Tag: poetry

Sequel Poetry Book Velvet Flame Now Published!

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry, WritingLeave a comment

I’m so happy to announce that my new poetry book has finally flown the coop and is available on Amazon! I’ve started writing some of the poems in it a decade ago…while I was pregnant with my first rainbow baby, who is about to turn 10!!

It’s a crazy endeavour writing and editing a poetry book while in the midst of kid chaos, but I gathered poetry in the cracks, and have finally found the time and tech support to get my book launched.

You can expect poems about:

  1. Rainbow babies
  2. Nature
  3. Family Life
  4. Struggle
  5. Friendship
  6. Travel
  7. Contemplation
  8. Writing and Work

Today I went for a celebratory launch-lunch with my husband and toddlers…and plan to have some book launch get togethers in the future for those close by. I’ll keep you posted. Let me know if I should save you a copy of my book!

And for everyone…here’s the Amazon link so you can take a look!

velvet flame: the poetry in life after loss

Thanks for all your love and support!!

Anna ☺️

Children’s Poetry Anthology Forthcoming!

On By Anna EastlandIn Family Life, Poetry, Writing2 Comments

I’m so excited to be part of this amazing project—to compile almost 200 poems for children from over 60 poets and present them in a gorgeous, fully illustrated keepsake anthology!

Here are some sample spreads to give you an idea what the book is like. I have three poems in the book, and many others are written by talented and lovely friends of mine from my online poetry group and writing classes at The Habit.

We are really honoured to have our poems illustrated by the talented Emily J. Person, whose work you see above. It’s really magical to have one’s poetry illustrated!

To produce this quality of work takes a fair investment, so we are running a kickstarter to support the project, and are almost there!! We need to reach our goal by Tuesday, March 11th for this book to come alive; if we don’t no one will be charged as the project work go ahead. If we do, it will be published on time for Christmas this year!

If any of you would like to support the project from Canada, but prefer to avoid shipping, you can get an ebook version. I think it will still be delightful on a tablet or computer.

Here’s the link to our Kickstarter if you’d like to get yourself a copy or even just to spread word about the project in these final days of fundraising. Thank you! 🙂 🥰

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bandersnatchbooks/illustrated-childrens-poetry-anthology

A little rant on editing one’s poetry…

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry, Writing6 Comments

It can be a hard thing to be a poet. To be every day pouring your soul out through your words, every day spinning them into magic like the tireless spider, each day hoping your silver net will catch a ray of sunshine in a dewdrop, and it that tiny microcosm, encapsulate a piece of your world.

And that is the fun part, the inspiration, the communing with the spirit that guides you…but after that, comes panning your river of words for gold among the rocks, the shaking of your pebbled poems, the cracking of them to see if they sparkle inside, the shaking off the dust and dirt that obscures them.

And this quiet work of refining can take years. Long enough for you to almost forget that you wrote the poems, that you spoke them into being with your sufferings and joys…and to wonder, now that you’ve squeezed out your soul, if anyone cares…or if everything you’ve said is outdated and unimportant.

And yet you yearn to hold this ethereal creation of yours in your hot little hands. To show it, to share it, to hold it up and say, “See? I have triumphed!” To celebrate it’s birth with the giddiness of a new mother and the delight of a child. And whether or not people buy this treasure of your soul (for less than the price of going out for lunch even) is …important, yes, but not essential…

No matter what happens to your book, now flown the coop of your computer, it has been created, and it is a victory. The bodiless angels themselves are marvelling at the human ability to tap their fleshy fingers, rumble air through their delicate throats and pour out song.

With these thoughts I comfort myself as the poetry project I’ve been working on for almost nine years comes to a close, and as the tenth anniversary of the loss of my daughter Josephine approaches, for whom I wrote my first poetry book, and for whose little siblings I’ve written this next one.

May my new book come into the light and fly away, so my hands will be free to write the next one, which is already printed on my heart.

Let Businessmen Wear Black

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry4 Comments

Let businessmen wear black 

and straight-laced grey faces,

but let poets punctuate 

their wardrobes with patterns 

that leave lingering traces… 

Let bards wear bright flowers 

and nice funky hats, 

red shoes or loud boots

and snazzy jackets that shout:

“Oh, yeah, that’s right,

     you know it—

          you guessed it:

               I’m a poet!

I’m a walking, talking metaphor—

a symbol in motion and what’s more,

a barrel of books, ready to pour 

the golden brew of language

upon your heart’s door.”

Happiness Haiku

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry2 Comments

A listener of happiness author Gretchen Rubin’s  podcast recommended the practice of writing a daily haiku to promote mindfulness…noting the little beauties of each day. What a great idea, in a simple form: 3 lines of verse with 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. It’s quite fun, actually, and worth a try! Here are a few I wrote this morning:

Haiku 1

Morning light floods in

kitchen aflame with brightness

blue sky day begins

Haiku 2

Ring of Queen Anne’s Lace

bursting in my picture frame–

silent fireworks dance

Haiku 3

Sun warms my bare toes…

toddler drags me down the stairs 

delighted to play!

Unworthy

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry1 Comment

There are times I feel unworthy of poetry
incapable of receiving inspiration
cause I’m overly immersed in soap suds and laundry
combing out tangles in hair
and sibling relationships
putting out constant fires
–flashes of jealousy and
fits of frustration so loud
it’s hard to hear the quiet whisper
of a newborn poem
wanting to meet the world

But I need to dismiss these unromantic doubts
because it’s not really about me
Is a candle worthy to illuminate the night?
Yet it is in it’s very disappearing–
that it gives burning light

Your love for me doesn’t depend on my greatness
but is rather a sign of Yours
Fill the empty cup of my heart
to overflowing
Help me exude Your warmth
and be with me
in my noise and chaos

Help me find the whisper of your presence
like flashes of gold in a mountain stream
and amidst all the pebbles
help me find poems

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Dragon’s Breath

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry9 Comments

Whispy clouds linger in
the vertical mountain valleys–
sooty streaks of smoke
left by dragons
ascending into the
somber sky-dome
and disappearing
with the mountaintops.

Homer at dawn

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry2 Comments

Every morning “dawn with her rosy fingers”

tickles the snow covered mountaintop

and, softening her cold shoulder,

she begins to blush.

Little Jo Travels the World

On By Anna EastlandIn motherhood, Poetry, Writing4 Comments

It is with gratitude and bittersweet joy that I can tell you my new poetry book, written in the year after I lost my daughter Josephine in labour, is now available for purchase online at blurb.ca.

unexpected blossoming: a journey of grief and hope

After a year of writing, and a year of creating the book, my friend Rachel (who really made this project happen) and I, after some excellent final editing by my husband James, ordered several boxes of my poetry book. It shipped within three days, on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. There couldn’t have been a more poignant day for me, as I’ve drawn such consolation and hope from her in this journey. I really wanted the book to arrive on time for Josephine’s second birthday, on September 30th, and it came in good time only a week after ordering it. I am so impressed with the self-publishing company Blurb! Emotionally, I needed her birthday gift on time and they delivered.

To celebrate little Jo’s special day, we had an open house book launch, and filled our home with people from 1-5:30 pm. It meant a lot to be surrounded by loving friends and family. My mother and sister-in-law even took the ferry to be here. My amazing friend and midwife Terry-Lyn also came, with a tiny pot of white flowers. This made my day. The hands which held my baby, when so few others have, will always be sacred to me. I know she holds my Jo in her heart as well.

That day we ate goodies and shared stories and sold books. In the few weeks since receiving my boxes of books, 200 have sold or been donated. I had the honour of reading one of my poems at an event for bereaved families on October 14, the evening before international babyloss day. My books were available for any grieving families, counselors, funeral directors or other care workers who were there to take with them.

In a strange twist of fate, it turned out that one of the counselors there, Sarah, is close to a good friend of mine, Katie. She had driven her to my house the day before Josephine’s funeral to deliver the soft white blanket she is wrapped in. Funny how life works.

I am grateful that my little Jo is able to be so active in this world from Heaven. That her special mission to reach out and comfort other moms through my writing is being carried out. That she will be known and remembered. One of the sweetest comments about my book came from a Korean friend in broken English, after having read it, “I didn’t understand all words, but I think your baby very happy. She sees her mama loves her very much.” What more can I ask?

Today I mailed 20 more books, so my little girl is, in her own special way, seeing the world, as her book travels to Calgary, Tofino, Nelson, Saskatoon, Toronto, Rome, Hawaii, and the Philippines. My little shooting star…may she bring sweetness and hope to every heart she shines on.

PS If you know a bereaved mom or family member who may appreciate a book, please let me know in the comments below, or order one from the link above.

 

How blogging helps prevent soul clutter…and house clutter, too!

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry, Writing2 Comments

Half a year ago, as I was busy sorting through my boxes and packing up my house for our move, I found all sorts of precious old papers–boxes of dusty journals that hadn’t seen the light of day for years.

For you see, before I had my blog, writing was a covert operation. Almost nobody was allowed to see my poems. My scribbles were hidden away, safe from scrutiny, safe from the ‘horrific danger’ of being disliked or dismissed.  I’ve grown a little since then, and realized that unshared art is like a silent opera…tons of emotion just burning to be released, but kept in a bottle. It’s worth it to risk people laughing at you, to make it possible for them to cry with you, hope with you, and rejoice with you.

So in honour of the publication of my first book of poetry, I’ve decided to release some of my earlier writings from their solitary confinement and share them with you. Perhaps some sappy love poems from my early days dating my husband, impassioned prayers from my time of conversion to my faith, or other melodramatic outpourings…So if every now and then something appears from “Anna’s archives,” I hope you’ll welcome it kindly and pat it on the head, even if it is a little bit puppy love…

And once I let it live in Crazy Land, I can recycle the original! So it’s all part of my mission to delcutter my house, and by sharing these pieces of me with you, also delcutter my soul. Where is your soul clutter? Is there something inside waiting to be shared? Set it free!