I am in the thick of publicity planning for my debut, full length poetry collection, EMOTION INDUSTRY. If you’ve ever thought “wow, I’d like to have Tracy on my podcast, blog, website, etc.” I welcome your email. There are only so many hours in the day after my 8:30am-5pm.
Some more publishing news: I am thrilled to be part of Yellow Arrow Vignette, Yellow Arrow Publishing’s online creative nonfiction and poetry series. Read it here! Our work is paired with gorgeous illustrations as well.
Days in Baltimore have been a heat haze for over a month. I’m busy, yet the air vibrates like pouring a seltzer and watching the bubbly clouds. National and international chaos abounds while every moment is memified before we think deeply. I’ve managed to run, but it has been disorderly (unhinged?) because I chose to start a Summer of Speed after I signed up for a mid-August Backyard Ultra.
Zero percent recommend this mash-up. I hope no coaches are reading this. Around June, I scaled back my elevation gain and mileage to accommodate for the stress running fast on a track creates. I might be an idiot, but there are ways to keep injuries at bay.
Why am I doing something so dumb? It’s so simple, I may be the idiot from hell: I shifted to the summer of speed when I decided I wanted to race. Olympic fever caught my what if vulnerability. These athletes focus, I can do that. In that sensitive, receptive state, a friend told me about Ladies Night Track. My money was with the running store 24 hours after she told me about it. I’m also trying to pack in as much as possible before our climate becomes untenable. That or our bodies, you can read about how 3M hid the dangers of forever chemicals for years here.
The camaraderie at Ladies Night Track has been everything I would have wanted on a track team. Last week, we kept saying, “Be like Katie Ledecky! Stay consistent and strong!” This is why I run: to be goofy and enjoy movement. It doesn’t have to be running. I want this kind of relaxed safety and fun to be available for everyone. I am a poet, after all. There is always potential.
Books I’m thinking about / recently read:
- I Do Everything I’m Told by Megan Fernandes
- Motherhood by Sheila Heiti
Stay sweaty and glittery. None of us are free until all of us are free.
#poetsthatsweat 