I just got word that my poetry book, Femme au chapeau, will be here in three weeks. In an instant I went from lizard-like torpor on the subject to pinwheels behind the eyeballs. You’ll see and hear it here first. I’m going to post an image of the cover just as soon as I get it — maybe a few days. Announcements and mailings will come later, as will actual copies. But I thought Rocket…
from “May” by Mary Oliver (American Primitive) May, and among miles of leafingblossoms storm out of the darkness —windflowers and moccasin flowers. The beesdive into them and I too, to gathertheir spiritual honey. I’ve been reading Mary Oliver again, marveling at the way she navigates the lushness of nature and poetry without tipping over into sentiment. It’s interesting to observe that at an early stage in her career, she decided to leave people out of…
The publisher now says 3 weeks from when it goes to press, which it looks like is happening this week. A May birth! Wonder if my book will be a Taurus or a Gemini. I’m hoping for a combination chart. Helping a friend in real estate look into the idea of blogging, so I have come across some real estate blogs. What a cool way to find a house! Or list one, I suppose. Information…
Just finished Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. As usual, I seem to be the lone dissenter. This is why I don’t read many novels: I can’t be happy with great writing as proclaimed by the pundits. I found all the interior monologues of the characters in this book to sound exactly alike. Seems to me a cardinal sin for a novelist to slur characters together. I read novels primarily to read characters. Didn’t make it for…
A comment from Long Beach poet Louise Mathias (hi there, across the water from San Pedro!) reminded me I’ve been meaning to post some of the poems that generated my memoir, ROCKET LESSONS. The poems ultimately were too distinct from the memoir to be combined. Now I’m considering them as a separate book. Here’s the first part of the first poem. Pavements of San Pedro I. Each paving square lies akimbo from its mate,a stubborn…
Why do people love dichotomies? You’d think we’re all programmed like software, yes/no, black/white switches clicking in our brains, cataloguing every impression and experience good/bad, hell/heaven … Wait a minute — we are! So any discussion of accessibility and difficulty in poetry, in any kind of writing, must invariably be preceded by the word “versus,” as though it weren’t a continuum, a spectrum of colors. Most painters I know appreciate a big palette and a…
So what is it really like to go to one of these things. Being incredibly averse to traveling, I’ve never attended one. I already have an agent — don’t need to hobnob for one of those. Already have a publisher for my poetry book — and does anyone want to see the proposal for ROCKET LESSONS, still available to an interested memoir publisher, as they say? Why would I then go to a conference? To…
Found these amazing sonnets by Jim Behrle at canwehaveourballback.com. Changed my thinking about what a sonnet can be. Takes the old IP and spins it a new visual/aural way, with breath patterning things differently. At least, that’s what I make of it. Take a look. Think about it. Write me. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.
Well, I should check before I pass The Stick to make sure it sticks. Apparently, two people I passed it to were sort of ineligible. See, I really am the last person online to hear about things. It’s a distinction (since the ego craves distinction above all else, and will take what it can get). Kelli already had The Stick just a few days before, if only I had checked. And Carmi can’t take any…
Okay, I am clearly the last person who ever hears anything on the Internet. The other day I was passed The Stick. Here it is — and watch out, it may be coming your way (scroll to the bottom to see if your name appears): The Stick You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?God Speaks Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?Well, who wouldn’t have on Mr.…