I have an ocean-view room at the Serra Retreat Center in Malibu, where I’ve spent the last day and a half working on poems and enjoying the ocean breeze. Sometimes real life is peaceful and full of poetry. More often it’s full of poop and toddler tantrums, but those are mixed in with toddler humor and snuggling. I’m thankful that I get to experience all of it.

I’m working on finishing up the first draft of a new poetry manuscript, tentatively titled All That Remains. When my colleagues at this faculty retreat ask what I’m working on over shared meals in the dining hall, I like to tell them that I’m rewriting the Bible. I wish I’d been raising my camera immediately to snap photos of the facial expressions I’ve gotten in response: most people smile or laugh, and everyone’s eyebrows rise up to full staff.

The longer explanation is that I started this poetry project because I needed an assignment. In 2012, with a new baby and a new full-time job, having just finished my dissertation, I thought that I’d better give myself a structured writing project that would keep me writing even when the world was against my actually writing anything. I was feeling particularly angry at the time toward people who take Bible verses out of context and use them as weapons against anyone who disagrees with them. I thought, “I can take biblical language out of context too!” and set out to satirize this practice. What started as angry satire quickly became playful and interesting:  anagrams for titles, word-bank-style found poetry. I’m enjoying the process and feel excited about the results so far.

As of this afternoon, I’m 12 poems away from finishing a complete draft of this manuscript! Now back to work…