Shedding Light On My First Vocal Media Submission

Begotten Bayou; publication to a rewrite, marking my evolution as a writer

By Marilyn GloverPublished 9 months ago • 5 min read

Photo by Ray Bilcliff: https://www.pexels.com/photo/trees-in-the-forest-1494639/

On June 8, 2020, Vocal Media published my first story, a poem, and my first love of writing. Flash forward three years later, and I am reflecting on my Villanelle with an open mind, reminiscing on my newbie days when although I was inexperienced, my love for words would not let me miss one opportunity to create worlds with poetics partnered with my larger-than-life imagination.

For this challenge, I share my earliest published works, noted mistakes, and a rewrite, demonstrating my evolution as a poet and writer.

It's time to shed some light on my poem Begotten Bayou.

Begotten Bayou

One of great beauty and mystique
Gators grin, gliding by tupelo trees

Share your wisdom, oh, begotten bayou
Pelican, behold your magnificent beak
Plunging for dinner, ahh, with such ease
One of great beauty and mystique
Bald eagle, so good to see you anew,
Nesting, high above, old cypress knees

Share your wisdom, oh, begotten bayou
Murky and passive, your water, unique
Algae and moss cover, in different degrees
One of great beauty and mystique

White tailed deer, hiding, I bid you adieu
Run along to wherever, you may please

One of great beauty and mystique
Share your wisdom, oh, begotten bayou.

Author's reflection, a poet's poised point of view

Admittingly, it has been quite a while since I read Begotten Bayou; it's funny the things we see when we dig up old pieces from the past and brush them off to reveal errors, a fresh perspective, and all the thoughts of "What I would do differently now that I know better."

My poem is a Villanelle, or at least it was supposed to be; somehow, I fell short.

A villanelle is a a highly structured poem made of five tercets, followed with a quatrain with two repeating rhymes and refrains.

Consisting of nineteen lines, the format should look like this:

A1 b A2/ a b A1/ a b A2/ a b A1/ a b A2/ a b A1 A2

My supposed-to-be villanelle has sixteen lines, and I fell off a bit with the rigid rhyme scheme, which is evident in the third line of the opening tercet I underlined above. "Share your wisdom, oh, begotten bayou" does not rhyme with the opening line, "One of great beauty and mystique," hence throwing off the rhyming theme for the rest of the poem.

The second underlined error in line seven, "Bald eagle, so good to see you anew," does not adhere to rhyming theme number two found in line two, "Gators grin gliding by tupelo trees."

How did this happen?

I am not sure, so I consulted my handy dandy notebook for clues (yes, I keep a running collection of my poetry in progress going back to 2020 when my Vocal Media journey began).

After going through my drafts, I recall struggling with the villanelle format. This is evident by all my cross-out marks and rewrites of several versions of my poem spread across multiple notebook pages. As excited as I was for Vocal Media to publish my first poem, I settled on the version above. Newbie me patted herself on the back for her diligent efforts and for having the courage to display my poetry for all eyes to see.

Despite the mistakes, I do not see my poem as a failure. The poet I am today smiles, knowing that with continued effort, my ability to write the things I imagine has improved. Furthermore, my patience with the writing process has grown by implementing breaks- time outs to walk away from a piece in progress and return later with fresh eyes and a rested mind.