Most of the time, before my poems make it onto torn paper, I write them in a journal first. I used to use pen, but now I’m all pencil, all the time, for the smell of the wood and graphite, and the satisfying friction that slows my hand down. But there are times when I don’t have a notebook handy, and I turn to what’s always lying around—a used envelope, the back of a receipt, some torn scrap of paper that will hold the thought for me.

The form of a torn paper poem, so delightfully unfinished and intimate, honors the creative hum that sets my pencil to the blank page.

So that’s what I do, and that’s why you’re here.

writing as placemaking

Writing is often a solitary exercise, something we do when we’re alone or want to create a sense of solitude amidst the bustle of our lives. But writing is also a means by which we engage with our surroundings in a deeper way. Instead of passing through, we pause, reflect, and explore, filtering our physical experience into words.

In the summer of 2021, I wrote in and about three public places in Winona, Minn. I called it the Writing in Place Project. This project explores writing inspired by a sense of place, and the act of writing as an experience that connects us to where we are.

explore the poems

Before the Writing in Place Project, there were poems. I started torn paper poems in March 2020 because I got a year’s worth of free website space, which was the push I needed to be brave and just do the thing. Of course, March 2020 is also the month the Covid-19 pandemic began to affect all of our lives in earnest, setting off a tumultuous and isolating year. Creating didn’t come naturally, but through the fits and starts I developed a collection of poems.