Vibe: morning, nature, late autumn
Rejections: 1
I admire the deer who
thieved my decorative gourd.
Down the driveway, she left
its yellow-orange remains.
Read more at Eunoia Review.
This poem was my first ever submission acceptance! I wrote it for a class in early 2020, when I was exploring poetry for the time as an adult, and had no idea whether it was "good" or not. In 2023, I plucked it from my slush pile and, on advice from a poet friend, added the middle stanza.
"Breakfast" is, to me, a reminder that we often underestimate our abilities. Maybe your work is better than you know.
One of my favorite books about finding confidence in your creative life is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read it when I was in a book club in my twenties, then again and again as I got more serious about my writing. I love the audiobook—it makes me feel like I'm sitting on a porch with Gilbert, just two writers having a chat about what's hard and what's amazing.
Prompt
Write a poem called "Breakfast" OR revise a really old poem!