How Asking for Feedback Can Spark Creative Connection

Aaniin, dear ones! Hello!

Sometimes, the smallest steps—like asking for feedback—lead to the most unexpected and beautiful connections.

At the end of each contest, we offer the option to request feedback on your entries. Mark Fryburg was one of those writers who requested feedback in a verbal coaching session.

During our feedback session, Mark and I quickly discovered we shared more than a love of poetry—we also grew up in the same neighborhood and even attended the same high school 30 years apart!

This was such a fun experience of community.

If you’ve ever felt alone in your writing journey, remember that you’re part of something larger. Who sits in your seat in class after you graduate? Who lives in your house after you move? What if your paths crossed again in an unexpected way decades from now?

Two poets, one hometown—Amber (1998) and Mark (1968).

Mark’s simple act of asking for feedback led to an unexpected and meaningful connection—one we’re excited to celebrate today.

After switching from journalism to poetry, Mark has collected a host of awards, including New Poets 3rd Place in the Oregon Poetry Association for “Searching for Love on the Deschutes River.”

He also received 1st place in the “Sense of Place” category for the Poetry Society of Virginia contest. And he’s kindly sharing this piece with us today.

DUNES

Millennia ago the sand blew in to dam the estuaries as the ice age warmed and the water rose to become a precious lake playground of our youth where we lay exhausted on the dunes at night while a kind breeze cleared the ocean mist. We gazed at a billion stars, us, splendidly humbled by God’s cathedral ceiling, still naively believing, barely noticing the dune moved under us, reclaiming its creation, a slow avalanche pressed by new dark winds in elliptical waves—taking our lake as prize, smothering with grit our last residue, innocence. Men who held our hope for America murdered, our schoolmates marching off to lose their humanity in Asian jungles.  Each of us carried a wallet card stamped: “You’re Next.”

By Mark Fryburg

From Collected Winning Poems, Poetry Society of Virginia—2024

Thank you for sharing this incredible piece and beautiful reminder of connection with us, Mark! And thanks to each of you, dear readers, for being in our community.

Holding back on asking for feedback? Sometimes a simple request can open the door to surprising connections and creative breakthroughs.

With love,

Amber