Paradise Fields

I had been fretting over a title for my book of poems. The phrase “paradise fields” was in every draft of the moon poem I’ve been struggling with, so I decided to use it. If I couldn’t finish the poem, at least I’d have that phrase.

I like how it sounds and also what it means: the ancients believed that when someone died, their souls rested in “paradise fields” on the moon. 

After I settled on the book title, I finally got a version of the poem that I like. It happened at the last minute, a totally unexpected gift. I kind of just lifted the lines I liked from all the versions and added a bit here and there.

Then I got the poems into a basic sequence, reading through them, making small edits. I also cut about half of the poems I’d been considering. And did I mention the cover photo? It’s a gorgeous shot of the moon in South Africa.  

Still some last minute stuff to do but Paradise Fields should be ready for viewing sometime this weekend!