Before he uploaded that photo of you on his page, there were other photos of you, many of them, and we have them all. We have boxes of them. And we have books that your mother tucked photos of you into, books with acid-free pages, organized chronologically, each one labeled with a date and description … Continue reading from a photo in the Times
Go To the Limits of Your Longing – Rainer Maria Rilke God speaks to each of us as he makes us, then walks with us silently out of the night. These are the words we dimly hear: You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of your longing. Embody me. Flare up like … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Rainer Maria Rilke
You must have known her from kindergarten on, although it was in middle school that you became close friends. She lived in a small bright green ranch house right across the street from the middle school, which was right next to the high school, which meant that all she had to do was walk out … Continue reading Portrait of a Friend, Vol. 2
Five pelicans, flying in formation, skimming low over the water on the lookout for fish. A thirteen-year-old golden retriever lowering himself to his haunches in the surf, then clambering out on the sand to wiggle ecstatically on his back. Bubbles rising silently in a straight-sided copper bottom pot. The same pot a few minutes later, … Continue reading A few things I saw this morning
That mask there to the right, modeled by an old friend, is one you used to wear every Halloween. Then you had children and it terrified them, so you put it on a high shelf and haven’t worn it since. Recently, it resurfaced when you were attempting a deep-clean of the furnace room. You put … Continue reading A footnote in someone else's story
You met her fourteen years ago. She was tiny then, and now, at 90, she is even tinier. The first time you met her she grasped both your hands in her own pale arthritic ones. You felt a shock of recognition that transcended the 40+ year difference in your ages, and she felt it too. … Continue reading Portrait of a Friend, Vol. 1
I’m thinking about rain today. It’s been a long time since I saw rain. Heard it. Felt it. We are not in a drought, but there has been no rain for many months now. Rain has fallen, but not in its original form. What was once rain, what would still be rain were it not … Continue reading Rain
Goodies from my mailbox and camera
Telling all sides of the parenting story
Waking Up to Your Dreams
On James Baldwin and Diverse Literature
Putting those recalcitrant toddler cancer cells to bed...
your own PDK for writing
a collection of beautiful words.....
Objects, Memory and Meaning
If it can't be said in a hundred words, then it can't be said in a thousand.
sewing a handmade wardrobe
"drink from the well of your self and begin again" ~charles bukowski
Musings on poetry, language, perception, numbers, food, and anything else that slips through the cracks.
Thoughts on the world around me
Alison McGhee 