2019 in Review: Poetry, Stories, and Death

Photo by Danil Aksenov on Unsplash.

Here we are. 2019 is ending and 2020 is about to begin. I am eating a baked potato and sitting at my desk, feeling tired and wondering what to write. I considered not writing an end-of-year post, but realized I would probably feel bad if I didn’t.

I didn’t blog at all in January 2019 but started the blogging year in February with a couple of Throwback Thursday posts and some flash fiction. February also involved adjusting to my new job and learning how to balance writing and work, so I only posted four times that month. In March I discovered I loved the quadrille (introduced by dVerse  Poets’ Pub) and eased my way back into writing poetry, just in time for April’s NaPoWriMo challenge. During the summer I wrote a lot of poetry and flash fiction, including a story that intrigued me so much I wrote a second part to it. (I recommend reading strange news articles and bits of weird history; one such piece inspired that story.) I took a break for over a month between August and the middle of September, but jumped right back into writing with a sestina that turned out so well I submitted it for publication. In October I discovered a new poetic voice that I really liked while writing for dVerse’s quadrille #90 prompt. In November I tried a new way of presenting my flash fiction and wrote another quadrille in the same style as the previous one. I also wrote the second part of the story inspired by the weird news article.

And then December came. Following the passing of my husband’s grandmother (who had had become my grandmother as well) in mid October, I didn’t think I would have to face any more tragedies. But I did. My beloved corgi died suddenly on December 11th, after ingesting some poison he found in the neighborhood. I was devastated. I still am, but I’m managing to move on slowly. Then my great-aunt passed away a couple of days after Christmas.

Grief is tricky, because you don’t feel it at the same level constantly. You might be going along, having a normal day, and it hits you out of the blue. “My dog is dead.” “My grandma won’t be there for Christmas.” The thoughts come to you as suddenly as your loved ones left.

I haven’t had the drive to write in the past couple of weeks, but that will most likely change as the year changes. I have a few plans for books that have been percolating for a long time. I also have a short story to revise, poetry to write, and some picture book ideas to develop. And of course I will continue to write flash fiction.

‘Til next year.

~H