Book release week – Update 27.4

In the world of poetry this week has been wholly positive with a successful reading at my poetry evening and the release of my new book on kindle.

First to mention my poetry open mic readings, I chose five poems to read. Two of these were paranormal poems written in rhyming verse (and under my pen name, Savannah R James). I’d practised well and as a result the readings went smoothly. Then it was a nostalgic poem about Meopham, the village where I grew up. Tracey from the host pub, The Mole, filmed this and broadcast it live. The hubby, who watched from home said how much my live readings have come along. I still haven’t watched it; I must! But I do agree that I feel a lot more confident about reading my poems now than I did two years ago when I first started. I’m so grateful to Tracey for giving me a platform to perform my poetry. Before she suggested such an event reading my poems in public wasn’t something I thought I could do.

The next poem was a letter to myself about what I went through last year and the final one was from my new book and was called I Can’t. I sat down for this one and gave an expressive performance, hopefully doing the poem justice.

I loved hearing everyone else’s work that evening. Amazing! So much talent! Well done to all.

Onto the main subject of this blog, the release of my brand new poetry collection, You Are Not Alone, a collection of poems about grief and loss. I am awaiting a proof copy so I can check the paperback layout but the kindle was ready so I released that earlier this week. Many are waiting for the paperback, which is fine. I find many people want to own physical copies of poetry collections but I know the ebook is still in demand for poetry. I’m running out of space for physical copies of books so any I can get on kindle I will!

This is a project very close to my heart and has been a highly emotive one. I hope people find solace in the poetry I’ve written during such a difficult time. Feedback on individual poems I’ve posted has been amazing. The poem I mentioned earlier, I Can’t has had an amazing response on Facebook. I Can’t is a poem about that overwhelming feeling that grief brings. The first line is ‘I can’t do this today’ which is a feeling that anyone who has been through grief will be familiar with. At the start there may be many days when you feel like this. Or you might feel like this every day. Lots of the comments I’ve had on the post have said every day is like this. I feel humbled to have had such a strong reaction to this poem and that many have felt a sense of ‘someone knows how I feel.’ This is my main wish for this new book; that, when reading it, people will find poems that speak to them and bring them comfort.

I will close by sharing I Can’t with you and then the link for You Are Not Alone

I Can’t

I can’t do this today
I feel so alone and lost
Without you next to me
Without you near
Without being able to talk to you

I can’t do this today
The house is so silent
The imprint is still on your chair
Your empty chair
I can almost see you
Still sitting there
But I know you’re not

I can’t do this today
I just heard your favourite song
I can’t breathe
I can’t speak
There are no words anymore

Jen Elvy

If you’d like to check the book out and maybe order it on kindle, click here.

Thank you for reading.

Jen x