{"product_id":"swimming-shelter-9781952411397","title":"Swimming Shelter","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor's Note: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe idea for writing one poem a day for 100 days emerged \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eslowly. In March, as we sheltered in place, I discovered that \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eputting poems on Facebook allowed me to communicate \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewith an immediacy that I usually only enjoyed at public \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ereadings. It tasted like bacon, like strong coffee. Naively, I \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethought 30 days would cover the worst of the pandemic. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs I considered shutting down my daily posts, returning \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto sending poems out to small presses, I experienced a \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esense of loss, of isolation, that troubled me. I kept writing \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand posting, finding that I needed the electronic human \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003econtact more than a vetted publication with little feedback. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConsequently, these poems have been self-published only \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eon my Facebook platform, and on occasion, on the Kansas \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCity Writer's Place website. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eSwimming Shelter\u003c\/em\u003e the poems are arranged chronologically \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eas they appeared. Little has been done to revise, except for \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ean occasional word choice selection or punctuation edit. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI wrote each morning. Usually, stopping only when the \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epoem was finished. A few appeared with an immediacy \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethat surprised me. Other times, I worked off and on \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethroughout the day, giving them up to the internet late at \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enight, but seldom before I was satisfied. This went against \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe grain of my personal writing process, as I prefer to edit \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eonly after days or weeks have passed, letting the poems cool \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efor the critical cold eye. Self-publication scared me, sort of \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003elike the time in junior high school, when I accidentally \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ekicked off my penny loafer into the middle of the basketball \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecourt during a game. Ninth graders dribbled around my \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esad shoe like they might a mouse from the biology lab. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe true embarrassment was that I'd forgotten to change \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emy socks after gym class, and so there I was, swinging my \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edumb foot from the balcony in a sweat-stained sock. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEssentially, my social life was ruined, and I became a poet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI'd like to thank Facebook readers who followed my posts, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eespecially those who commented on what they read. Their \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewords and emojis, likes and loves, let me feel like a village \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epoet, sitting around a smoky fire, probably Irish, weaving \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewords, inventing stories. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI kept the organic character of original diction in place. The \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003euse of quarantine instead of stay-at-home or sheltering-in-\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eplace is an example of learning terminology, new words for \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ea new time. The inaccuracies are honest. These poems are \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enot all about Covid-19, per se, but all of them, for better or \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eworse, were discovered while swimming in shelter, crawling \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efor calm water.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Spartan Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/16\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781952411397\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 188\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.46lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.99h x 5.00w x 0.43d","brand":"Al Ortolani","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":38212217929909,"sku":"9781952411397","price":12.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_a776a2f2-b6e9-456e-ac5d-80da4bea1abd.jpg?v=1610434389","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/swimming-shelter-9781952411397","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}