Whenever I decided to write a collection of poems
supposedly written by the protagonist of my last two science-fiction novels, Temporary Planets for Transitory Days, I
knew that organization would be a big challenge.
First, I had a lot of poems I
had already written over the years. But ever since I started writing novels I
had gotten away from poetry. (Poetry was my “creative escape” during my busiest
years of teaching. But I much prefer
writing novels now.) These were poems on a number of topics, and I felt that I
could easily adapt them to this new project. I based my protagonist, Mykol
Ranglen, a lot on myself, so I didn’t think it would be difficult to make them
fit this new persona. But the poems did go in many different directions, and I
needed a few organizational subjects to group them under.
Second, I also knew
I’d be writing a lot more poems directly connected to Ranglen’s futuristic
world of space exploration and planetary adventures. Would these be separate or
hooked up with the others? How would I manage to blend all of them together?
Third,
I also had the two novels published now and I wanted direct connections to
incidents or characters in both of them. This involved both writing new poems
or adapting old ones to fit the situations.
This sent me off on a binge of creating
organizational schemes, several lists of sub-topics under which I could put the
poems. The task involved a lot of “pondering” time—and a large number of
repeated attempts to come up with just the right “list.” My desk was littered
with various approaches on flurries of scrap paper, and one file on my computer
was nothing but wildly off-beat phrases for the headings.
Finally, I came up
with the following, and it wasn’t easy. Indeed, the list kept changing during
much of the writing of the new poems and the editing of the old. So, out of the
90-100 poems I finally aimed for and selected, here’s the ultimate list of seven
categories:
1.
“Nights on Alchera” – poems related to the
people, places, and events of the planetary setting from In a Suspect Universe, my last novel written. Reading that novel
isn’t required to understand the poems, but someone who has read the book will probably see some connections (or maybe not,
for they are sometimes obscure).
2.
“Rocket Punk” – where Ranglen delights in the
imagined outer space created by the popular science fiction of the past. He
makes comparisons between the hopes for space travel as seen in the SF of the twentieth century and the attitudes toward space in his own day. (I had a
great time writing these—“Loving the Spaceport” is a real favorite.)
3.
“Planetary Romance” – poems about Ranglen’s past
loves, especially Mylia from In a Suspect Universe and Mileen from The Man Who Loved Alien Landscapes
(though you might not be sure which poems refer to whom). One long poem dealing
with Mylia originally was meant as a chapter in the novel. Feelings for other characters too, some obvious, some not so, and some purely
“fictional” (in this world which is already fictional).
4.
“Tales of Old Earth” – the forsaken and yet
beautiful planet of humanity’s birth, its legends, its stories, its settings,
its myths. Some of these are based on my own travels and interests, but I imagined Ranglen as
growing up on Earth and loving its landscapes, as well as its history of
popular culture. (You can tell he loves figures from old comic books.)
5.
“Riley’s World” – an imagined life for an
admired character, now lost to him, from In a Suspect Universe, especially creating (or maybe imitating, it’s hard to
tell) a possible child she gets to watch grow up. These poems suggest strange
connections between multiple universes, since Ranglen’s imaginary life for
Riley oddly mirrors what really happened.
6.
“Dark Galaxy” – frightening secrets and imagined
scenarios of the stellar past, of the warring civilizations in the galactic dawn,
and the dark hints of current interstellar doings. These were meant to be
Ranglen’s commentary on the present state of his galaxy, and especially of how
its earlier races have influenced it, for better or worse. It’s the most
cynical, and biting, part of the book.
7.
“Sanctuary” – an autobiographical self-regard,
with personal hopes revealed, longings expressed, and a final somewhat settled
conclusion: Ranglen in his most sensitive and revealing mood, about his hopes
and fears for himself and his future. A fitting closure to the entire book.
As said, this particular choice
of topics did not come easily, and it went through many variations. Among the headings
that were discarded are: “Adventures on Other Planets,” “Nightsounds,” “The Man
From Reality Maintenance,” “Borderlines,” “Solitudes,” “Suspended Revelations,” “Exiles of Space,” “Safehouse,”
“Existential Aloneness,” “Nights and the Galaxy,”“In Border Spaces,” and “The
Affected Earth.” (Hmm, I think I can make a poem out of just these phrases alone.)
In writing, you often discard as much as you gain. But these titles give you
some idea of the moods and directions of the poems themselves.
Know that I was very happy with
this final assembly. In some ways, an entire collection of poems makes for one
long poem itself, arranged with structure and cadence, development and
suspense. And I think this carefully wrought organization provides an almost
latent “plot” to the book, or at least a “movement” or “arc,” from recent
events he’s still dealing with, to a final calm acceptance of his past.
I hope you enjoy it. Pre-orders
are available here,
and not only will they come early but they’ll have a free insert that points
out a connection between a prose segment in the novels and a specific poem in
this book.
