Category: books
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Squared
Holy smokes, it’s November. This is when I really began to panic. Not because of the holidays or shopping — we simply don’t participate that way — but because of what it all represents: the end of another year, the lightning passage of time. If you haven’t noticed, it’s speeding up. Someone needs to look…
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Confession Tuesday, my occasional contribution:
Kelli, January, and others have fuller line-ups of participating confessors, so travel yonder for directions. I’m so far behind I’m still mired in September. My bottom’s still broken, but the pain is becoming more manageable/tolerable; also, my husband took a buzz saw to the stairs — the top stair hung over the second by a…
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“A body falls like a story: / beginning, middle, end.” — Amy Newman
Except in my case — my falling came to an abrupt halt. The back staircase was slick with rain, and I slipped on my first step, holding Aidan — who was entirely unhurt — (I sprained an ankle once falling down our front staircase holding Vincent, and he too was unhurt — I’m very good…
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Telling tales
For 48 hours, from dinner time on Thursday until Saturday night, Vincent was enthralled by “Syllabo.” His “sister.” He began talking about her and the island where she lived and barely stopped for anything. He appeared by the bathtub while I was taking a shower to tell me more (“Mommy, did you know that Syllabo…
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On Revision
I don’t mean the sort of revising that is part of the usual process of writing a poem. I’m thinking more about the revising of poems that have already appeared in print. If you’ve ever seen Galway Kinnell read, you might have noticed the margins of the book he’s reading from filled with pencil scrawls.…
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Gentle Reminders of What Makes the Poetry Blogosphere Such a Great Place to Be:
I was lucky enough to take Jeannine Hall Gailey‘s online manuscript workshop this summer, and I can’t begin to tell you what a rich experience it was. There are plenty of resources, both online & in print, that give you advice on how to sequence a manuscript, but there’s nothing like having a close &…
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W.S. Merwin on Linebreaks
“I think of stopping at a given point as a rhythmical gesture, and also as a gesture of meaning — because where you stop, if the rhythm is working, is going to have an effect on the meaning, particularly if you’re not punctuating. But it’s important to stop in such a way that the stop…
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Chain Chain Chain
The poetry world seems both impossibly small and strangely crowded, it can be difficult to get noticed. A few things I must tell you: Rain Taxi has a rave review of the wonderful Andrea Cohen’s book, Long Division (Salmon Poetry). Warren Woessner, who wrote the review, has a fine appreciation for Cohen’s many many gifts as a…
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Because I’m a tinkerer…
…and because the colors were harsh, the primary blues against a white background, the black title. I liked the direction I was heading in, but I wasn’t there yet. So yes, another tweak in the design, which I find subtler and gentler on the eyes. Because it’s summer, and my eyes could use the rest.…
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Children are all about imaginary time…
…as in, any time not spent with them is strictly imaginary and illusory, or, in fact, altogether nonexistent. These warm sunny days, while energizing & welcome, make the perennial juggling of daily life an even harder challenge. When it’s cold, wet, and dark, it’s nice to stay indoors, easier to interest the boys in pseudo-crafty…
Marie Gauthier 