Voice over

A couple of months after I started running, I decided to sign up for a race. A little 5k? No. A leisurely, sensible 10k? No. A half marathon. (Ten years later, this is still as far as I've run. I plateaued very early in my running career.)

When I decide to step out of my comfort zone, I tend not to tiptoe.

Which is why I find myself feeling a bit in-over-my-head on this project. I've never before written poems from any other perspective than my own. So, why not build a manuscript based on not one, but three, other voices -- especially when there is very little information available about these folks?

(That's then-little Edouard on the right. His father (Gaspard) and mother (Florestine) are -- at least so far -- also present in the manuscript.)


I've never written about anything more historical than my own childhood. So, why not wind back 130-some years to places I've only briefly visited?

And I've never written about subjects I don't know intimately. So, why not take on a world of cowboys, parenthood, freak shows and death?

Because all the crazy, far-fetched ideas I've had, the ones that have scared me most, seemed ridiculous and impossible, have consistently been the most full-filling experiences, the ones that have made me most proud.