Greetings, dear readers and friends! I hope you are all enjoying a bit of summer fun-- swimming, hiking, travel, plus homegrown tomatoes on your sandwiches, strawberries on your breakfast cereal, peaches in your ice cream maybe --I hope you are blessed to have such options. And I hope you have the time to lie in … Continue reading Crazy Days/Crazy Nights
Fifty-something years ago in a Catholic school not so far away, the nuns used to read to us from The Lives of the Saints. St. Brigid was always my favorite, but not because she lived in my matrilineal ancestral home of Ireland. No, she was my favorite because she had the best stories. Celtic history … Continue reading Happy St. Brigid’s Feast Day!
I am a dust mote, a speck, a barely perceptible particle, created, not from nothing, but from destruction— the breakdown of something large into something tiny— tattered leaves crushed blossoms mown grass sloughed-off human skin, hair, fur floating DNA memories dreams. I am seemingly insignificant I have no personal agency I go where I am … Continue reading Dust Mote
The Secret to Rubber-Soled Shoes The secret to rubber-soled shoes is that they are often imbued with the ghosts of deceased dogs, dogs who were loyal and eager to serve, dogs who want to cradle the foot of a beloved pack member protecting you from gravel-strewn trails and unyielding cement floors, dogs who want to … Continue reading The Secret to Rubber-Soled Shoes
A story poem I wrote a long time ago. #NationalPoetryMonth Love, Our Subject In the multitude of cells now stretching and dividing In my womb I carry the genetic memories of my grandmother, running from her mountain cabin in the snow when her husband confessed his infidelity. Her shoes were not good; the slush soaked … Continue reading Love, Our Subject
I wrote this poem nearly forty years ago, give or take a decade. But it's April, National Poetry Month, and I thought I'd drag out a few old favorites of mine. My late cat Hibiscus makes a cameo appearance in this poem. He was a long-haired gray tabby, with caramel colored strips on his face, … Continue reading The Fairy Path
Welcome to April! It’s National Poetry Month! I started writing poetry nearly fifty years ago, when I was in college. I started getting published when I was in my 20s, learning to make my way in the world outside my parents’ house. My poetry and I were young together. Poetry for me was short, intense … Continue reading How to Find the Muse
For Saint Patrick’s Day, I thought I would share a reprint of a favorite post, relating a bit of Irish history (sometimes called mythology). This poem tells the story of Patrick’s encounter with a poet named Oisin. Oisin (pronounced O-sheen) was the son of Finn MacUail (pronounced M’Cool) who was a great warrior. Oisin was … Continue reading Oisin and Patrick
(with thanks to Paul Simon on Brigid’s midwinter feast day) The prompt was to write a poem inspired by a song, and so I did. Midway between the winter solstice and the shush of an espresso machine I stand hypnotized by the sound of water dripping, my feet shifting on sticky linoleum. The tule fog … Continue reading The Roots of Rhythm
This is a poem I wrote a few years back for my mother and her sisters. It's a bit of a ramble, but they all seemed to like it. My aunt Eleanore had a muskrat fur coat. My aunt Ruth had a skirt that revealed her knees. She wore it with platform shoes. They went … Continue reading The Flint Girls Go To A Fire
