I am always willing to travel back in time to my childhood. I did a lot of remembering while writing "Hello From Earth." Authenticity is very important to me and I wanted to represent a child's relationship with nature truthfully. I talked with others about how they felt connected to the Earth when they were younger and heard about spirits in the mountains and the mystery of pirate ships sailing Lake Michigan. Nature feels so close when we are young but not all of us carry that closeness past childhood memories and adventures. I wanted to rediscover that relationship in my writing as well as talk to children directly.
Though I am a poet, this project is the first time I have written children's poetry. I read a lot to prepare. “Leave Your Sleep” by Natalie Merchant taught me rhyme and whimsy, Jane Yolen and Jeffrey Bean taught me simplicity without sacrificing nuance, and Jacob Rodenburg quite literally taught me “How to Teach Children to Care About the Environment."
The process of writing itself was like all other projects. Some days were more fruitful than others though I tried my best to write even when the words weren't flowing. A routine I did uphold was to write a childhood memory every morning on a notecard on my nightstand and then turn it into a couple lines of poetry before I went to bed at night. Many nights I was resentful of this routine because I just wanted to get to bed after a long day, but when it came time to sit down and write my poems, I was very grateful for the commitment.
I am very proud of the collection I have put together. I have pushed myself and enjoyed myself, exploring what is messy with a pure hope that things can and will be better.
