Poet, Writer, Instructor
In early June, I attended a performance featuring comedian Paula Poundstone. I’ve been a fan of hers since the mid-80s, when the stand-up comedy scene was rising in the Bay Area. Poundstone was a regular at the clubs during those days, and my husband and I watched her career rise, along with those of Howie… Continue reading My Imaginary Conversation with Paula Poundstone
It wasn’t until I went to graduate school in my forties that I began to experiment with poetic forms. One of the things that previously turned me off to writing in forms was the practice of rhyming end lines. It’s hard to rhyme words in English; according to Flocabulary, “orange” is just one of a list… Continue reading To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme: Writing Formal Poetry
I love being a poet. I love expressing myself in words. There’s nothing quite like that feeling when a poem begins to come together, the words and images connecting in moving and surprising ways. I happily devote innumerable hours to building an object from words, trying out various expressions, line breaks, and odd enjambments in… Continue reading Self-acceptance for Poets
At the end of December, 2023, I wrote a blog post about some writing goals I’d set for myself: “I’m more interested in what’s to come, not what’s past. When I ask myself what I want to accomplish as a writer in 2024, the answers come back loud and clear. I want to take more risks in… Continue reading Back to Beginner’s Mind
I dislike the word “hack.” It sounds so unpleasant, even violent. My dictionary defines it variously as “to cut with repeated, irregular blows,” “to kick the shins of (an opposing player) in rugby,” and “to make trite and commonplace by frequent and indiscriminate use.” Nevertheless, “hack” has acquired new meanings over the years, both positive… Continue reading Hacks for Writers: A Personal List
Oregon Coast, Summer 2023 I like this time of year for many reasons. The holidays are over, students are trudging back to the classroom, seed catalogs appear in my mailbox, and if I look hard enough, I can see little green buds on the plants in my yard. And winter has officially started, so we… Continue reading Challenge Yourself in 2024
"My Bed" by Tracey Emin Tracey Emin has been pushing boundaries since she emerged as one of the Young British Artists of the early 1980s. Prolific and controversial, she’s never been reluctant to use her personal life as inspiration for her art. An article in the 11/3/23 New York Times Weekend Arts section reminded me of the time… Continue reading How a Photograph of Tracy Emin’s “My Bed” Inspired Me
Today I took some time to ponder the often mysterious process of publishing my work. Over the last five years, the poems in the list below stand out due to the number of rejections they received, from a low of nine to a high of twenty-one. After the Migraine languished under the weight of 9 rejections… Continue reading Statistics for poets, or fun with the spreadsheet
with Help from Bill Knott I’ve been reading I Am Flying Into Myself, Selected Poems 1960-2014 by the “perpetually insolvent” poet Bill Knott. In his introduction, Thomas Lux describes Knott as a “quintessential, almost primal lyric poet, primal in the sense that his poems seem to emerge from his bone marrow as well as his heart and… Continue reading Write More Poems
What if we approached poetry with a clearer understanding of its challenges for readers? What if we helped widen the audience for poetry by letting readers know that, like most worthwhile activities, reading poetry is best accomplished when the reader is at least somewhat prepared? I collected a few of my thoughts with that premise… Continue reading Machines Made of Words