anniversary of an ending

It’s been five years since I sat next to my dad’s hospital bed, the one that was in a weird dark corner in the ICU, and held his hand as he told me and my mom about the decision he’d made. I remember his skin – papery, delicate. He bruised easily, like a peach. He…

August Break #2: leaf (or the story about my first Pushcart Prize nomination)

Much like the poem describes, I was reading a library book when a leaf fell out of it. I didn’t recognize the leaf, but I was fascinated by it. Later, the same kind of leaf but smaller also fell out of the book. Suddenly, a poem was born. Sometimes it happens that way. Easy. Like…

Songwriter book club

The main thing I had going on today was attending my songwriter book club. I don’t write songs, though, I write poems. We read a book then write something either about or inspired by the book. The book we read was called The Control of Nature. It was written in the late 80s, but I’m…

Just a quickie

The World Series ended tonight and Atlanta beat Houston in six games. I was rooting for Atlanta so I’m glad they won. At the same time, I think it’s beyond time that they change their team name and all the other problematic imagery, chants etc that are attached to them. Other teams have changed (Cleveland…

National Poetry Month – Day 30

Here we are at the end. I actually feel okay getting two poems I really like and am mostly happy with (I reserve the right to revise) written this month. To close out this celebration of poetry, here’s a last one from 2015 that I think sums it all up pretty well. Hope you enjoyed!…

National Poetry Month – Day 29

I watched a poetry ‘gala’ online today to celebrate the 25th anniversary of National Poetry Month with the Academy of American Poets. It was filled with big names like Regina King, Meryl Streep, and Sandra Oh, among others. While it was neat to hear these folks read great poems, it was also a little dull….

National Poetry Month – Day 28

Only two more days! I’ll be honest, but you probably already know, this month was not too conducive for me to write something new every day. Last year, in the first weeks of the pandemic, no job, and only time to think about this terrible disease led to some writing (and even some keepers). I…

National Poetry Month – Day 27

I have an idea for a new poem but didn’t have a chance to work on it today. So here’s a real old one. I put this in my chapbook Naked Wrists which came out in 1997. Legends weathered pages between soft leathera sameness that sootheswords that return joy after borrowingtropical beat that drips sweetly…

National Poetry Month – Day 26

It occurred to me today that April has been, for me, a month of great changes. It’s been five years since I ended my relationship (!), and then today, looking at the FB memories, these came up, and I thought it might be an okay list poem. (OTD = on this day) OTD 11 years…

National Poetry Month – Day 25

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