New Poetry Book in October

My new poetry is coming! The Artist’s House will release on October 16, 2025.I’ve never been more proud of a book, and really excited to share it with you. A fresh concept in an illustrated package, it will be available in ebook and print.

It’s been a long time — seven years — since I published a poetry collection. I was interrupted by the pandemic, a busy work schedule, and other projects. Receiving a poem is a delicate thing. It requires an intense, Zen-like freedom from thought and for me, quiet mornings. A space opens, a mood descends, and then a thought or image. As it touches the soil, words arrive like wings folding to yield to gravity. A poem is much like a hawk landing, wondering what to devour.

This summer opened a gate to the creative fields, and I found myself circling around a concept that feels like home. It became clear, and I worked myself up to naming a theme: The Artist’s House. I drew into the document poems from my vault and new imaginings. I indulged in paying homage to inspirations and my early immersion in the arts. My parents were dedicated to music and visual art. They enriched my childhood by encouraging me to read and taking me to see painting and sculpture in museums and galleries, as well as to experience live music and dance. They gave me all the lessons I wanted, for which I chose a focus on ballet.

This collection forms a sustained contemplation of what art means in my life, and of the creative process. I tip my hat to favorite artists—Monet, Caravaggio, Andy Goldsworthy, and Oz book illustrator John R. Neill. Favorite poets Emily Dickinson and Rilke get whole sections. Walt Whitman makes an appearance, as does another favorite, Alice Oswald.

Of course, it had to be an illustrated book! On the wonderful site for royalty-free images, Pixabay, I found artists in the style of one of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, my early visual influences. Musicians aren’t left out — how could a poet with an attentive ear to the music of words fail to pay tribute to them? Jacob Collier, The Rolling Stones, and Taylor Swift make an appearance in this book, either in epigraphs or borrowed lines. I even include playlist notes for some of the poems. Find Taylor Swift, Jacob Collier, Angelina Jordan, and others. I believe this is one of the few poetry books with a playlist.

I’ve always wanted to write an illustrated poetry book, just as I always wanted to write one combining proses and poetry, in the style of Japanese haiku poet Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North. (That may be my next adventure, as I have several travel journals to weave into poems.)

You can pre-order the ebook, and here’s the new cover and a sample poem.

I Get Over Myself
After Twyla Tharp’s ballet “In the Upper Room”

Well I did it. Like the cow that jumped
his moon shot, I got this body over
my old shape of personality and slipped out
while I wasn’t watching. I gave up
habits and found it freeing to be fluid.
Each day I wake nearly boneless.
A stumble can become a twirl,
and crying is as easy as swimming
with the Hawaiian sea turtles.

Leaving my agendas like boxes
on the doorstep of the charity store,
I burn my wick to light another’s way.
So much better than midnight weeping.
So much better than hoarding artifacts
of decades I’m leaving. Death to the junk
in my mental closet! Today I filled a cabinet
with empty glass vases to catch
morning light. I can push myself
in the best jeté I ever leaped over myself.
As dancers do, I practice every day.

More of my writing in Books.