I woke up the other day to a SM post from Revolution John magazine that I’d been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Surprise is putting it mildly. It’s always wonderful to be nominated for literary recognition and I want to thank the Editors for believing in my work. The piece nominated is a Cento so I want to thank the poets whose lines I borrowed to create “You lied to me.” You can read the poem here. Continue reading A Surprise!
I thought I’d put together a brief list sharing my best of the best in October. I thought by only sharing what really knocked my socks off would result in a short piece. However, day by day I kept adding to it and, … Continue reading What I Read, Watched, & Listened to in October
Where you can hear the Southern drawl I don’t think I have! 😆 (Cross-post from my Substack) A while ago I mentioned that my debut chapbook, Offset Melodies, was recently released by ElJ Editions in the collection Grieving Hope. The collection contains … Continue reading Grieving Hope Reading on Youtube
A Hundred Kinds of Flowers: A CentoBreak open and never close again.Every morning I want tokneel down, still in love with life, the pieceof God that is insideof each of us.I don’t know exactly whata prayer is, I do know … Continue reading NaPoWriMo & Something Small, Every Day: A Hundred Kinds of Flowers
Last August I submitted a manuscript to an open call by the independent press, ELJ Editions. Five micro chapbooks were selected to be included in one volume and mine was one. To say I was happily surprised is an understatement! The entire process with ELJ Editions has been a pleasure. Many thanks to Editor Diane Gottlieb and Founder & Publisher Ariana D. Den Bleyker. I’m pleased that preorders are now available here. My chapbook, Offset Melodies, is all prose, consisting of micro and flash creative nonfiction and autofiction. I’m excited to be published with four phenomenal women writers: Kim Steutermann … Continue reading Preorders Open for My 1st Prose Chapbook
Reunion DanceI got a room at the top of the world tonight,on a sultry Summer night I drive into town.Where neon flashes & voices are brightin barrooms & nightclubs, a chaotic sightin kaleidoscope movement my body drowns.I got a room … Continue reading NaPoWriMo & Something Small, Every Day: Reunion Dance
Why I am Not a Piece of Cakewaiting to be eaten,sitting on a delicate plateringed in roses while the tea steeps.I could never be so obedient, resigned to sliding down someone’s throat after frosting and sponge were gnashed and tumbled by teeth and tongue.I do not like dark, moist placesthat bypass the heart and stomachsare full of acid – I refuse to land there!In fact, I’d only agree to be a lemon cakeimmortalized by Wayne Thiebaud’s arttall, proud, yellower than the sunon a July day and so tart as to turn away the tongue and shrivel the teeth,nothing like a … Continue reading NaPoWriMo & Something Small, Every day: Why I am Not a Piece of Cake
Cessation Summary the girl began scraping offdistressclawing it with bare fingerssteelbladeblood combinedvia passage light travelsleapsbounceseyes praise honeythis coat so privateamplifiedto rise above Off prompt today. Erasure poem created from the essay “New Technologies of Reading” by Angela Woodward in 2017 Pushcart Prize XLI anthology. My “Something Small, Every Day (or so)” series is inspired by Austin Kleon’s piece here where he says, “Building a body of work (or a life) is all about the slow accumulation of a day’s worth of effort over time.” Continue reading NaPoWriMo & Something Small, Every day: Cessation Summary
Artwork by Jenn Zed via The Wombwell Rainbow All Summer Long Breaking the surface, we jettisonedourselves toward the skyBodies bound in summer’s long kissincandescent droplets falling fringefrom our sun bleached curlssliding smooth like your hand in mine down curves and angles to slip backin the gentle waves rippling out and out and outthrough generations of fallow fleshthat loved in this lake before usEach second lasting a lifetimeSo kindSo cruelSummer lovers still floating through timeand memory* I’m following several websites for poem prompts and decided on this artwork from The Wombwell Rainbow for inspiration today. I love the image and it … Continue reading NaPoWriMo & Something Small, Every Day: All Summer Long
You Have a Right to be HereWhen fires burnWhen streets are blocked by bodiesWhen universities ignore walls of hateWhen toxic voices call for deathI write of the sky, of the earth, of the seahow they persevere, how one needs the otherI write of cooperation, of empathyhow we are all human beings doing the best we canhow we can learn from each otherthrough communication & open mindsI retreat to poetryreading & writing what connects usrejecting what divides usThere’s too much hate in the world right nowI won’t participate, I won’t be influenced I’ll read & write poetryof humanness & leave harsh … Continue reading NaPoWriMo & Something Small, Every Day: You Have a Right to be Here
