Poem in Your Pocket Day
Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 30, 2026, will bring National Poetry Month to a delightful close. Poem in Your Pocket Day was initiated in April 2002 by the Office of the Mayor, in partnership with the New York City Departments of Cultural Affairs and Education, as part of the city’s National Poetry Month…
Read More
Write Where We Stand
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” —RAINER MARIA RILKE April is both National Poetry Month and host to Earth Day. Both offer rich inspiration for writing and hopefully the opportunity to enjoy at least one day of writing in and about spring. Write Out is hosting…
Read More
Poetry Month
This month I have been writing with Samar Jade as part of my Poetry Gauntlet work and before the month is out I will do so in person. I am trying to be cool about this as after only a few pages of Blue Violet: Haint Spaces I was not only compelled to write in…
Read More
Dangerous Gifts
I recently finished reading Kate Milford’s The Boneshaker and I highly recommend (see Demons, Monsters, and Death for more thoughts) but as a writing invitation this book offers up a lot to consider. The Boneshaker the title references is a bicycle that the main character’s father (re)built just for her but her struggle to cope…
Read More
Memory List
I have always loved a list poem. One of my favorites is George Ella Lyon’s Where I’m From. I have written in response to this poem countless times since moving to Kentucky in 1994 – several times with the poet herself and I am forever grateful that I was able to give the gift of…
Read More
Monster Geometry
There is a lot of hate out there for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! I have something to say to the haters. Go read Frankenstein carefully. Study the life of Mary Shelley and her history with feminism. Then take a long serious look at the ways women are used, exploited, abused, and, of course, denied agency.…
Read More
Hopes, Kisses, Discovery
A buffet of writing invitations this week include: What are your hopes? Where do you bestow kisses? What have you discovered? And if none of that works for you, then: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray. Image by Robert Klaus from Pixabay
Read More
Screaming
This week I am thinking about Ekphresis (or description in Greek) as a delicious inspiration for writing. Of course many of my invitations to write focus on ekphresis in one form or another (see Blue Inspiration and Waiting for Godot as just two recent examples) but more often we are thinking about stories and poetry…
Read More
Tracking Events
I am reading Patricia Smith’s Blood Dazzler for the Lexington Poetry Gauntlet. I am fascinated by this poetic journey tracking Hurricane Katrina as it transforms into a full-blown mistress of destruction from August 23, 2005, the day Tropical Depression Twelve developed, through August 28. Most (all?) poets have written poems about pivotal events that impacted…
Read More
What A Character
Robert Duvall died on Feb. 15 and it is well worth considering which of the many characters he performed for us through his long and storied career interests you the most. I have already established my love of Lonesome Dove so I will not return to that but one of the films we return to…
Read More
Poetry In Small Moments
One of my monthly writing invitations for the Lexington Poetry Gauntlet was to take a deep dive into the poetry of Aimee Nezhukumatathil via the Poetry Foundation. I also checked out Poets.org because that is often my go-to when searching for poetry or inspiration. I have always loved a found poem and for that reason…
Read More
Life Practices
I am currently engaged in a sort of practice retirement as I exist in a liminal space between full-time teaching and full-time retirement so I am considering the sorts of life practices/priorities or “rules of life” that I will use to guide me during this next season of life. I often engage in this sort…
Read More