Category: Writing
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Imaginary Time & Poets
My husband has been watching a science program featuring Stephen Hawking on DVD. Funny how, as long as the scientists are speaking, the theories they’re explaining make perfect sense to me, but the second the tv goes silent my understanding evaporates. However, that doesn’t keep me from making free use, and profligate misuse, of them.…
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Paradise Regained
I’ve been using Apples in one configuration or another since 1989, and there’s nothing like a Mac. I’m so appreciative of my friend Lea’s generosity in loaning me a laptop so that I could still get work done, but truly, there’s nothing like a Mac. Budget constraints led me, nervous yet desperate, to eBay for…
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To NaPoWriMo or Not To NaPoWriMo? — That is the Question.
Like most writers I know, I have an abundance of books. Some would say too many, but we all know there’s no such thing. And now, just as I did when Vincent first became mobile, I spend altogether too much time rescuing my books from Aidan. As I skid the wood floors from room to…
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Cal’s Advice? Read!
From Lost Puritan: A Life of Robert Lowell: When Philip Booth askes him to look at his poems, Cal suggests he study perhaps “three poets for a month, maybe copying-out poems” to see what he can use to extend his range: “Empson for intellect. Marianne Moore for observation. Frost for how to get a poem…
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Cal & Elizabeth
On [what was] this day [when I began this post but is now yesterday] in 1917, Robert Lowell was born. I’m about a third of the way through Paul Mariani’s biography of Lowell, Lost Puritan, and I’m liking it more than the Hamilton so far — Mariani, while just as blunt about the wreckage Lowell’s…
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Draft of the Week, #15
If I’m going to participate in NaPoWriMo this year, which is by no means assured, then I may have to stop writing for March and begin working on a game plan. But that’s another post. Today’s poem used some words from a wordle ReadWritePoem prompt. Only some words. But they were a big help in…
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Draft of the Week, #14: Part III
Writing this last cento using poems by both Lowell and Bishop was the most gratifying of work. Putting their voices, these two poets who were such good friends, in direct dialogue with each other gradually took on more and more significance for me. It feels like a Valentine of sorts. Thanks again to Carolee and…
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Draft of the Week, #14: Part II
I find writing centos a very absorbing process. I’m a crossword puzzle fiend thanks to my former bookstore boss, so drafting centos definitely appeals to that part of my brain. And I can see where working with centos could inspire you and get you started on a poem entirely your own. But what’s better, centos…
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Draft of the Week, #14.
I was lucky enough to spend two whole days with Rhett Iseman Trull, and what fun we had. We talked poetry, literary journals, played with the boys… and Lance made gumbo! Which we wolfed down, starved after our intersecting journeys. First thing when we stepped out of the car after arriving from the airport, Rhett…
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Draft of the Week, #13
My computer travails continue, but my laptop’s working for the time being, long enough for me to complete a draft inspired by this week’s ReadWritePoem prompt — an evocative photograph. Per my usual tendencies, I’ve taken their nudge in my own direction. This might be altogether too abstract or wordy or [insert negative adjective here],…
Marie Gauthier 