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I’m at that point where the book leaves my hands completely and goes to print! This mixed bag of 135 pages of poems, essays, and a one-act play will be available in a few weeks. Mixed bag of excitement, nerves, and … more excitement! Here’s another excerpted poem, “Scared Birds,” published in Deep Water Literary Journal’s inaugural issue. I’m very pleased! My poem “Matriarchs” will also be published this month in Drunken Boat. Visit https://racheldacus.net…

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On Yom Kippur, in honor of my dear friend Sara, who as a teenager fought in the forests of Eastern Europe. On a day of atonement, I look up to my friend’s courage and hope to find more of it within myself this year. Chewing on ‘Jew’ When I go, it will be with Chagall’s angel,the one that hangs over the couch, floating on teardrop wings. Her candelabra keeps away the midnight forest that lives…

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1. Hide under the covers a little longer every morning, except that a puppy is your new alarm clock. Get her to hide under there with you. 2. Dither around about the list of review copies to send out. Read poetry book reviews. Cut down your list. 3. Write a new poem and disavow everything you’re ever written before this one. 4. Change your name. Consider a last-minute pseudonym for the book. Take a nap.…

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There are no words, for once. Just joy. Welcoming Elfinsilk’s Teresa “Terry” to our home yesterday. She is a poem. I can’t write a thing other than Happy, Happy, Happy. And keep my camera close. Sometimes poetry is completely wordless. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

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A poem from my new book in honor of my late darling dog Nissa. I just heard that my new puppy is ready to come home! Kisses Nissa speaks in kisses. A dog’s mouth isn’t made for English, so she sounds her vowels with swipes of tongue – that best pink instrument. She covers the face, the lips from which my voice emerges and patiently investigates the curves, tasting the salt of meaning behind my…

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Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky will be the subject in another of the wonderful Tiferet Talks — Melissa Studdard’s streaming radio interview show sponsored by Tiferet Journal. Listen to the show streaming on Wednesday, September 4 at 6:30 PM CST, or listen later, when the show is archived. I love Pinsky’s poetry and also his book on poetics. His reading of “The Shirt” is one of my all-time favorite readings. And here’s my reading of…

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It’s the hour before the launch of my book, and like the men in the blockhouse where my father worked to send up missiles that streaked through the sky, I’m working quietly (thought without slide rule) to tell my friends and fans that this book will soon lift off from Aldrich Press — 133 pages of poems, essays, and even a short play. Here’s a taste, a prose poem from the first section, Gods of…

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Diane Lockward has published a poetic craft book, The Crafty Poet, that is as delicious and fun as her blog and newsletter. A busy poet, she has published three full-length collections and two chapbooks, publishes a poetry newsletter and been featured on Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and Writer’s Almanac. And of course I’m proud of the book — I have a poem in her section on responses to prompts! One of 54 poems and 27…

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I’m in the midst of writing a play that makes use of fantasy and surrealism, and also in the middle of writing a novel that does the same. So I’ve been drawn to other writers who make use of these devices to write reality in a way that becomes more real than realistic straight narrative. Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake uses a single fantastic device — a psychic ability to feel in…

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Publisher Karen Kelsay Davies of Aldrich Press, which will bring out my new book of poems, prose, and drama, has unveiled the new cover. I’m very excited! The goddess here portrayed is Nut, one of the most ancient Egyptian deities and somewhat mysterious. She’s an unusual figure, in that most goddesses are portrayed as Earth, while the male gods are represented as Sky. Nut being Sky can span and protect the universe. She felt to…

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