Once I loved...

with guest writer Karen Paul Holmes

This week’s guest writer is Karen Paul Holmes. Find her on FB @ karenholmesdpoetry & on IG @ sharing_poems

From Karen: With my talky poems like this one, I don’t constrain myself when I’m getting it down on paper (or actually, I’m usually using my laptop—I’d never be able to scribble quickly enough or legibly enough to keep up with my mind). Talking directly and frankly to the reader helps me say what I want to say (even if I make myself cringe a bit), and this conversational tone seemed appropriate for the subject matter: the longing for love and partnership, which is basic for most humans, isn’t it?

Then, as a consummate reviser, I got out my magnifying glass and poetry machete.

One piece of advice I always keep in mind came from Carol Ann Duffy (Poet Laureate of England at the time) in an in-person workshop I had with her: The first verb you thought of probably isn’t the verb you should use. Also, since the poem started with an opera singer, I found ways to insert music as a secondary theme. The last thing I did was to look at the shape of the poem on the page. Because of the long lines, indenting every other line seemed to make it less dense, and therefore easier on the reader’s eye.

And here’s a sweet thing that happened. The last stanza seems to have served as a sort of prayer—it was written in early 2019 and by June that year, I had met my perfect “Dane” and am now married to him. And he does sing to me. We’re also both opera geeks.

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This poem first appeared at Plume.

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