Support Beauty

It may sound hyperbolic, but poetry has shaped and saved me. As a child, I was drawn to the zany poetry of Dr. Suess and to Shel Silverstein's fun, child-like wonder.

As a teen, I might have destroyed my eardrums listening to music and lyrics: The Beatles, Nirvana, Bjork, Bob Marley...the list goes on and on. There was a song for every mood swing.

And as an adult, I've been inspired too many poets to list.

Poetry has taught me to "dive into the wreck," to be "the happy genius of my household." It has inspired me to pay attention and rejoice in my "one wild and precious life."

Poetry has helped me to heal, it has helped me to examine life, and it helps me to remember to have fun sometimes.

I believe that this is the power of poetry, of all art—to lift, to inspire, to teach us to ask questions, to progress, and to make this world a better place.

We need current voices. We need intelligent voices that have been long suppressed. We need the voices that will rise above the din of our information age. This is why I'm participating in Tupelo Press's 30/30 challenge.

Your support gives me vital inspiration as I write for thirty days this month.

Tupelo Press provides the canvas; I bring my words, accompanied by a cohort of fine poets, writing thirty poems in thirty days, all ours to edit and submit as we wish. 30/30 poems have been taken by over 200 journals and featured in over 40 published chapbooks, all so Tupelo Press can keep publishing exquisite and diverse voices that might never be heard otherwise.

Every dollar gives me confidence to write more, and helps the press place more poems in gorgeous books. Help me to help this distinguished press. Give today!