A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Hundred-And-Seventy-Nine

I did finally send out my next query letter today, and I am glad for that, though I am not entirely confident in it.  Really, it can't harm me, though, I don't believe, and it is certainly in my best interests to keep going on that front.  I am going to need to start doing some more research at the moment, though, for the next several agents on my list.  It may take a bit of work for that, but I know it is important and I'm ready to go.

In addition, I also wrote another poem that I feel, actually, pretty good about in some ways.  I've been going into some new places with my work of late, and I feel it is important that I am doing work I would never have been comfortable with before.  It is far more connected to the events in the world and reflects aspects of my experience and perspective that I never directly spoke about.

I do have an idea for a poem that I know I want to write, but I am still coming up with the way for it to work.  It is about the idea of upbringing, and the notion that a person becomes connected, in a way, to the cultures and communities they grow up surrounded by.  A person whose family is from South America can grow up in an area where everyone on the block is Chinese, and it is likely they will have some sense of affinity for that community, perhaps even a sense of belonging, or an understanding of it as some part of their own identity.

For me, this is an interesting thing, as I grew up in a neighborhood that had a strong and open GLBTQ community.  Indeed, the building is only a block or two from the Stonewall, a place with a strong historical import in terms of gay rights.  My point is, despite my being straight, I feel as though I am connected to that community in a way that is a result of my having that exposure throughout my life.  It is not something that I had ever really contemplated or understood, but it is something that I am realizing has been true of me for most of my life, and I would like to find a way to understand that more deeply, which is why I want to write about.

Anyhow, I feel that I am in a good place with the work.  I have to get myself going on a number of other levels, as I said yesterday, but I am not going to dismiss the import of writing poetry so much more these days.  I need to keep at that, even as I push myself further.  It cannot be a matter of shifting the focus and losing what I have gained already.   My writing poetry is an important a thing, and I know it makes a big difference in my life when I am doing this.  As well, I really do believe in the work.  I still have a lot to do, of course, but it won't be accomplished at the cost of stepping backwards in terms of my writing.

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