Fly Away...

So I've compiled a Chapbook of my poems. A chapbook is a small pamphlet-like collection of poetry. Usually an poets's first attempt at collecting their works in a cohesive manner. Mine contained 27 poems that loosely tell the story of important parts of my life. Almost all of the poems included have been published in other locations - online or in print. But there's something appealing about having them together - to tell the story only they can tell when bound together.

A lot of poets print their own chapbooks and hustle to do readings and peddle their work themselves. And I've thought about this a lot. But there's something, for me, in needing the validation of others, that has pushed me to enter chapbook competitions hoping for someone else to do the labor in bringing my work to print. There's something, about someone else, (not a family member or friend) saying - yes, these words belong together and we should get them into the world.

So I've sent them out again - currently waiting on two different publishers to tell me yea or nay. I never allow the rejections to sit too long, before sending my work back out to someone else. Because there's something inside me that says that this collection, my work - is something to be shared. Just wish I had the guts to do it myself; that I allowed my own validation to be enough to risk it.