November Butterfly: Cover Equivocations and Peer Counselors

I am ecstatic to unveil the cover for “November Butterfly,” my first collection of poems (on schedule for November 2014 release from Saddle Road Press). Cover photo courtesy of my long-time collaborator Robyn Beattie; cover magic and design thanks to Don Mitchell (“A Red Woman was Crying”) of SRP.

Much deliberation went on behind the scenes as we attempted to hone in on selections from a generous image garden. For several months, place-holding the cover, we featured work by Sandy Frank from our ongoing poetry/sculpture collaboration drawing on poems in “November Butterfly.”

Sandy's sculpture we considered choosing for the cover hosts gold monarchs across her chest; across her back, beautiful black birds and the poem “Someone.” At some point, Sandy and I will put together a show of the sculpture poems (when we land a venue and have rounded out the collection, and if they don’t all sell before then; "The Painter’s Wife" sold last month). And even as I agonized over the decision, my loving editor Ruth Thompson (“Woman with Crows”) reminded me there will be other books and other opportunities to play.

I celebrated “final cover unveiling” with my sister in BeHe (Between the Heights) Twiggs Bakery and Coffee House; we opted for a couple cups of the Mad Russian blend (what else?!) and a couple excellent MJ’s Vegan Gourmet Excelsior Bars and nestled in an armchair. Here I am pictured on location with a tall volume of poems by Sophie Robinson we found tucked on the bookshelf right under the Blue Buddha. This was my first exposure to Sophie's work.

Other news for poems forthcoming in “November Butterfly”: Peer Counselor is live today online at Chaparral. This zine for Southern California writers is edited by Kimberly Young (“Night Radio”). Peer Counselor celebrates the unsung heroes we have in counselors. Who came up with the concept of peer counselors? Brilliant.

Photo by Robyn Beattie

Also in this Summer 2014 Issue of Chaparral: An Interview with Douglas Kearney:

When I’m editing a poem, one of the things I’m always thinking of is: if I change this word what happens to the music of the stanza? Do I get new music? Do I lose all the music? Do I only get ‘sense’ or do I also get ‘sound’? So I’m always listening for this equilibrium between sound and sense…

And I couldn’t resist making a word cloud, taking a couple words here and there from each poem in the zine:

Egypt, Musak, red arrows, astronomer, communist, Mallomars, Jamaica, skulls, monkey, geode, vodka, condoms, Apollo, void, DNA, arsonist, Los Angeles, orphan, lollipop, priests, cat, ghosts, Apache, desert, rain, coins, linens, cane, urn, peaches, mirror.

Enjoy!

Sculpture by Sandy Frank

Notes:

Review of Kim Young’s "Night Radio" at Pebble Lake Review by Melanie Jordan

A Conversation with Kim Young at Coachella Review with Kari Hawkey

Mark Salzer, PhD, Temple University, is part of the team articulating the usefulness of peer counseling methods.