Poetry – Margin Notes

Mar. 2, 2022 – [Poem] You Only Need One Camera

Posted on 2 March 20222 March 2022 by S. R. Shilling

In a few days I’ll be leaving for a long weekend stay in New Orleans. It will be my fourth time there. 2008, 2009, 2017, and now 2022.

As a photographer, I pack my clothes last. Or rather, clothes tend to be an afterthought. If there is an event I am going to, then that outfit is decided upon first. Everything else simply needs to be practical, comfortable shoes being the most important.

As it happens, the clothes are already packed. The problem, as always, is what camera to bring. I’m not going on assignment, so there are no parameters regarding what type of images I am going to make. That doesn’t help narrow anything down.

26 Feb. 2022 – Good Luck [Poem – 1st draft]

Posted on 27 February 2022 by S. R. Shilling

I’ve labeled this poem a first draft, because it is. It appears here as it was written when it was thought and without edits. I’ve included context for it, as well as some personal notes written to myself. In the grand scheme of things, this is perhaps infinitely insignificant. Still, it is a glimpse of the thought process that goes into writing a poem, albeit not one that was worked on for very long, over the course of days, weeks, or more. From the initial idea to the saved document was less than fifteen minutes, perhaps disrespectfully short. But it is a beginning to something, maybe. Or an example of what not to do.

17 Jan. 2022 – Intervals

Posted on 18 January 202218 January 2022 by S. R. Shilling

Poem: When I Say I Love the Rain – 14 June, 2021

Posted on 15 June 202121 September 2021 by S. R. Shilling

After a fairly unproductive day, I ate a small dinner outside the back of my apartment which is a small slab of concrete upon which there are two small tables, and three chairs. A neighbor was outside a few apartments away. He was on the phone and holding one of his young children. They both went inside shortly after I finished eating. Perhaps they knew the rain was coming.