I Know Normal: Blogging Around with Rommy Week 13

Another blackout/ found poetry piece from the galley proof of my short story collection, 

The Trouble with Wanting, and Other Not-Quite Faerie Tales. 

To see the whole series, follow me on Instagram.

Normal is as sturdy as a paper doll

battered about in a summer rainstorm.

Sunlight shows its patched-up edges

and moonlight reveals it for what it is.

I know normal,

but it’s already scurrying away,

the way most lies do

when confronted by truth.


This poem is linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads' Tuesday Platform.

Liner Notes for this Groove:  Dostoevsky once said, “I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.” I feel that way not just about tea, but also about Philadelphia's yearly Sakura festival. Rain or shine, I'm there. The gray skies may have kept away anyone who was afraid of being rained on, but I positively enjoyed myself. The light winds kept a steady sprinkle of cherry blossoms going throughout the time I was there. And patches of fog made my mind turn to things like yokai creeping around Philly.

So dear Groovers, are there any fans of rainy or overcast days out there? Or are you a fan of something a little strange or unusual? Tell me all about it on the comments section, or feel free to catch me up on your week. The floor is yours. Also, if you want to continue the conversation in your cyberhome, be sure to include that with your comments.

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Song Choice: Singing in the Rain/ Umbrella mashup from Glee

Light in an Eclipse

There is blood on the end of the sickle moon,
though no one but me can see it.

It's the same moon that hung
over the place I was born
grown gaunt with homesickness.

Or maybe I've just seen myself
reflected in the moon
as darkness inches across it,
engulfing it so nothing of its past remains.

The most familiar things look wrong
under a moonless sky. I recognize nothing
that looks like home.

I embrace my darkness,
but I do not let it consume me
for I have the brightness of the stars in my soul.

I let them point the way,
if not towards home,
towards a future where I shine steady
as souls wax and wane around me.

Song Choice: Away by Priscilla Hernandez


This poem is linked to the Tuesday Platform over at Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads and Poets United Poetry Pantry 421.

Perhaps you've noticed the tags this week too. I didn't plan on Rina having a large role in the Yuuki stories, but when I wrote a bit of flash fiction from the point of view of Ana's favorite aunt, people seemed to really like it and wanted to know more about her. This poem is written from the point of view of a much younger Rina, and I promise to expand on that tale very soon. 😉

By Rommy Cortez-Driks