I Allow Myself Poetry

I’ve said this before, but poetry is probably the largest influence on my comics.  What I feel and experience in reading my favorite poems is what I hope to express in comics.  The poet Dorothea Grossman is up there for me in terms of guiding this idea.  I so wish I had VOLUMES of her work instead of the slim selected poems that was published shortly after her death.  The poem that I mention in the comic is called “I Allow Myself” and you can find it here along with many others and a couple of podcasts that feature her work.  I also want to note that I misquoted her poem in the comic.  It should read: ” I allow/ myself the luxury of breakfast/ (I am no nun, for Christ’s sake.)”

I am a proud subscriber of Poetry Magazine and still an avid listener of the podcasts.  I *still* have a crush on Don Share and Christian Wiman (although Wiman has since moved on from the magazine and the podcast).  How can you not have a crush on two men who make their job editing and writing poems seem fresh month after month? How can you not have a crush on someone who continues to labor with such love?  I guess this is where poetry and comics meet so clearly–neither art form will most likely pay the bills, but they both go along way to keep on the lights.

Happy National Poetry Month!