On Re-Entry, MRIs and Tulip Fields, National Poetry Month – What Are You Doing?

Purple Tulip Field, La Conner, WA

On Re-Entry, Week 2: MRIs and Tulip Fields

So this second week of April, after my two week past-vaccination date, I have been experiencing gradually the pains and pleasures of re-entry into what most people would call “life.” Last week, a Zoom reading, a doctor’s appointment, a haircut, a visit to the gardening store.

This week, a little more challenging: MRIs and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

I had an MRI I had put off for a year, this is to check that the tumors in my liver have not grown or spread, indicating cancer or other bad things, so really not good to put off too long. Wearing a mask for someone with claustrophobia in an MRI tube while having to “Hold your breath” for extended amounts of time is something I will add to my list of “do not want to do again.” Even though I’ve been vaccinated for a while, I still didn’t really feel comfortable in the waiting room (and they were running an hour behind) so I kept walking out of the building and walking back in. So, that was something I tried and didn’t feel comfortable with, but I don’t know how comfortable I was before with MRIs, frankly. Think good thoughts for the results for me.

Me in red tulip field

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

So, last year they cancelled the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival because of the pandemic, so we were really looking forward to attending this year. However, we woke up the day we had made reservations (you have to make reservations and pay ahead of time this year, new irritating feature) and it was spitting snow. On April 10! All day long we were followed by threatening clouds, cold winds, spitting snow, hail, and rain.

And yet, we still soldiered on. This was probably the most challenging thing I’ve done people-wise, and body-wise, although a lot of it was outdoors, and people weren’t pressing in as close as usual. The traffic was knotty getting up – I guess we weren’t the only ones anxious to see some signs of spring. Everything wasn’t blooming yet – even the weeping cherry at Roozengaarde wasn’t blooming, and I would say more than half of the tulips weren’t up yet.

Glenn and with tulips and forsythia

After the MRI, I had a sore throat, tummy troubles, and my ankles were acting up (stress and/or giant magnets sets of my autoimmune problems,) so along with the cold, we maybe should have rescheduled, but we were anxious to get some spring flowers into our eyes, if not our nose (because in the gardens, even though we were vaccinated and outdoors, everyone’s still required to wear masks, which seems a little like overkill to me science-wise even as an immune-compromised person, but… So all the pictures without masks are either outside the official gardens or in an area without other people, just to clarify.)

We saw a pair of nesting bald eagles and a few herons, as well as horses, sheep, chickens, and peacocks, but missed out on seeing seals and otters, which we usually see. We did find a new piece of sculpture we really liked celebrating the annual Snow Goose migration to the Skagit Valley. Here are a few pictures. Even on a day spitting rain and snow, and everything not quite in bloom yet, it still managed to a good day for photos.

So we had an adventure! By the time we got home, we were exhausted and crashed into bed. Every time I go up there, I’m inspired to buy a small farm and start being  an organic flower farmer, or perhaps a miniature pony farm.

Me in pink with pink tulips just opening

National Poetry Month – What Are You Doing? How Are You Doing?

In years past, as I read past blog posts for April, I noticed I would attend about three readings a week, give a couple of readings, attend a conference or a ‘con, get together with friends for their book launches. It was so much it was overwhelming even to read about!

This year feels quieter and more muted. So how are you still celebrating Poetry Month during the pandemic? I managed to squeeze in a couple of Zoom talks this week, one by Dana Levin (who talked about strangeness in poetry) and C. Dale Young (who talked about rhetoric vs the image among other things) – two poets who would be hard for me to see in person, so that was cool.

Glenn and I with tulips and threatening clouds

I’m giving a Zoom reading on April 18th (I’ll post more when I have the link) and I’ve been reading more and trying to write more (although I haven’t been able to do a poem a day this year.) Too many in-person re-entry things to do! It takes more energy than it used to to do simple things, like go a store or the doctor, in person. This is part of the re-entry pains. My favorite all-poetry bookstore hasn’t re-opened yet for shopping in person, but soon, and I’ll enjoy browsing there again – it’s a great place to run into poets books you might not have heard about anyplace else.

In personal poetry news, I’m feeling a little discouraged, by not getting a big grant I applied for, or a job I applied for, or individual rejections, or the fact that I can’t find anyone excited to publish my new manuscripts, which may be slowing down my writing and submitting. It may be that the re-entry is more anxiety-producing than I’m admitting or aware of. It’s certainly not “life back to normal” here in the Seattle area, yet. Will it ever be? Life post-pandemic seems fraught with questions we don’t yet have answers for. I’m an introverted extrovert but not being able to interact with others on a regular basis is also still kind of a bummer. I’m hoping to have actual in-person contact with friends and family soon…

Pair of bald eagles with nest

Anyway, I want to wish you an April full of health, happiness, flowers, vaccines, and a gentle re-entry. I hope you read some poetry you enjoy and maybe even discover a new writer to love or lit mag you’re excited about. Hope you can get outside and listen to the birds and enjoy the outdoors and that it doesn’t spit snow on you. I really want to hear about how you’re celebrating a modified  National Poetry Month.

Stealth Spring in Seattle, Spring Submissions, Poetry Month Approaches

Early pink cherry blossoms

Stealth Spring in Seattle

Waking up to gray, forty-something degrees most days this last week, it felt like we were experiencing a “stealth” spring – flowers were blooming, little by little, birds were singing a little more, but the warmer days (and the accompanying sunshine) have not, so far, appeared. Nevertheless, I’ve kept my eyes open for signs – a few daffodils opening here and there, early cherries, and here and there, a branch of flowering quince. All these pictures were taken in my neighborhood. O3

I had a reading – a Redmond Poet Laureate Reunion Reading – on Thursday, which I had to leave early from in order to speed Glenn across town for his first Pfizer shot. Soon we will both be safe to go inside buildings and visit with friends – although people still are very cautious here, everyone’s still wearing masks and nothing is as busy as you think it should be – except for the outdoor winery tables, which are overflowing with people, here in Woodinville.

Daffodils

Spring Submissions

And along with spring, comes spring submissions season. Of course, some places read submissions year-round, but for some reason – spring – particularly April – and fall – particularly September – seem to be the big submission month, maybe because most lit mags read during those times. So I’m printing out my Excel spreadsheet and looking at lists of places that are open. Hey, getting published isn’t easy or effortless – it takes a lot of work. And more organization and detail-orientedness than is ideal for someone like me. Oh well. Part of the job of being a poet.

Besides individual poetry submissions, I’m now sending out three (!) separate poetry manuscripts, which seems nuts. Someone has got to pick up one of these collections soon!

Red quince and red rhodies

Poetry Month Approaching!

It’s almost April, which is National Poetry Month – which means more readings – yes, even I’ll be doing a reading – and more attention to poetry in general, which is good. It’s also my birthday month, and when I’ll technically be able to safely go out and be fully immunized. And it’s Tulip Festival time – even if spring is running a little late, Skagit Valley will be full of blooming tulips by the middle of April, and I’m planning a day trip up there to see them this year, having missed it last year due to the shutdown. Wish me good weather luck!

It’s also a month when many new poetry books come out, including my friend Kelli Agodon’s book from Copper Canyon, Dialogues with Rising Tides, among others. Go ahead and treat yourself to a few good poetry books for poetry month. If you want any of mine, signed by the author, (some of them hard to find on Amazon anymore), see here!

Anyway, I am wishing you all a happy and healthy spring, and a happy National Poetry Month. I am hoping the vaccines will be faster than the variants. I am hoping for an end to our plague year at last

Spring Equinox, St Patrick’s Day, Vaccinations, a New Book in the Works, and an Upcoming Redmond Poet Laureate Reading

White cherry blossoms, white sky

Spring Equinox and a New Book in the Works

It’s cold and gray on today’s Spring Equinox and official first day of spring here in Seattle, although there is evidence spring is approaching or at least trying to make some progress. I usually write and think about poetry (and life) more on the equinox for whatever reason (passage of time, seasons, poetry stuff, don’t they go hand in hand?) and today found me organizing, shuffling, taking poems in and out, copyediting a brand new poetry manuscript – all written in the last year and a half. A press asked to see the full manuscript yesterday, which led to me having a flurry of fixing and editing and polishing and retitling. But it was a good feeling – productive, happy – to be working on this new book manuscript, and looking towards the future.

St Patrick’s Day and Vaccinations

It was a more celebratory St. Patrick’s Day this year than usual because I was finally able to get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, so a lucky day indeed. I felt great the day of the shot, no allergic reactions, though had a down day the next day (like a normal human – fever, chills, headache, nothing crazy.) It was sunny and Glenn and I went out and took pictures with the plum blossoms afterwards. Glenn won’t have his shot for another week or two at least so it’s a moderated celebration, but it feels like there’s something positive on the horizon. after so much stress and anxiety about when and how I’d get the shot and if I’d catch covid before I got the shot.

Washington State has only vaccinated about 12 percent of people so far, so we still have a long way to go to any kind of “safe” opening up, but at least it’s finally moving forward after crawling at a snail’s pace while other states raced ahead. The process of getting the vaccination appointment took three people (myself, my mother in Ohio, and Glenn) after a friend called me to clue me into to how the vaccines were proceeding so yay teamwork, but it shouldn’t have been such an undertaking. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you are still waiting for your shot – your tech-savvy friends and family, your friends who are volunteering at vaccine sites – and I hope you all get your treasured vaccines sooner rather than later. It really took away a great weight and anxiety I had been feeling for at least a year, but even more recently as numbers and variants have been on the rise. I feel like I can focus on other aspects of life again. Like writing. And friendships. And living life.

And my birthday is coming up at the end of April, usually a happier time although last year it had a distinctly mournful feel in the middle of rising death tolls and with the vaccine far on the horizon. I hope this year will have better things on the horizon.

Upcoming Redmond Poet Laureate Reunion Reading

And I have a Zoom reading coming up – a Redmond Poet Laureate Reunion reading, with current Redmond Poet Laureate (and friend) Raul Sanchez, Rebecca Woods Meredith, Michael Dylan Welch, myself, Shin Yu Pai, and Melanie Noel. It’s from 3 PM to 4:30 PM Pacific on Thursday the 25th, so you’ll see each of us read for a few minutes, which should be fun. I’m going to read some new work!

Here’s where to register for the event. 

Changing Times (and Seasons), New Poems in the Fairy Tale Review, Science Fiction Libraries, and Daring to Hope

First Plum Blossoms

Changing Times (and Seasons)

Well, we’ve now had a few sunny dry days and already our late spring seems to be starting to arrive; I snapped pics of the very first cherry and plum blossoms in our neighborhood. I was out sick last week after a mammoth five-tooth-repair dental appointment (these things knock me out for about a week, typically – I blame my weak immune system) but this week I notice I am moving slower, going to sleep earlier, and craving more vegetables (especially in soups – potato and fennel, snap pea and asparagus) and our time change happens tonight at 2 AM, which can affect a lot of people different ways.

In Seattle, I’m usually happy for the extra hour of light, which is desperately needed. I purposefully took some walks around town this week, trying to get some exposure to the sun, fresh, air, birdsong, etc. This morning we picked out some herbs to start in the garden and Glenn will do the hard work of getting them in the ground. I’ve been practicing my Japanese (still very beginner level) and guitar (same, I’m afraid.) I snapped some pictures of birds as well as flowers.

Sylvia poses with Fairy Tale Review’s Gold issue

New Poems in Fairy Tale Review

I had a little good news in the mailbox this week.  The first was the Gold issue of Fairy Tale Review, a journal I have been trying to get into for years, maybe since it was first created, and this issue (yay!) has two of my poems in it. The theme of the poems was Anne Sexton’s Transformations.

I’ve included them below in case you want to take a sneak peek at them.

Two poems from the Gold issue of Fairy Tale Review

First cherry blossoms

Science Fiction Library Feature

I also received a lovely booklet from Jeremy Brett, a librarian and archivist at the Science Fiction Library at Texas A & M University. This booklet featured a bunch of books, but my book The Robot Scientist’s Daughter was featured in “When Science Goes Awry” with a nice write-up. I appreciate it, guys!

If you ever get a chance to visit Texas A & M, you should seek out the Science Fiction library, which includes wonderful archives of terrific science fiction writers (including me!) It’s on my list of trips to take!

Steller’s Jay in planter

Daring to Hope

So, are we there yet? Chronically ill and disabled people in Washington State are STILL not eligible for the vaccination yet, but I’m hoping the time is drawing closer (and I’m twittering about it to my governor as much as possible.) With the vaccine being an important step to being able to live a normal life again for both me and Glenn – we are starting to think about things we might be able to do again without worry – shopping at a grocery store or picking up flowers, browsing in a bookstore or going for my MRIs (among other doctor and dentist appointments) without fear of dying as a result. I have been in a stew of anxiety since the year began – wondering and waiting for the vaccine to be available – but now I’m starting to hope I’ll be vaccinated by my birthday at the end of April, that I’ll be able to visit Skagit Valley’s tulip gardens while they’re still in bloom, that I might be able to see my friends and family in person and even hug them (?) I’d like to visit Snoqualmie Falls in spring, too – I love the woods – and maybe even an exotic day trip out to Port Townsend.

Me with new fixed teeth

And, I have to admit, as an asthmatic, I am really hoping they do away with mask requirements for vaccinated folks (at least outdoors,) because I didn’t want to complain publicly because I know we had to wear them for safety, but I struggle to breathe in almost any kind of mask for any amount of time. But I will probably still wear one in dentist and doctor’s offices, when I have to go into the hospital, for medical testing, and certainly in any kind of mass transit, for the foreseeable future. With a primary immune deficiency, I realize there are more germs than just coronavirus out there, and I could have been doing a better job protecting myself – mask, gloves, changing shoes and clothes when I get in from a crowded setting or travel. This pandemic has made me much more aware of my vulnerabilities – and not just to coronavirus. I want to spend as little time in the hospital as possible for the rest of my life, and these new practices might help.

During this last two weeks, I also had some pretty crushing rejections – including a press that kept my book for a year (ouch) – and am hoping that a good press will give one or both of my books a chance very soon. I want to be able to focus on something positive as we wait out the rest of this painful year (plus) of plague.

So what about you? What are you most looking forward to?