it’s day 6 in tupelo’s 30/30 project, the december edition. i struggled yesterday to get something onto the page, and i struggled today, too. i just couldn’t settle in. it’s possible that i’m thinking too much: it’s been known to happen. even still, i got out of today’s draft at least a few phrases i like — and they came after i let myself be playful. i have the most fun when i start with play earlier in the process, but every day is different!

though i’m going to do something different over the weekend, today i continued to work in 14 lines: a sonnet-like thing called, for now, “december sonnet #6: the strength of.” here’s a preview:

size up [orgasm] by how closely it resembles unveiling, the lifting
of the sun enough it goes the rest of the way itself. Except –

let it not be pretty. Let it be the mess and decisiveness
of the butcher: how the cleaver does not stop at thigh, gets
down to femur.

want more? i think you do! c’mon, it’s about orgasm, AND i included a fun sex fact about chimpanzees! PLUS there are other poems there by my fabulous fellow december-ists. go get “some.”

note: the image here is a close-crop of a pic from a 2009 NYT article on young butchers. upon revision, i may mine the article for additional inspiration. you can click through to the article, as well, via the image.