This week when the Republican President and his entitled Secretary of Education demanded that public schools open full time/full service this fall, virus or no virus, OR they would lose federal funding, I became so upset that I turned off the computer, the TV, the radio. That was the straw. I couldn't stand to hear … Continue reading Time to Re-Open Schools?
Written with my Thursday night writing group (now meeting on Zoom!) with the prompts: one red shoe and oh, dear. Madelaine wore one red shoe and one green shoe because it was Christmas and she was in a wild holiday mood. She wondered, do cats see color?—because it was only the cats who would see … Continue reading How Madelaine Survives Quarantine
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was dipping into Sleeping on the Wing by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell, an anthology of poetry and writing prompts written for children and teens. In a chapter on D.H. Lawrence, the authors note that Lawrence called his poems “acts of attention.” They prompt readers to give … Continue reading The Story of My Hydrangea Bush
Greetings! If you’re a regular reader, you know the past two weeks I’ve suggested some prayers that I’ve found helpful, and I continue to encourage everyone to write prayers and affirmations too. It’s funny, because almost as soon as the first post went up, I began to feel kind of down. And so I felt … Continue reading Continued Sheltering, part three
Greetings to everyone who is sheltering in place as I am. How are you? I am fine. There are many things we could complain about—and if that’s what you want to do, go ahead and vent in the comments section. I personally have little to grouse about these days. I am retired so I don’t … Continue reading Sheltering-in-Place, part 2
I want to wish everyone a peaceful Holy Week, and a Blessed Easter. I wrote this poem a few months ago. I'd seen another praise poem, written like this, designed so the reader would read the first column from top to bottom, and then come back up and read the second column. I thought it … Continue reading Praise Poem
When I was 21 I went to Europe on a five-week student tour with my best friends. On our last day we were in England, and we went on a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich. I have several memories of that day, a few funny stories, conversations, photos, but there was one image … Continue reading Sheltering-in-Place
Do you remember that scene in Out of Africa when Meryl Streep, playing Karen Blixin (later known by her nom de plume Isak Dinesen) was hosting Robert Redford and Michael Kitchen on her estate in Africa, and times being what they were--before CD’s and DVD’s—she entertained them with an after-dinner story. Robert Redford’s character gave … Continue reading Making Up Stories: my spiritual practice
Years ago, I whimsically folded a few of my original poems into paper airplanes and flew them into the audience at a reading. People were amused. This happened long ago, in the "Before Times," when no one had heard the names Microsoft or Apple iPhone. It was a simpler era, and yet today I say … Continue reading Free Books
This is a re-run from the early days of this blog, but still topical and seasonal. Enjoy! I pledge allegiance to this sand and gravel road that runs between the river and my house, clumps of California poppies rangy stalks of fragrant fennel burgeoning fig trees that grow wild on the river bank. I pledge … Continue reading Happy Birthday, USA
