This will be my final poem for this workshop. The assignment: Every week, you have been recording thoughts in your journal that include details of an object, person, or event. Use one of those entries as inspiration for your final poem. Include the words "nickel" and "parchment ( Read more... )

assignment: use a lesser known painting as the subject for a poem; include the words "sycamore" and "nimbus ( Read more... )

"It's always the same. They always think the next trip down will be the winner. Sometimes it is, mind you; sometimes they come up, barely bloody, only looking like maybe they bumped into a few walls at the end of it all, and their little thought bubbles are just racing with magazine-ad filmstrips and fluttering wisps of paradisiacally damp hair and ( Read more... )

My first son is resting across my lap as I type this. He no longer naps, except in the most exceptional circumstances, but he still needs quiet resting time while his little brother sleeps. He is restlessly beating one foot against the couch at an amazing pace, unconsciously, just like my mother has always done. He stares across the room at the ( Read more... )

Overview: Poetry involves more analytical skills than many people realize. Often you need to use problem solving as well as creative inspiration to write a successful poem. The nature of this assignment ensures the use of problem solving skills. Write a 20-line poem, in five stanzas, using the following words as the end words for your lines. The ( Read more... )

"morning ( Read more... )

These are the essays that are floating around in my head, yet to be realized onto the page [screen ( Read more... )

So I finally took stock... sort of. I listed out every single thing [I hope] that has been flitting in and out of my mind as a de facto "to do" item. You know... all of those "Yeah, I'm going to _______" and "I really need to get around to _______ this week" things of which you are forever semi-aware lingering, hanging over your head, undone ( Read more... )

On October 9, 2007, I wrote the following:

I suppose - and if you've ever had a burnt crème brulée, then you know this to be true - that the sweeter something was, the more bitter its ashes taste ( Read more... )

In the winter, of course, the sun would always come in at an angle, casting a cooler, sharper light into the barbecue pit and creating the vague impression that the scene was a replica of the original - a sort of sound stage in which the scenery was static and lifeless, and even the beach toys seemed like props ( Read more... )