. Hey, isn’t the sea air supposed to be good for people like me, according to those books?
So, in the universe, all bad must be countered by good, or so, sometimes, it seems. The day I got the gigantic steroid shot and albuterol/oxygen treatment at the hospital, I also found out I won the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg prize, along with Kelli Russell Agodon. It was a shock and I am very grateful for the money (lately, it seems like I’ve been scrimping and saving just to buy stamps! and I have about $300 in my bank account right now…how could I have afforded AWP again?) especially with all the extra costs of the last move. I haven’t managed to actually process the win or celebrate yet, but thanks to all of you who sent me notes and encouraging comments. Thank goodness for people who think it’s a good idea to give money to poets. And I’m very happy to have Kelli’s name right there with me.
For those of you following the story of our rental adventures, our propane tank was returned (un-repossessed?) and our landlord had it refilled for us free of charge to make up for the inconvenience. Sigh of relief.
PS Yes, I am feeling much better, thanks for your well-wishes! I think the combination of throat and chest infections are finally dying off and I blew a 400 on the peak flow meter tonight, which is pretty darn close to normal.
PSS To balance out all that depressing health stuff, some cute baby polar bear videos for you:
http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/polarbear/videos.html
