A Tough Language

“So when people say that poetry is a luxury, or an option, or for the educated middle classes, or that it shouldn’t be read at school because it is irrelevant, or any of the strange and stupid things that are said about poetry and its place in our lives, I suspect that the people doing the saying have had things pretty easy. A tough life needs a tough language and that is what poetry is. That is what literature offers, a language powerful enough to say how it is. It isn’t a hiding place – it’s a finding place.” ~Jeanette … Continue reading A Tough Language

Suspended

you fold into my body like the curled edge of a banana leaf the sun loiters behind a bank of clouds watching your forefinger tracing shivers down the nubs of my spine while dusty bare toes push an afternoon hammock and ships on the river blow harmonious horns —————————————– Shared on dVerse Poets Pub, an online community where poets share their work and support each other. Continue reading Suspended

Coffee, Tea, Patio, Bed

“The poem finds me. I know it’s a poem when I hear it. I say the lines, and when the saying is right, I write down the lines. Almost always, the poem’s opening comes to me first. Sometimes I must write a bit before I get to the opening, before it reveals itself to me. I know it’s a poem when I connect with the opening lines. At that point I have no real notion of where the poem is headed. I don’t know how it will end. I don’t want to know. I want the closing to be what is needed … Continue reading Coffee, Tea, Patio, Bed

Newsy News & Celebration

I’m celebrating two great things that have happened to me in the (dreaded) month of August that might (might) be changing my mind about it although I’m glad we’re practically at the half-way mark. First, three of my poems are published in Olentangy Review this month. Olentangy Review is edited by husband and wife team Darryl and Melissa Price and was originally a print publication that began back in 1992. I am very pleased to be a part of this beautiful journal and in the company of other (way more well known) poets and writers featured in its pages. Huge thanks … Continue reading Newsy News & Celebration

Missing

let’s run away become those people that are never heard from again throw a few changes of clothes and your St. Christopher into a suitcase and just hit the road and I’ll leave a message on the voicemail that says itchy feet have to run and we’ve gone to join Laika after all who says space has to be outer and other galaxies only exist in the sky __________________________________ Do you ever feel like this? I’m feeling it big time lately. Poem shared on dVerse Poet’s Pub, an online community where poets share their work and support each other. Image found … Continue reading Missing