When he was little, my son sometimes asked me questions that seized my heart, questions like Mama, what if we’re all characters in a book, and someone is writing us right now? Where these questions came from, I don’t know. Then and now he was what I think of as an old soul. Once, when he was … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Anne Sexton
My friend Todd is an art museum guard by day and an artist by day and night. He composes and records original songs, dives deep into pop music he orders from Japan, watches and re-watches Miyazaki films, reads and re-reads favorite novels and finds something new in them each time. Whatever draws him, he will … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Carl Dennis
Q: Does writing about hard things ever make you agitated and upset, so that you have to walk away from the writing and regain your equilibrium? A: Nope. Life is what’s hard. Writing is always solace. This exchange took place in a university undergraduate creative writing class a couple of weeks ago. Writing is how … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Tony Hoagland
A few years ago I sat in a crowded auditorium listening to a speaker lecture on a topic I don’t remember. What I do remember is that fifteen minutes into his lecture, he was interrupted by an audience member who jumped to his feet and, under the guise of asking a question, began to harangue … Continue reading Excuse me
Long ago I left behind the simple prayers of my childhood, the ones spoken in unison with others in church, or around the table at a special meal when everyone named something they were thankful for. I’ve never known what God is, and I don’t know what God is to others. If forced to come … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Keetje Kuipers
Me to a roomful of high school students last week: “Raise a hand if you’ve lost someone you love to murder.” Every hand went up. Every hand. At least that’s how it looked to me, standing there. How do you make your way through something impossibly hard? That was the premise of our conversation, and the … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Olav Hauge
If home is defined as the place where you don’t have to think –you can just be— then you can find home not just in a place but a person. I believe in love at first sight –it’s happened to me–and I also believe in recognition at first sight. Sometimes they’re the same thing. A knowing. … Continue reading Poem of the Week, by Tim Seibles
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
We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. -jack gilbert
The Good Things Black People Do, Give and Receive All Over The World
Musings on poetry, language, perception, numbers, food, and anything else that slips through the cracks.
Thoughts on the world around me
the literary asylum
Bipolar is my superpower
