I lack spatial reasoning – the ability to mentally re-arrange objects without physically touching them. I have to do mock ups & even then it’s frustrating. In this case it was the logic behind piecing together my chap book – page layout so that when it gets printed & collated everything is in the correct order for the reader. On the page the left side is one, but the right side is not two – but whatever your final page number is to be – a single sheet is actually 4 pages – chap books thus need to have pages counts divisible by 4 – confused? So you see my issue.
With the help of a second set of hands this layout work got done. Hurrah! This’ll be longest chapbook I’ve self-published. All the pieces have been prompted by the 48 Laws of Power – but I resisted calling it Power Poetry & opted, as I always do, to title after one of the pieces – in this case “After The Falling.”
As I do with a feature I made sure the flow was one that invited readers, amusing them to start & then getting political, human, queer sexy & ending with something unlike anything else in the book. The pieces underwent rewrites so they are somewhat different from the versions I’ve already blogged here.
I told someone I was pricing it at $10 & they felt that was too expensive for a chapbook. Considering that they would tip a bartender that much for a couple of good cocktails I said “I’ll keep that in mind.” Keeping in mind that they won’t be getting the complimentary copy they expect. But this is a gripe for another post.
It’ll stay at $10.00 for the hard copy. If you want a PDF copy send $4.00 to my paypal below & I’ll email you a copy. The PDF will have additional Power pieces. My Hot Damn! set will also have some non-Power pieces not in the book & a PDF of the actual set will be $2.00. All PayPal funds go to buying me (& other poets) coffee at Capturing Fire 🙂
a piece that didn’t make it to the final cut of the printed book or the Hot! set:
Answer My Texts
you never answer my texts
he texts me
why not
he wants to be a friend
to know what I’m up to
one day the texts came so fast
he didn’t know
which one I was replying to
when in fact
I didn’t want to reply to any
it was a waste of my time
plus I hate texting & walking
it was none of his business
what I was up to
at any given moment
he wanted to made sure
I wasn’t having sex
when I wasn’t even having sex with him
he wanted to be my friend
I wasn’t sure why
we had little in common
other than being male
we’d met twice face to face
which was enough for me
and he built on that
even as I made it clear I wasn’t interested
after the flurry of texts
to set up that first meeting
I knew I wasn’t interested
I am not suspicious by nature
but I value my privacy
there is nothing worth discovering
no trade secrets
no best-seller plots to pirate
he wants something
I’m not sure what it is
but I’ll never text fast enough
to find out