When Sketches Meet Poems

Last night, I got home, and my mood immediately descended into the basement of grumpiness.  My spouse was not as enthusiastic about a fruit and veggie co-op as I thought he would be, and I was not as enthusiastic about the idea of pet bunny as he thought I would be.  He thought I had spent too much for the fruits and veggies that we got, but I think he doesn't have the right prices in his head.

Frankly, I'm thrilled that someone else did the work of choosing the veggies and fruits for me--that seems worth the $35 cost.

My spouse went off to choir, and I sat down to do something at the computer.  But then I decided I needed to get some sketching in.

I've been experimenting with combining sketching and poetry writing, and last night, I took a larger leap.  I had been looking at an old manuscript, and I was intrigued by some of the images (not all of them mine--I can trace at least two of them back to this poem by Luisa Igloria).  I started with those images and wrote the words of the poem.  Then I sketched a bit.  Here's the finished sketch:

I realized that my mood was much improved by the end of the time with my pens, markers, and sketchbook.  But I'm not surprised.  I'm often happier after I've had a session of creativity.

In the past, I've combined sketching with haiku, like this one:

But lately, I've been trying for longer poems with a sketch.  Some are more successful than others.  I was really pleased with this poem-like thing:

This one, not as thrilling:

These new creative directions come with questions.  Do the poems work without the image?  Is there a market for these poem-like things with images?  As I continue to do them, will a narrative arc emerge?  As images continue to make an appearance, should I read anything into them?

Stay tuned!