Poetry is my safe place as a writer. It’s what I turn to—either to read or to write—when I need a mental pick-me-up, something to wake my mind and tune my senses, or shock me out of a creative rut. It feels like a very free place to play in, since its utter subjectivity almost makes it immune to criticism, either outside or self-imposed. And its short form means that I can complete a whole poem in one sitting, giving a very satisfying feeling of accomplishment.
As much as I love poetry, it always ends up on the back burner for me as a writer, since I focus more on my longer works, and since I know I’ll never make a career as a poet. (Unless there is a 16th century lord or lady reading this who’d like to become my patron.) So in an effort to get myself writing more poetry regularly, I decided to compile a chapbook (a short book of poems), using a single organizing theme as a prompt to get me going. And thus, I came up with Weird Women.
The poems in this collection all focus on female characters of various sorts, taken from nature, mythology, history, or just my imagination. Some of these poems are personal, some are fantastic, some a bit of both. And yes, there is big Lilith Fair energy in this book.
Please click the link to download as a PDF, and I hope you enjoy!
6 thoughts on “Read my new poetry book for free!”
Congratulations on this remarkable book of poetry! I have enjoyed reading it very much. As with my favorites, I want to read again and again. When will this book of poetry be published?
Thank you so much, Phyllis! I’m glad you enjoyed it. As of now, I’m not planning on publishing it. I really just embarked on this as a creative exercise to get myself to write more poetry, and thought that the goal of compiling a collection to put out on my website would be a good motivator. I may try this again, writing other small chapbooks around unifying themes, and then maybe eventually I could put those together as a collection and look at publishing it in a more traditional form. There’s not much of a market for poetry, but self-publishing would always be an option!
My advice to readers: Print this work out and savor it, all at once. Put it aside and come back to it an hour or two later, after it’s had time to permeate your consciousness. Its power will morph between readings, but will not diminish. I find this offering to be full of haunting and achingly beautiful images and themes. This is something to treasure until Archer’s next work reaches us.
Thank you for your kind words!
Brilliant imagery…and exuberantly thought-provoking. Reading Sarah’s chapbook pushed a jolt of fresh air through dormant chakras and rattled my creative cavern — unlocking hidden senses and new perspectives. Thank you!
Thank you so much, Bernice! I’m glad to provide a poetry wake-up. 🙂