Rescusing a Story Through Poetry
or How a Ghazal Saved a Dog
Rascal, the dog in my ghazal titled “Dear Rascal,” from my book of children’s poetry, Rainbow Crow, is as real to me as any dog I’ve ever owned. He has been part of a picture book, a middle-grade story, and a YA novel — all unpublished and, I’m sad to say, deservedly so. Even my kids knew about this poor dog I dreamed up.
I loved Rascal, but I didn’t know what to do with him, story-wise. I suspect he was growing tired of me as well. And then I read Tania Runyan’s How to Write a Form Poem and realized I could rescue that poor dog through poetry. It seemed what Rascal needed was a ghazal.
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