Instead of using the prompt from namowrimo.net today, I ended up writing what I thought would be a poem about nature. Actually, it is about nature, but the human kind. I don’t generally write protest poetry – and many will say this is not but I prefer subtlety over lambast. Anyway. Here it is via a photo of my notebook. (This is a very rough draft.) Continue reading NaPoWriMo 1/30: Air
On Wednesdays at 6:00 pm Poet Fida Islaih facilitates a chat for poets called #PoetteerChat on Twitter. I’ve been participating for a couple of months and have enjoyed chatting and getting to know other poets. Two weeks ago Fida had poet Nicole Gilotta, author of Eat This Poem, as a guest on the chat. (Transcript here.) I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about her book and the inspiration for writing it, so much so that I invited the other participants to join me in writing a collaborative poem about food. I’d always wanted to do a collaborative poem and the subject piqued … Continue reading Writing With Poet Fida Islaih
Tiny Miracle You named her Sarah. She lived in the window of my teen-aged bedroom in a macrame hanger I made myself. She was so exotic, so otherworldly, so stunning in the Mississippi sunlight. In my twenties, she made the trip to New Orleans in the back of my orange Datsun, carefully cushioned for minimum damage, where she lived for many more years on the back patio until the many deluges and unrelenting humidity finally did her in. That, and my benign neglect. I’ve missed her all these years but I couldn’t buy another Sarah. It wouldn’t be the same. … Continue reading Tiny Miracle
Between sundown and moonrise the world feels heavy, a stone upon the heart. There is no going forward nor looking back, no plans in the making nor nostalgic memories. There is only the now, the plain evening song of blood and bone. Continue reading Desire Rests
I began working on a CNF piece a few months ago based on an interaction I had with a woman in the jury lounge when I was called up for Federal jury duty. The first three paragraphs flowed out easily. The next couple came weeks later. Now I can’t stand the thought of going back to work on it at all. There are memories of the aftermath of Katrina interspersed and I just don’t want to think about it. It’s Spring, new beginnings, a time of optimism. The thought of revisiting that time is just abhorrent. Hopefully, this is just … Continue reading Brain Dump
(Bada-Bing!) Anyway, folks, I do indeed have two poems currently in On the Veranda Literary Journal which specializes in Southern writing. I’m very pleased to join the other poets in Issue 2.2 and hope you read all of us here. Big thanks to the editors for giving my work a new venue. Continue reading 2 Poems Rocking On the Veranda
You’ve been gone so long I couldn’t imagine you could still do harm. Every time I look around you’re shedding your skin, and I feel claws pressing in, opaque scales falling like snow, blocking the door. *** Image via Flickr Continue reading Cast Away
My poem “Fractured Journey” is published in the Winter Quarterly of Blue Five Notebook/Blue Fifth Review. I’m so happy to join the talented writers in this wonderful edition. Big thanks to editors Sam Rasnake and Bill Yarrow who are outstanding poets themselves and have been so generous to me with their encouragement and advice over the years. In December my poem “2 Worlds” was published in Beate Sigridddaughters wonderful journal, Writing in a Woman’s Voice. I have great respect for Beate and the tireless work she does promoting women’s writing. I’ll never forget the surprise and elation I felt when she … Continue reading Publications: Blue Fifth Review & Writing in a Woman’s Voice
I’ve had a few blogs in my day and there’s always come a time when the current one has outlived its usefulness. For the past few months I’ve felt the creative mojo of this one slowly fading so I’ll be closing it down shortly. I want to say thanks to everyone who’s visited and commented here over the years. It’s been a real pleasure and know that I’ll continue to visit your blogs so you won’t see the definitive end of me quite yet. Plus, I’m sure I’ll open a new one at some point. I wish you all a … Continue reading Mojo left the room
