Try to get to the poem underneath a day, and the words just float on the surface sometimes. Then, it's better for me to revise and read and wonder. I'm thinking of my teen students who are sending their final submissions to Scholastic Art & Writing Awards today--our regional deadline. Those hours over the line breaks, word choices, image... … Continue reading Unfiltered
Tag: poetry
Cut up
We dismembered poetry and created some Franken-verse, as a little break today from revising work for the end of winter session at Writopia Lab. Reminding them (and myself) that cutting up the writing is still fun, startling, and rewarding.
Fluid meditation
It had not acquired one permanent wrinkle after all its ripples. ---Henry David Thoreau In poetry, circumambulating an object is the same as walking into the center of it. These two---poetry and walking near water---are my favorite ways into the deeps. And keeping a poetry notebook next to my busy life has become that necessary shortcut to serenity.
To judge
I hardly remember this---photo of a recent high school graduate and her younger sisters, visiting India in 1992. A past life, it seems. I've been reading high school seniors' writing portfolios as a volunteer juror in the Scholastic Art & Writing awards this week. I'm remembering, and happy to support those purer ideals growing into the future, … Continue reading To judge
Top 20 reasons to give poetry books as gifts
The holiday catalogues have started to arrive in my mailbox. And while I'm admiring how pretty they are as decorations for my recycling bin, I felt the need to write a little guidance on surviving this annual season of materialism. Here's my top-20 list of reasons to make it easy on yourself --- buy poetry books for everyone on … Continue reading Top 20 reasons to give poetry books as gifts
Available soon! Kali Sutra: Poems
Time to tie poems into an offering---for you! Most of the poetry in this collection has been published here and there, in journals and online magazines. Now, these are all together again as I meant to present them, and you can pre-order the collection here on my website, or wait for the release date, October 20, when … Continue reading Available soon! Kali Sutra: Poems
Memory pours poems
With prompting
Hearing new writing, even before the ink has dried, before the coffee has turned cold, we imagine bright lights into a newly formed sky. In the free-write group that I host every Friday afternoon, I invite participants to engage with a simple writing prompt for a 15-minute composition (it usually goes a little longer). Then … Continue reading With prompting
A wherefore
Waters and stars
The collaborative poems in last night's salon lengthened over pages into overlapping dreamscapes. Some wonderful new works shared, including a reading of a 21-minute narrative poem and, um, some digital code. Writers and appreciative listeners are welcome to join us in the next salon, and, as a taste-tease, enjoy this little bit of the exquisite, … Continue reading Waters and stars