I’d been on the lookout for something different to showcase on maybesopoetry, and Laura E. Davis’ work with postcards is exactly what I was hoping to find. Davis is a poet (and, apparently, an artist), who creates unique postcards using decoupage. I was lucky enough to score one, and of course, it was exciting to receive actual hold-in-your-hands mail that wasn’t a bill from American Electric Power, or a coupon for Little Caesar’s Pizza.

Davis’ postcard is a work of art: a lovely, writing-inspired collage on one side (see image), and on the other side, a handwritten, original poem. No two postcards are alike.

Of her inspiration for creating these postcards, Davis says,

I’ve been going through a very fragmented period with my writing. I write a lot of drafts that don’t go anywhere. Lots of erasures, blackouts, cutups and found poems. Sometimes just word lists. I got the idea to use the postcards as motivation to write. I need to be creative on pretty much a daily basis, and when I’m feeling stuck with words, I create with my hands through crafts. The process of collecting images, paper scraps, and objects for the postcard collages, and then actually creating them is very meditative and calming. Once I have a solid stack of new postcards, then I set a goal of writing poems for the cards so I can mail them to people. Sometimes I repeat poems, but I try to write a different draft on each postcard. I don’t let myself make any new cards until I send out at least a few finished postcards. I love to get real mail. Who doesn’t?

Upon Davis’ request, I will not include the actual poem (it’s still in draft form), but it’s quite evocative, and the entire effect of the postcard makes the experience of sharing poetry a personal and intimate one.

More about the poet:

Laura E. Davis is the author of Braiding the Storm (Finishing Line, 2012). Her poems have appeared in Toad, So to Speak, Stirring, Corium, Muzzle Magazine, and others. The founding editor of Weave Magazine. Laura teaches for Poetry Inside Out, a K-12 bilingual poetry program in San Francisco.