GROVE OF BLANK PAGES

Hello. My name is Troy Standiford.

I am a writer that lives in Maryland. I am getting ready to self-publish my first book, a collection of poetry, titled INSTARS. The poems are dear to me. I spent a long time on them. Very few people have read them. I'm terrified.

Breaking the silence is difficult. How do you begin to open up to others? It is not easy, at least for me.

I grew up next to a bamboo grove. Let's start there. My mom planted it initially, and the bamboo took care of the rest, planting itself over and over again thereafter. The stalks provided me shade and shelter, a place to watch birds, and a sense of wonder in the natural world.

My mom would make things out of bamboo, arts and crafts,. She showed me, as a young child, that bamboo creates paper. Cut into the lacuna, or hollow section, of a bamboo stalk, and inside you will often find a thin inner lining, a fiber like snake skin, remarkably similar to paper. This is different from the processed cardboard-colored bamboo paper towels you can commonly find in public restrooms. This is a natural canvas that was abundant in my backyard. I was surrounded by paper. Of course I became a writer.

The first poem of my book, INSTARS, is about this paper, the feeling of discovery, the secrecy of being passed a note, only to find it blank, yet knowing exactly what it means. The act of becoming. Speaking for someone without a voice. Sometimes, that someone is yourself.

You can follow my writing journey on my Instagram page, groveofblankpages, as well as this website.

~ Troy Standiford