I used to write a lot of poetry.
It was a helpful means for me when I was taking my first steps out of adolescence and attempting to find my balance as an adult.
After graduating from university in 2019, I noticed my notebook was filled with many of these poems. Realizing that, I resolved to make something out of them, and with the help of Amazon’s self-publishing platform, State of Vulnerability was born.
The experience wound up being far more therapeutic than I could’ve imagined. Plus it was pretty fun!
So, using some other poems that didn’t make the cut as well as a few I had begun in the time since, I set out to release my sophomore book a year later.
It was during that time I really wanted to grow as an artist. To sharpen my voice. To be taken more seriously. I wanted to build something of a platform so, in addition to working on the next book, I opened an Instagram account as a means of “putting myself out there”.
Maintaining the account while working on the book took a lot out of me. 2021 was also a difficult year personally, which didn’t do much to help the process.
Nonetheless, in September 2021 my second book, The Abject Head, was released for better or for worse.
I have a love-hate relationship with this one.
On the one hand, it was fun to try new things and even include a short story among the poems. On the other hand, the final product was, in my opinion, too bogged down by my misguided ambition and aims at the time.
Nonetheless, I was already getting book number three ready but life had other plans. I ended up losing my job and, because of that, took some time to clear my head.
I went to Europe to do so and, as a result, book three went on the back burner and my poetry output slowed dramatically (a fatigue which, in my opinion, The Abject Head showed was in the making).
But now, two and a half years later, I’m living and working in Rotterdam. I’m settled here with an apartment, a great church community, and much more. Energized from all this, I’ve finally found myself able to put the final touches on book three, which I’ve titled CYCLONE.
In doing so, I looked back at the previous two books and while I have a lot of fondness for them, I realized that my taste and approach to writing had changed considerably since their release.
That gave me the idea of “remixing”/ “updating” these books to better represent where I am today, almost like a reintroduction ahead of CYCLONE’s release.
So I set to it and this was the result…
Route Seven Revisited is a compilation of my favorite poems from State of Vulnerability and The Abject Head. I went back and revised many of them, updating them to the voice common in my writing today while trying to maintain the essence of the stage of life from which they were born.
Accompanying these poems are a few unpublished pieces I wrote back in the day. They never found a place in the previous two books, so this seemed like a good time to include them.
The title of Route Seven Revisited is a reference to Virginia Route 7, a highway quite common to any Northern Virginia driver. I chose that title because A) Highway 61 Revisited is a great album and I’ll take any chance to pay homage to Bob Dylan and B) One of the goals of this book was to write a love letter to those final years I spent in the suburbs that raised me.
The three main sections of the book are entitled “Leesburg”, “Paeonian Springs”, and “Ashburn” after three Northern VA towns that played a significant role in what led me to Europe.
The poems of each section tell a story about growing up, beginning to see your surroundings differently, and, eventually, coming to accept the place you’re from: flaws and all.
Through this process, I’ve reclaimed something of that therapeutic experience writing State of Vulnerability brought me. I’m grateful for that.
Route Seven Revisited is currently available for purchase on Amazon. Links are available in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
Thanks for taking the time to read about my weird relationship with poetry. Even though I don’t write it as much as I used to, I’ll never stop loving it. The way those verses come together to expel thoughts, spread feelings, and help process emotions… there’s something mystical to it, man.
We’re poetic people, history tells us that. From Isaiah’s prophetic verses about the coming Messiah to Bob Dylan musing over His imprint in every grain of sand, we’ve been doing it for centuries and I pray we never stop.
Thank God for the gift of poetry.
Now I turn my sights to wrapping up CYCLONE. More info on that to come later.
Interested in how you can help support my work? Here are a few ways…
US Specific:
Venmo (@Jon-DiNovo)
WEC USA giving information can be found here.
EU Specific:
Tax Deductible Donation via WEC NL: NL98 ABNA 0426 839 536 t.n.v. stichting WEC Nederland o.v.v. Jon DiNovo Rotterdam
Direct Donation: NL31 ABNA 0121 7988 28
General: