A few of my favorite things

It’s getting to be ludicrous how lax I’ve been as a blogger, so I won’t even bother apologizing but will just skip right on by. Because  the year is late and time is short but there’s always much to be thankful for:

  • Journals whose new issues include my poems, to my everlasting gratitude and delight:
  • Homemade mascarpone, for which I have no photo, but I promise you is rich lovely velvet and divine on pumpkin bread.
  • Big fat novels like In Sunlight and In Shadow by Mark Helprin (I’ve read, loved, & what’s more own every book he’s written) and Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.
  • Late fall days, made for sinking into the couch with hot sweet and creamy tea and one of those good books. Distract the kids with a Can You See What I See? book and you’ll have some time to yourself for your own reading.
  • Poetry: Braiding the Storm by Laura Davis, Mother Desert by Jo Sarzotti, Afterworld by Christine Garren…
  • My mother’s old wooden rolling pin. This week alone I’ve used it for making apple pie and Christmas ornaments with the boys. A well-used and well-loved hand-me-down.

In the failing afternoon light we hunted up more candles — the nubs of old tapers and half-spent Christmas pillars. As I warmed up some canned soup on the stove I was reminded how my father would cook chestnuts and popcorn on its top. “Dad would have enjoyed this,” I said softly to the air as I stirred the pot, and I saw the pain of remembrance flicker across my mother’s face. I don’t know if silence or remembrance is best, but I was longing to press a hurt simply to remind myself it was there.

— from “Storm,” in Five Thousand Days Like This One, by Jane Brox

  • You, if you’re still here, and even if you’re not. Thanks for thinking of me every now and again.

8 responses to “A few of my favorite things”

  1. Thanks so much, Marie. I’m grateful to have awesome poet-friends like you! Also, I’d like use your chapbook as an example in an upcoming post about autographing your own book. Would that be ok with you?

  2. I should add thanks-be to the internet, without which I’d never have met you and so many other precious poet-friends! And of course! Sounds like another fascinating post over at Dear Outer Space — thanks for the inclusion.

  3. Congrats on the publications!
    Now, about that homemade marscapone…

    So, so thankful to know you!!

  4. Oh Frabjous Joy! I just had to stop and google the new Helprin book to verify that it is in this world, and it’s not something I’ve missed in previous years. But how did I miss this? Oh who cares! It’s here and I can read another Helprin book! I love your list, and your quote from the Brox book…lovely. And poems in four fine journals: congratulations! Pumpkin bread, tea, books, your mother’s old rolling pin, kids…it is indeed a wonderful world. Thanks for sharing it.

  5. Thank you, Sandy & Cindy — I count you also among the precious. xo

    And Cindy, yes! It’s brand brand new! I haven’t finished, but he writes as beautifully as ever.

  6. That’s okay, abandon your family for five minutes and tend to your bloggin’ – we’ll get by, somehow – (sniff) – really, it’s okay…..

  7. Marie, congrats on all those publications! And thanks for sharing your tender, cherished moments.

  8. Congrats on all your publications! I have my mother’s old rolling pin too — since Anthony does most of the cooking and/or baking in this household, he says he loves it!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: