I decided to spend the month of August browsing through, reading, and writing about Emily Dickinson because I knew that doing so would have huge benefits. And it wasn't simply the benefit of getting reacquainted with Emily that I was after, though it was a major consideration. I knew that spending a few minutes a day in this way would be like hitting my own re-set button--a … [Read more...]
SoulFood CoffeeHouse Reading — August 17, 7 p.m.
I'm reading Thursday evening at SoulFood CoffeeHouse in Redmond, Washington (click on the link to find directions). The other poets are Sandra Noel, Margaret Roncone, and Koon Woon. 7 p.m. Come early. Buy coffee! … [Read more...]
August in Emily’s House
"I dwell in Possibility-- / A fairer House than Prose--" (F.466) It's August, which for me means writing a poem a day and putting it in the mail to a fellow-poet, who may be waiting in Seattle, or Bellingham, or Australia to hear from me. Every year I begin by reading a lot of short poems. Haiku are good. And I recently picked up a book by Kay Ryan, which does an … [Read more...]
The Writer with Children
Daughter #3 turns 18 today -- my elf-child, the little curly-haired blondish creature who at age 4 wanted to marry her father and have me be their "little kid" -- the 10-year-old who had a summer goal to swim every day until school began in September -- the irrepressible 14-year-old who turned our lives upside down with her right-on-schedule adolescent antics. … [Read more...]