Just when I least expect it, something breaks through.
This time in came in the shape of a 30,000 pound rectangular public vehicle. A Vancouver C-Tran bus to be specific. I needed that crowded slightly smelly bus more then I care to admit. Not just because I am a horrible driver (those of you that know me -shushy). I prefer public transit because driving feels like a dangerous waste of time when I could be people watching, journaling, or reading another chapter. I would rather make a to-do list on a scrunched up subway than drive in the rain (sleet, wind, or sun) any day. Unfortunately, my current abode is squarely in the country, and me owning and using a personal vehicle is necessary for my lifestyle. Nonetheless, this month, the bus carried me. And my words. I was selected among 8 other Clark County poets to be published for Poetry Moves, an annitiative through Printed Matter, the Arts of Clark County, and C-Tran. That means that this week, my poem went into 33 buses. During a rather difficult time, this was exactly the little win I needed. Then Christopher Luna, the editor and publisher called and asked if I would be willing to be interviewed by The Columbian on a bus discussing the poetry on a bus. A poet on a bus discussing her poetry on a bus? Yes please! These were little wins during a dark December. The real wins, the lasting one, the ones that I am not a little embarrassed to talk about, were the connections. It was the encouragement from Toni Partington that felt like she meant it. It was Christopher giving me his time to talk. It was a fellow poet and her husband remembering my work a month after a reading. It was that same poet agreeing to critique my poems sometime. It was Jan Piece and her unwavering confidence in me. She even brought her husband to the public reading at the Vancouver Mall, even though I am sure he could not hear a word I said. It was the positivity of Scott Hewitt who interviewed me on a bus and reminded me that writers are out there actually making money. It was a comedic author who blew me away by publishing a moving memoir in under a year- then turned around and telling me he would be willing to read my novel. It was meeting a writer who gets paid to interview local chefs while they dine on the cuisine. It's friends who I know would be right next to me if they could, but instead sent me supernaturally timed texts precisely when I needed them. These new and old friends were the big wins. These people are carrying me, reminding me to lift my head up, and write something. So in my own, slightly poetic way, as I dawn my black beret in the plastic seat of this human packed chariot, I thank each of you Warriors of the Pen. snap snap snap snap snap snap snap snap snap.
2 Comments
10/24/2022 07:13:41 pm
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The AuthorErin is a doula, writer, mother to men, and teacher on permanent hiatus. She loves how writing connects us and thrives on the bright edges of human experience. |