Poetry – Margin Notes

Introducing Picture Poems: #1 Young Meadow

Posted on July 29, 2022July 29, 2022 by S. R. Shilling

I’m beginning a project called Picture Poems. Simply put, it’s a way to collect, gather, and present small groups of images.

Picture Poems is inspired by an assignment I struggled with when I was in college. The assignment was to make a single image that acted as a poem.* I’m pretty sure I failed miserably, but then again, I never was a good student. Since then, I’ve constantly been striving to discover the poetic elements and potential of images. Is it possible to make an image that feels wet, not merely by showing something that is wet? How about softness or delicacy? Is it an image of a light touch on the arm? Or is it an image of something the viewer knows the sensation of? Can images convey the same meanings if they don’t show anything easily identifiable?

Wed. 23 March 2022 – New Orleans

Posted on March 23, 2022July 29, 2022 by S. R. Shilling

I’ve been back in New Jersey for over three weeks now. Of course, I miss New Orleans. I miss the new friends I made while I was there. The friends I’ve had to check in with after the news of yesterday’s tornado. As someone who prefers calm, I miss the energy. As someone who prefers quiet, I miss the noise. As someone who prefers the fresh air of nature, I even miss the onslaught of questionable aromas wafting about me. I miss the food.

17 Jan. 2022 – Intervals

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

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

Posted on June 15, 2021September 21, 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.