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Print and fold: microchapbook from Origami Poems

Kelley Jean White introduced me to the fun that is OPP–microchapbooks anyone with a printer and a pair of scissors can render into ~4.5 x 3 inch booklets (instructions here). They’re simple, sure–nothing like what SF Center for the Book might curate or some of the elaborate book structures my aunt creates.

What is wonderful about OPP is how many people can enjoy making a charming little book of poetry. Isn’t that the pinnacle of our poetic achievement—-something fun? Something you can warp or fold or cut into a shape that can ride along in your life?

Just in time for the Lunar New Year: Year of the Horse

When it comes to horses, I was that little girl—My Little Pony graduated to Breyer Horses, then county shows. I rode intercollegiate as an undergrad. But this collection leans in more on who I became when I left that girl behind. When I got old. Or at least, older.

Six poems — one myth, one science, one ‘literary’ (I suppose), and then a trio for Barbaro, the racehorse, from a professional perspective as someone not on the care team, but who followed what was a remarkable effort from close by. (Consider this your content disclosure, but I’ll offer that you have to know the tragic story well to see past the metaphors, so you’re probably okay.)

The cover is my photograph of a neighbor horse to a writer friend who lives in Scotland–I visit as often as I can.