Category: Writing

Open 1

Ready for a poetry writing exercise?  Here are eleven words.  If you’d like to make something out of them, feel free to share what you’ve written in the comment box below. wheel flash anchor infinity lungs scratch stillbirth test piano germ tap It’s okay to use variations of the words in the list.  Eventually I… Continue reading Open 1

Artifacts

I think a big part of my motivation as a writer is that I love making things. Truth be told, I still dye Easter eggs every year (sometimes with a niece and nephew to legitimize the process, sometimes not), and it brings me joy. Artwork I’ve done at every age still hangs on the walls… Continue reading Artifacts

Question 1

What is one work of so-called-great literature that you’ve never read but that people probably assume you’ve read? Mine is Middlemarch. I did read the first 200 pages though. Twice.

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Details from Out There

I’ve never really thought of myself as a nature person. Once I slept in a tent about 20 years ago, and I doubt that I’ll do it again any time soon, if given any choice in the matter. I enjoy reading Thoreau, but I wouldn’t want to be Thoreau. But if you think of writers… Continue reading Details from Out There

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MoJo

Signifying in this instance: more on joy. This just in. The most recent online issue of the Mississippi Review is called The Happiness Issue. Jane Armstrong edits this edition. In her introduction, she confesses that she expected a very limited response. Instead she got inundated with poetry. When I posted the call for stories, essays,… Continue reading MoJo

Joy

Lucinda Williams does a great song called Joy. Do you know that one? This song, like most of Lucinda’s, is not gleeful. But she is a blues singer. One of my friends who teaches poetry workshops told me that he made an assignment once to a group of graduate students. Simply put, he asked everyone… Continue reading Joy

Writing in Restaurants

I had admired the book of essays by David Mamet on bookstore shelves for years before I actually bought and read it. The actual subject matter of Writing in Restaurants turned out to be not what I had imagined. The problem was one of projection. I was thinking about my own experiences with writing in… Continue reading Writing in Restaurants

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Los Touchstones

Which poets did you read when you first began writing? Of those, which ones do you still enjoy revisiting? I think Wallace Stevens was the poet who jazzed me deeply first. The vividness of his imagery translated brightly and instantaneously in my head like a animated cartoon version of a painting by Joan Miro. As… Continue reading Los Touchstones

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How to Stay Curious

I’ve been considering the possibility of starting a blog about all-things-poetry for many months now. It’s not that I think I have the answers. Or even the questions. I’m not looking for a soapbox. But I am interested in the blog as zocolo, as town square, a place of exchange and conversation. I attended two… Continue reading How to Stay Curious