Author/Artist’s Note

The drawing in the image above was created using my non-dominant hand, a therapeutic approach used to tap into lesser utilized parts of the brain. I have severe, treatment-resistant OCD, and extreme perfectionism is one of the symptoms; for me, one of the primary purposes of these exercises is to focus on sitting with the discomfort that accompanies imperfection. Because I love writing Japanese poetry, I quickly established a new obsession wherein, for each image I create, I must also write an associated poem.

Rose Menyon Heflin

is a poet and artist from Wisconsin who enjoys nature and travel. Although currently busy with cyanotyping, screenprinting, and photographing plants and cranes, she enjoys working in a variety of media.

Among other venues, her poetry has recently been published or is forthcoming in 50 Haikus, Ariel Chart, Asahi Haikuist Network, Bramble, The Closed Eye Open, The Daily Drunk, Deep South Magazine, Dreich Magazine, Eastern Structures, The Ekphrastic Review, Haikuniverse, The Light Ekphrastic, Littoral Magazine, Please See Me, Plum Tree Tavern, THE POET, Poetry and Covid, Red Alder Review, Red Eft Review, Sparked Literary Magazine, The Texas Poetry Calendar, Three Line Poetry, Trouvaille Review, Visual Verse, The Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar, The Writers Club, and various anthologies. Her poetry recently won a Merit Award from Arts for All Wisconsin.

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Poetry Inspired by Horace Pippin, a series of eight poems and sequences by Rose Menyon Heflin in The Ekphrastic Review (1 September 2021)

⚡ Two Poems by Ms. Heflin in Deep South (17 April 2021): “The Word Is Out” and “Her Thinking Spot”