Category: Writing
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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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Sub·mit (səb mit′) — origin: ME submitten < L submittere < sub-, under, down + mittere, to send
It’s September, the first days of autumn — officially here in two days — beginning of migration season — birds & leaves — colder temps and colds. Naturally, my children are celebrating by both of them coming down with whoppers of colds. I’m not the nervous type, but Aidan’s breathing so concerned me last night…
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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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Draft of the Week, #16
Considering all my whining about time and the lack of it, you might be wondering how goes the writing? In fits and starts. I’ve managed to write two drafts so far this month, which is a nice return to form, and only one of which caused agony and gnashing of teeth. Because it was a…
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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…
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These are a few of my favorite words. Apparently.
The most recent incarnation of my manuscript, as analyzed by Wordle. My aversion to simile? Another case of “do as I say, not as I do” it seems. Or maybe I just have a lot of likes in the world. Note “world” to the left of “like.”
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Thanks for the memories, Rejection Edition.
One of the other things I neglect in order to focus on poems is this blog, and blogs in general. Sorry about that. On the up side, however, I wrote a new poem. I have one more small edit to make — which I’ve been thinking about since last night when Lance read it &…
Marie Gauthier 