Driving to work every morning, I tune in to NPR. In the past, I would listen to the stupid antics of local deejays to try to rouse myself from the half-conscious state of my non-morning person. NPR keeps me looped in to what’s going on in the world and the news early in the day.… Continue reading Lessons from an Unlikely Teacher
Category: Tales from the MFA
One last thing before bed
So, I’ve mentioned that the residency (poetry camp) was overall surreal for me in a previous post, which truth be told had some to do with not getting out as much at night and squelching my not-so secret extrovert. What the squelching did then, though has carried over to today and yesterday and probably tomorrow.… Continue reading One last thing before bed
NYC: Transitioning
We left school, lovingly dubbed “poetry camp” yesterday afternoon. This residency had very curious undertones to it, which I think a few of us attributed to the full moon. Poets are an interesting bunch of people. One evening, as we danced in the school pub, I grinned, considering that at any given moment, one of… Continue reading NYC: Transitioning
En route to somewhere
THURSDAY The roommates celebrated our last official night together over homemade sticky toffee pudding in our house. Congregating around the table brought overt reminders that three of us were en route for the summer, one for longer than that. But all of us amid packing and organizing thoughts found time for the gooey warm toffee-soaked… Continue reading En route to somewhere
Soon and very
As a child, the night before the first day of school always found me lying in bed, eyes wide open. I would envision meeting new people in my classes, bending the spine on a fresh notebook, opening the box of sharp chalky colored pencils. In those days of uniforms and far too early wake up… Continue reading Soon and very
Some thoughts on living
Today my doppelganger became a wife. Back during school days in Mill Valley, Loren and I used to confuse people unwittingly. From far off they would see me and yell, “Loren!” We even started at the same time working at my current company and my boss would accidentally sometimes call her by my name and… Continue reading Some thoughts on living
A prophetic voice on Memorial Day
I was walking back to my car with Sharona to fetch my hoodie since the sunshine finally was obscured by the clouds and forthcoming wind. Elijah waved from across the street as he opened his trunk, grabbing a blanket. I mentioned how today I tackled this paper on form poetry that beat me down. Attempting… Continue reading A prophetic voice on Memorial Day
Not quite the bedfellows you had in mind
I finished reading “The Nakedness of the Fathers” by Alicia Ostriker tonight. Since she’s my mentor this semester, it was good to delve into some of her writings to see how she approaches craft and spirituality. Below I share with you one of the images I found most striking and profound from her book: “Some… Continue reading Not quite the bedfellows you had in mind
Leaving the desert
I have been roaming in the desert longer than forty days and forty nights. What is to become of me, of them? James Wright’s poem “To the Saguaro Cactus…” really got me thinking in a new way of this usually barren plot of land associated with hardness of earth and heart. Moses and I convene… Continue reading Leaving the desert
Good Friday
I avoided Allen Ginsberg tonight. Usually I take Good Friday off and spend it hiking, silent, in contemplation reading the four accounts of Jesus’ last moments before the gruesome death at 3 p.m. Earlier this week, I could see that we would have a press check today bringing one of my most recent projects to… Continue reading Good Friday
A poet’s celebration
Culminating a marathon week of back to back tradeshows, I found myself in New York righteously upsetting several union workers. Amidst their yells and screams of “lady, you can’t move that” my 5’2 stature heaved and shoved the largest of our crates waiting at the back of the Javits Center, the last vestige of our… Continue reading A poet’s celebration
overcome
After a day of being back at work, I decided to stop off at Borders for a moment to look around the poetry section for the one “text”book I couldn’t order that must be hidden underneath a rock somewhere. I’m not giving up. Have you ever been overcome with a voracious desire to want to… Continue reading overcome