The Wrap-Up

In which I say thank you and farewell for now

I went looking for an appropriate quote to celebrate the end of our journey, but they are all pretty treacly. So instead I’ll offer this image which I think says something about one journey’s end marking another’s beginning, or some such thing.

The Public Domain Poetry Project has completed its first series. Over the course of twelve weeks we responded to each of the lines in Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “Travel.” I’m so very grateful for all of you who followed along. Whether you shared your own poems in the comments, or just played with the prompts on your own, it was lovely to have you along for the ride.

At the outset of the project I decided not to share the entire poem, thinking that for those who didn’t already know it, maybe it would leave more room for creativity to meet each line on its own without knowing its context. But now that we’re done I’d like to share the whole poem here so you can experience it as it was written.

---

Travel

The railroad track is miles away, 
    And the day is loud with voices speaking, 
Yet there isn't a train goes by all day 
    But I hear its whistle shrieking.

All night there isn't a train goes by, 
    Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming, 
But I see its cinders red on the sky, 
    And hear its engine steaming.

My heart is warm with the friends I make, 
    And better friends I'll not be knowing; 
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take, 
    No matter where it's going.

---

Isn’t that lovely?

I hope you all enjoyed this project, and that it gave you some helpful structure and inspiration. I’m not going to start with another poem right away. I’m heading into a busy season of submissions, gardening, and graduations. But I’ll be back eventually with a new poem and we can try this all again.

Speaking of other poems, if you have any suggestions for poems we might use in the future, I’d love know about them. There’s a great list of poems in the public domain here. Do you see any old favorites among them?

Before I sign off for now, I have an announcement and an invitation for you. On Sunday, April 13 at 3:00 pm EDT I’ll be joining three other poets at a poetry reading and open mic hosted by

LeeAnn Pickrell

and

Lisa Jensen

. The four of us (myself,

Keith Aron

,

X. P. Callahan

, and

Jonathan Potter

) will each read for a few minutes and then our hosts will open the mic for anyone else who’d like to share. If you want to attend, as a participant or a spectator, send me a private message and I’ll forward you the registration link.

Thank you again for taking part in this first installment of The Public Domain Poetry Project. If you have thoughts, feedback, suggestions re: how this all went (structure, timing, etc.) I’d love to hear from you.

See you soon!