Trouble is coming

finally, some book news

Midsummer swelter stuck my thighs together

under the desk all afternoon. The black dog panted on the kitchen floor, antsy for ice cubes or a snack to take the edge off. I was in the doldrums reviewing the copyedit of my new book GIRL TROUBLE, contemplating deep questions of commas and italics, clarity and ambiguity, written numbers vs. numerals, “and” vs. ampersand.

These were serious issues, and I dearly loved my copyeditor. Loved her precise attention to every line of every poem, her keen eye catching each grammatical possibility. How she inquired thoughtfully about my intentions, offered insights into various options, created an elegant Style Guide specifically for my book, made me think hard about the effects I wanted.

What a gift to have someone spend loving time with your words!

But I write poems so I can break rules

I make choices mostly on instinct. The Chicago Manual of Style version 9.3 says put a comma before then, a comma after Oh. But no, I don’t want it there, I want a headlong breathless rush into the future, spilling to the next line, long layered thoughts without breath or etiquette. I know Merriam-Webster says blow job is two words, but I want it to be one, jammed together, in your face, no choice about it, go on and breathe through your nose, relax your your jaw, and by the way fuck your comma splice correction, I’ll slide one in between two sentences if I want to.

I write a poem by ear like I play the piano, picking out the old, haunting Tori Amos melody, the Breakfast Club chords, exultant with memory that lives in the body, the 80s and 90s songs a conduit straight to the heart-marrow. Give me emotion over convention. I could never follow the piano teacher’s book of drills, take the proper posture and elbow angle at the bench.

There are so many rules and regulations to be a good person. The vitamins and dental rituals, the cruciferous vegetables, the yogurt containers rinsed and put in the recycling, the mammogram and the pap smear, the petitions signed, donations made, the cats driven back and forth to the vet, yowling their sick hearts out in the cage in the car, past the dollar store and the cannabis dispensary, the promise of release in a tin of pineapple gummies.

What does it mean to be responsible these days, to care for others while you care for yourself, to keep the faith amidst the marching pulse of fascism, to ink block letters on cardboard with a fat Sharpie and shout in the streets for liberation?

Can you hear me? I’m not going anywhere. I’m lucky to still be here in my knee brace and my rainbow cap, hot flashes lighting up the autumn sky. And look, the moon’s waxing in the window again, gold leaves falling like a promise of transformation. We’ve made it through eclipse season and the rolling summer heat waves. There’s still magic all around us if only we can pause, forget punctuation and consistency and abandon our inboxes stuffed with asks.

The river is waiting, silky and burbling, the ancient stones worn smooth and patient for millennia—each one a word, a prophecy, a perch for a body. As the hawks circle like checkmarks above us, bearing witness to the changes without being changed.

The West River, golden and waiting

Trouble is coming

It’s been many months since I’ve written this newsletter. After a winter of hibernation and years of grieving, I have a new job and a new book on the way.

Thank you for being here, for the gift of your attention. You will never find a paywall. Girl Trouble arrives occasionally and has always been/ will always be FREE.

I’ve been feeling anxious about sharing my book news. Other writers seem to do this part effortlessly, naturally, with humor and grace and a fun, catchy voice. But I realize I’m scared as well as thrilled to bring this book into the world. I started GIRL TROUBLE in the darkness of pandemic lockdown and delved into generational trauma, personal history, and the epidemic of violence against women.

There’s Thelma & Louise and Courtney Love and the voices of Epstein’s and Nasser’s victims. Also my queer high school fantasies, among other secrets.

It’s the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever written.

GIRL TROUBLE amplifies the voices of survivors and explores what Melissa Febos calls “the comprehensive mindfuck of adolescent girlhood under patriarchy.” The poems trace a throughline of trauma and resilience, get close to the earth and its plants and animals, celebrate queerness while grieving the environmental debasement that is inextricable from patriarchal violence. GIRL TROUBLE’s speakers find solace in imagination and power in truth-telling. They bear witness in rage and sorrow and sometimes comic relief, seeking healing for the next generation.

As they write new endings to old stories, they ask: How do we build a world of safety? When do we get to feel at home in our bodies?

You can find out more, read excerpts, and preorder your copy HERE. My wonderful publisher, CavanKerry Press, is offering a 20% discount with the code JUSTWAIT between now and February 1. Preorders are so important for small presses! Thank you for supporting independent publishing and poetry and survivors!

cover art: Carmen Whitney

ALSO I’m so proud of the cover, which uses a photograph taken by my talented daughter Carmen (more on that process later).

Poetry to inspire you

I haven’t written much the past year and had to give myself permission not to produce anything— to rest, read, and fill the well. Here are some books that sustained me through the silence:

• Saint Of by Lisa Marie Basile - Gorgeous, lush summer poems of longing and ruin. The editor of Luna Luna Magazine and the author (among other books) of Light Magic for Dark Times, Basile’s writing bewitches and haunts. This collection is a portal that helped me start writing again.

  It is soft sweet July and it is the end of everything.
  - Lisa Marie Basile, Saint Of

• An Optimism by Cameron Awkward-Rich - Lyrical, intimate poems of survival, in conversation with trans, queer, Black feminist ancestors. These beautiful love letters to Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Lucille Clifton, and Pauli Murray are balm for a world on fire.

• The Hungriest Stars, by Carey Salerno - Decadent and deeply embodied. In a time when our bodies are under attack, a woman writing an elegy to her uterus is a subversive act. Salerno crafts long, luxuriant lines, makes gardens out of her medical records, and weaves desire and violence into a vivid constellation. Just look at that cover!

  

• Super Gay Poems by Stephanie Burt - This unputdownable anthology is a triumph of queer voices. Burt is the brilliant, queer professor I wish I’d had in college; her short essays illuminate every poem with accessible, riveting insights. I learned WHY mermaids are super queer and discovered some of my new favorite poets (plus the hottest bisexual poem ever).

Thanks for getting into Girl Trouble with me. Take care of yourself as we move towards the dark season. Just making it through a day in 2025 is a feat.

xo Diana

P.S. One more time, the GIRL TROUBLE link! Use discount code JUSTWAIT for 20% off your preorder. Grateful to you!

P.P.S. My theme song of the year…