Hi all. Poetry and prose has been coming to me slowly, lately. Or at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself.
I call myself a poet and a writer. It is fair to also call me a worrier and self-doubter. So when my creation of new work slows down, I chide myself. That is what I’ve been doing for a few months, and I am finally trying to learn from the errors of my ways. Even now I’d like to provide you with excuses, or an explanation, but it is not necessary for me to do so. Over-explaining the reasons would allow me to continue considering my “output” as “slow” or “lagging”. It’s a detrimental way to think, and I’d like to move away from it.1
So to acknowledge what I have done and can do, I would like to share with you my recent publications so that if you are interested, you can read some poems of mine. This is perhaps a good prelude to a project I have in store that involves my first, baby-poet chapbook. But more on that later.
Where to find me
Without further ado, here are some recent publications from 2024.
Not My Style
Poem title: Part II
Publication: Not My Style Issue 2
Background: With the intention of sharing work that is unusual or unlike one’s typical style, my dear friend william erickson2 created the online magazine Not My Style. He has featured some unique works there and I was honored to have my piece “Part II” placed in Issue 2. The piece itself is from a memoir-novella project I was working on in… 2017, maybe 2018? Occasionally I have pilfered this raw and messy attempt to make sense of my young life up to that point, and “Part II” is a prose poem created in that way.
Broken Antler Magazine
Poem title: Sparrowhawk
Publication: BAM Issue 4
Background: With the help of BAM’s brilliant Editor-in-Chief Court Ludwick3, a rough-around-edges poem of mine received the treatment it needed to be ready for the world. Thus my Wizard of Earthsea4 inspired piece “Sparrowhawk” was born, or reborn, in Broken Antler’s fourth issue.
Major 7th Magazine
Poem title: "King of Carrot Flowers Pts. 2 & 3" (Neutral Milk Hotel)
Publication: Major 7th Magazine Literary Mixtape Vol. 17
Background: Before I knew about Major 7th, edited by Kirsti MacKenzie, and the mixtape volumes consisting entirely of works that share titles with songs, I had already written a poem borrowing a line from King of Carrot Flowers Pts. 2 & 3 from Neutral Milk Hotel’s famous album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. It lived by a different title before I submitted it to the mag’s open call.
The Salmon Creek Journal
Poem title: Yet Another
Publication: The Salmon Creek Journal Volume 26: Growing Pains
Background: At the Washington State University Vancouver campus, students keep alive this journal that has been published since 1997. I submitted three poems after being solicited by the EIC, and the least weird one (understandably) was chosen. This was my first publication to ever appear in print!5 I was thrilled when I found out I’d get to hold it in my hands.
Where to find me (in the future)
I have two upcoming publications, and I’ll certainly share them on instagram and twitter. Other than that, I have been planning to share all the poems from my self-published chapbook Half A Martyr here on this blog. Now that I no longer sell it online and I’m knee-deep in new projects, I like the idea of making it freely available. This might look like one post per poem that includes the poem, audio of my reading of the poem, and some additional notes. Let’s say I’ll share the first poem by the end October 2024. That’s a good plan for now.
Thank you for reading
May the poetry flow for you in whatever pace it flows. I’m wishing you a good autumn. Thanks for your time.
D.C. Klein
Even calling what I write “output” feels wrong. I’m reminded of Le Guin talking about commodified fantasy in an introduction to Tales Of Earthsea. She says, “Commodified fantasy takes no risks: it invents nothing, but imitates and trivializes” as well as “Fantasy as an assembly-line commodity leaves me cold.”
Beyond being the editor for a self-made magazine and a beacon of kindness, will is also a prolific and earth-shatteringly good poet. But don’t take my word for it, visit his work for yourself.
The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin is my perennial suggested-reading for anyone who wants to enter a fantasy world crafted thoughtfully and written in beautiful prose. And look at that, I’ve managed to mention her in two footnotes.
I was technically published in a creative writing elective in high school. You’ll never read that.