This week, I had the good luck to be randomly chosen from a group of submitters as one of two poets to have two of their works critiqued by Tim Green, the chief editor of Rattle poetry journal, along with other Rattle editors and a host of other great critiquers on YouTube (click the “play” button on the above and then the YouTube icon at the bottom to see the livestream comments) and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=694429759028123. The session was also livestreamed on Twitter https://twitter.com/RattleMag/status/1616481073705414656?s=20&t=ZdQ_yFjKjq5IgjXDyOq-Ag. That’s way more publicity than any of my poems has ever gotten, by a landslide! “On Visiting My Mother’s House after Her Death” and “Two Birds,” both on this website, were the two poems of mine discussed. I made a few comments on the Facebook live chat; unfortunately, it would have been too much for me to toggle back and forth between this chat and YouTube’s to participate in both (but luckily, all the comments remain). I also took the opportunity to ask about Tim’s and everyone’s views on formal poetry. The answers were pretty encouraging!
I’m glad that I submitted two of my poems that I still wasn’t quite sure about, rather than two that felt more finished to me, because I learned so much from the feedback. I’m currently working with the suggestions on my first poem; then I’ll be on to the next. I’ll update the original posts of these poems here once my revisions are completed. Keep your eyes out—and thanks for dropping by! 🙂
Poems--A. Baez 