Most of what I write is creative nonfiction. I like basing my art on facts. How I conduct my life—as a teacher, parent, and home owner—is through carefully constructed lists. I don’t easily rest in the middle of things.
My co-editor, poet Cheryl Wilder, does. Throughout our friendship, Cheryl has shown me what it looks like to be okay with the undone, both in her life and in her poems. (Lists, she says, make her eyes glaze over.) Fulfilling a long-held desire, I am enrolled in a poetry workshop. My first poem was based on facts, and got a little better when I let go. Three poem drafts in, and I already feel more open to openness.
Cheryl leads our November issue of Waterwheel Review with thoughts on the middle. Writing by Catherine Schmitt, Mary Warren Foulk, and W.A. Schwartz.
[Feature image is an empty Dollar Store, taken by author Catherine Schmitt.]
Suzanne Farrell Smith 