Stella, Infinite

Stella, Infinite.

I started with the lyrics to Stella by Starlight (the jazz standard) and wrote interpretative, wholly alternative lyrics. These, I revised many times over (perhaps 20 revisions) until I had a poem that I felt was closest to what I wanted to express, what I was feeling. (Stella has figured in many of my previous poems).  In the last revision, I worked to make the poem less inverted and more conventional to read, trying to draw a balance between these two poles.  At that point, I settled on the title, which I thought captured the overall drift of the poem.

I was feeling less than confident in the poem, rating it as the least among the 12 or so I had queued up for possible inclusion in my first transmission for review by my MFA adviser. I decided to take it for review to the workshop group I belong to, not knowing what to expect. They are a very analytic bunch, very fair. Surprising to me, they were wholeheartedly in favor of the poem (with the usual quibbles over my inconsistent punctuation (this is a failing). My confidence in the poem rose. I like the poem, just wasn't sure if it was too saccharine or woozy.  So I guess its a pretty good romantic lyric and I will include it in the first transmission as 1 of the 5 poems I am asked to send along.

I might even submit it somewhere, if I can determine who might publish such a poem. (clueless)