I was trying to figure out how to organize poems I’d collected into the manuscript that became How the Universe Says Yes to Me, when I came across something online called Notes from the Universe, which offered a daily email, from a benevolent universe, filled with positivity, affirmation, and assurances that the subscriber was in charge of her own destiny. Hmmm, I thought, that’s soooo not the way it works for me. The universe felt in my mind like a powerful, hormonal, female presence that did not especially care if I was happy or loved, and definitely was not interested in my being in control of anything. My poems often explored that suspicion. And voila!, just like that, I had a title for the manuscript and inspiration for seven poems I subsequently wrote that form the heart of that collection. Here’s the first: The universe’s favorite word is yes. The word she uses most often is no. It’s a mystery. She doesn’t understand it herself. The cover of How the Universe Says Yes to Me is a watercolor that started out as an exercise in pouring different colors of paint over a plastic art paper called yupo. I didn’t set out to paint my idea of the universe but when I was done, I looked at the finished exercise and again thought, hmmm. My editor agreed. Serendipity!
1 Comment
Kristina Manuel Onder
1/17/2022 09:56:56 am
I feel grateful that I was beside you as you worked on your poems and book. Your combination of wit and wisdom is unique. I love reading your work, and I look forward to reading more of your blog posts!
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