Conversion

I made notes about tonight’s poem: use double-dutch without glasses as the metaphor. Of course, somehow I forgot to jot down what my subject would be. Ha! So, I decided it was time for another visit to The Paris Review’s Poetry RX column and Claire Schwartz (@23cschwartz) for glorious language and a good start on this …

I Never Knew I Liked

Forms. I’ve run away from poetic forms because they seemed too...structured? I don’t know. Whatever the reason, poetic forms made/make me feel insecure. But. I must’ve  (insert any number of cliches about change here) because I’m all for trying a new form or two now. Tonight, I try the golden shovel. My proto-version at least. …

These Days

Today I re-watched the documentary, Becoming Cary Grant. Grant had a life filled with abandonment and adoration. At one point, he underwent therapy, LSD therapy, to help resolve his inner estrangement. For him, the drug’s effect of dissolving boundaries unlocked much of what he’d hidden even from himself. I’m sure if I’d ever tried something …

Astonishing Phrases

My journey is long, I say, and the sun is setting. I’ve studied poetry and attempted astonishing phrases— to no use…. Wind, move again. Blow my boat to the island of immortals. by Li Qingzhao, translator Wendy Chen I too study poetry and attempt astonishing phrases. Only time will tell if it all is to …

Palette

Darkness will be here sooner than I’d like. I can hardly wait for spring.     Palette   The trees dress in lime and avocado when the brightness of spring returns. Their nooks and niches throw off the previous season’s muted palette. Now sunlight sports a new look: golden-edged whites, the palest yellow. The grass, …

Exploratory

This blog is my place to explore, to try new forms, new frequencies. All without a safety net. What you see here is hot out of my mind’s creative oven. Every poem is newly born, most times only minutes old. My nod to performance art. One hundred and ninety-one poems since April 1, 2018. Pantoum. …

Into Being

I don’t have to pinch myself anymore. My picture is now gracing the AWP website as part of the Writer to Writer Mentorship Program, Fall 2018 cohort. It’s all in Technicolor now, on the web.  #awpw2w #awpmentorship   Close The best things I keep close swaddled in my arms. I nestle them against the hollow of …

Sublunary

Once, years ago, I went to Arizona. On a whim.  A trip of firsts.     Sublunary another me some other iteration walked out into the desert air a sere grittiness worked itself into damp places: eyes, the back of throat, nose’s delicate cave I stood beneath sky larger than heart’s boundary the particular silences …

All the Feels

144 + 1 = 145. Tonight’s entry is the “+ 1” in the above equation. The “144” represents the number of poems I’ve written since April 1 of this year. Flabbergasted. Astounded. And just so damn proud. If you’d told me on New Years’ Eve I’d have 145 new poems before my birthday this year, …

PastPresentFuture (9)

I choose Light in the midst of darkness. Always.   PastPresentFuture   i. see her, hips rounded like a pear rounded like mine, blackbrown as earth the swaying bounce of her step muted enough, she prays, to pass unnoticed she will fight to keep her body hers a fight she knows she cannot win afterwards, …