The first of my poems published was the dancer, which appeared in a California State University Stanislaus small publication entitled Between Sheets in 1978 (those days all of my poems were untitled). At this point in my poetry life i’d never submitted and i didn’t again for a long time afterward. It was a wonderful surprise to have it accepted. The reason i submitted was my mom, who was an affirmative action officer there and wanted me to submit (though she had nothing to do with the publication.)
i’d been writing since i was 12 or 13 and didn’t really share my work. One day my mom, who was an English professor (though at this time was likely still working toward her PhD) found some of my poems in a drawer. i entered my room to find a note from her praising me for my words. i often wonder what would have happened if she’d not been such an ardent supporter from that first moment.
It wasn’t until i moved to San Diego in the early 80s that i began to share my work publicly, to read at poetry venues and to find my voice for sharing my words (it takes some work, to read your poetry in just the right way).
So click through to read my first-ever published poem (now with a title, the dancer):
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to read a selection of my poems, please return to the poems drop down menu to choose from the list of poems.
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Photo by Nick Scheerbart on Unsplash