For My Young Friends Who Are Afraid – William Stafford There is a country to cross you will find in the corner of your eye, in the quick slip of your foot–air far down, a snap that might have caught. And maybe for you, for me, a high, passing voice that finds its way by … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by William Stafford
At twenty-five I dreamed a dream that has haunted me ever since: My mother faces me on the sloping deck of a gunmetal gray ocean liner. Perhaps it is an aircraft carrier; it has that same forbidding, ominous look. A narrow rail runs along the edge of the deck. No deck chairs, nothing to hold … Continue reading Shall I Jump Now?
THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE – William Butler Yeats I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by William Butler Yeats
The question must be asked: why does the container of colored blocks to the right of this paragraph keep disappearing? Not in real life, but in this entry. It’s becoming a real problem, and one can only hope that by the time one presses “Publish,” the blocks will still be visible. There are no guarantees, … Continue reading Little houses made of ticky-tacky
The Layers – Stanley Kunitz I have walked through many lives, some of them my own, and I am not who I was, though some principle of being abides, from which I struggle not to stray. When I look behind, as I am compelled to look before I can gather strength to proceed on my … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Stanley Kunitz
There are people in the world whom you owe. People you think about, and wish you’d thanked, or more than thanked, at the time, but out of shock, or because you weren’t thinking straight, you didn’t. All this long time later, how can you make it up them? You can’t, not to them personally. You … Continue reading I owe you
I’ve been on a reading binge the last three weeks. Below are the books I’ve read, along with a one-sentence –yep, one sentence, sue me– review. 1. Borrowed Finery, by Paula Fox. Much of the power of this unaccountably moving memoir of a young girl rejected by her parents and moved from place to place … Continue reading What I've Been Reading
Driving hundreds of miles in the dark, heading north, two-lane road, high beams lighting the night, shiny eyes of deer waiting in the ditch. A fox. A feral cat. The only station drifting in and out is an oldies station, “the songs of your life.” Is this the first time you’ve known every single song … Continue reading Have You Been There Too?
Restoration Ode – Dean Young What tends toward orbit and return, comets and melodies, robins and trash trucks restore us. What would be an arrow, a dove to pierce our hearts restore us. Restore us minutes clustered like nursing baby bats and minutes that are shards of glass. Mountains that are vapor, mice living in … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Dean Young
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 