I wrote recently about my adulthood struggle with the effects of emotional neglect in childhood that have brought me in recent times to the point of near mental collapse. Needless to say, this experience—an episode decades in the making—has of late occupied much of my emotional and intellectual life as I attempt to deal with resurfacing trauma and grief¹, diverting my attention from working on my poetry collection.

I have, however, reached a point in my recovery where the verses are calling to me once more, and I am excited to return to writing. “To a Swallow III”, the third in what was originally conceived as a trilogy, was to be next in line for development, but having read it today, I see nothing in the sketch that has not already been explored in “Swallows!” (originally “To a Swallow I”) and “To a Swallow” (originally “To a Swallow II”).

I shall, therefore, turn my attention to the next sketch in the queue, its working title “Feather in the Wind”².

1. A process in which Running on Empty by Jonice Webb with Christine Musello, How to Raise Your Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden and a willingness to (continuously) confront paralysing fears have proven tremendously helpful.
2. The feather in question happens to be that of a swallow.