Touching base: some updates on Quiet Work

[[I'm writing this post for the second time, so WOO let's do this!!]] 

Popping in for a few updates, since I haven't been posting much to either my poetry or maquiller pages. Lately the "work" has been

1. commissions. The handful of poetry commissions I've received have been such a joy to work on, and they've brought a diversity to my work that hasn't previously been there. I'm keeping commissions open because I like the little spice they add to my workload. Please, tell your friends and family, I love doing these things. I also have amuch larger commission I'm working on in the background, but I'm not going to say any more about that (what it is, if I'll do more, etc) until it's all donskies. I'm really excited about it, though, and had to spread the curse of anticipation. 
2. submissions. I'm working towards publication through a third party (Official Paid Publication™) right now, and that means I'm putting together an unpublished portfolio. Key word there being "unpublished." Patience is a virtue, however, and I'm beyond pumped for this, even if all I walk away with is my first rejection letter. 
3. spoken word and YouTube. Recently I uploaded my first ("first," but lets keep that cute little skeleton in the closet) spoken word performance, wednesday nights and every other weekend (which can be seen on my poetry page and also down below). I have another video in the works, as well. It won't be entirely new to all audiences, but it was written to be read aloud. ~~Subscribe~~ to my ~~YouTube~~ so you don't ~~miss it.~~

A poem about my father. WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AND EVERY OTHER WEEKEND my father has too proud a jaw for a man as humble as he. i still feel his hand spanning my shoulder blades as he praises me, "you were so well behaved in service today!"

I'm looking forward to being able to share the fruits of these labors with you all. Until then, please gas me up to your roommates or siblings or whomever; send work my way, I'm happily taking it! And please give my new poem a listen, comment if you're moved to, subscribe to inflate my ego and validate my efforts, whatever strikes you, thank-you-I'm-so-sorry. 

Some more commissions for your reading pleasure

September has ended, and with it, my $2 poetry deal. Commissions are still open for those who are interested, however: $5 per, or a monthly free poem for any tier ii patrons on my Patreon. Here are a couple commissions I completed from my September sale.

Sarah asked for a poem about her being stupid, and this is the finished product. 

Stupid Sarah Saves Her Day, or Manic Pixie Depressed Girl

Her hobbies were xanax and counting her flaws
in the shadows that danced down her thighs.
Inside dwelled a creature unsheathing its claws
and growling immeasurable lies.
The painful refrains which she heard in her head
and which kept her suspended in night—
"I'm stupid. I'm worthless. I'm better off dead—"
were the first ways it put up its fight.
It filled her with gravel while eating her guts
and while squeezing her lungs near to burst.
"We've something important we need to discuss:
"When, where, and how it all hurts."
This thing in her body, this something-was-wrong
pressed its cloven hooves into her shoes.
It stretched out its fingers and settled in long
with a graveled, "You've nothing to lose."
With her hand it reached for the bottles she kept
'Till she realized the hand wasn't hers.
She screamed and she struggled and finally wept,
but that in-between time was a blur.
She looked and discovered the blood it let fall
and her loved ones concerned for her pain;
how the one stupid thing she had done through it all
was believe she and it were the same.

Sam, on the other end of things, asked for a poem about waking up to find her shoes had turned to marshmallow fluff. Here's hers.

A Sticky Stitch-uation
a Fluff Piece

Marshmallow fluff is not really the stuff
you want to find under your shoes.
It’s sticky and soft—
doesn’t want to come off—
leaves your sad, sticky shoes with the blues.

Well, imagine my shock when I rose and took stock
and I found that my shoes weren’t there.
Instead in their stead,
where my shoes I’d last shed,
was a foot-shap’ed marshmallow pair!

I cried out, “My feet! They will never be neat
if I put them but once in those boots!”
I swore in distress
as I tried to get dressed
in my best matching marshmallow suit.

A huge thanks to everyone who's shown interest in my work. I have loved writing these commissions; I've found so much more joy in this process than I ever imagined I would. I couldn't have done it without y'all. Thank you. 

The first commission!

My first ever commissions for poems came in recently and I'm so excited to share one of them today! Iain, a friend of mine, placed his request and, when prodded for a subject, said, "Your prompt is write me a poem!" Which, I must admit, is a beautiful way to begin commissions.

Write Me a Poem

Write me a poem and make it sound good.
Pen me a story of faeries in woods.
Tell me of bodies which twist in the light,
Casting fiery shadows to creep through the night.
Write me an epic--a journey of strength;
Share of a hero who struggles at length.
His conflicts! His trials! He WILL overcome!
Embellished in feathers ambitions of sun.
A labyrinth winding unfolds 'twixt the lines--
You'll guide and together we'll navigate rhymes.
For whom did death stop? Are the plums in the fridge?
The fisherman leaps from Walt Whitman Bridge.
Imbibe if you must--like Hemingway said:
If you're not getting wasted you'll never be read.
When it's finished allow for a moment of pride
For the perfect creation your efforts supplied.
You've done it! A sonnet! But something is wrong...
This syllable count runs a little too long,
And now that I look I see too many lines...
Eh, fuck it, it's pretty. Write a sonnet next time.

Welcome to the "blog!"

If you're reading this you've noticed I have rearranged some things around here! I want to be able to keep everyone who's interested up-to-date on some of my projects and goings-on, so I caved and added a page for updates. Expanding my website is exciting and scary, but I'm glad to be able to do it. 

You may have also noticed the Contributions & Thanks page has been added. I now have patrons supporting my work, and needed a place to acknowledge the good they do for me. In addition, I have opened up my PayPal to accept single-time payments for commissions! I'm offering poems for $2 for the month of September (missed opportunity, I know, forgive me); after that the price rises to $5. (There is a discount on commissions, however, for my tier ii patrons to my Patreon!)

I'm so grateful for everyone out there interested in my work. It means the world to me.