Every once in awhile (more often if you’re a diligent reader) you dig into a body of poetry you’ve always known was there, but not really looked at. You had no idea it held such riches. As I awoke today with a heavy sense of loss because of my dog’s death, I saw an article about poet Gregory Orr, read some poems, and remembered why I urgently need to get one of his books. If…
All the ways the small press world sustain literature are on my mind today! As I work to complete my own poetry book manuscript, and read the Poetry Month daily poems of friends, I’m so grateful to be a poet among poets. Tupelo Press has come up with a unique way to help sustain their work, in the 30/30 Project. A poem a day each month from nine poets. This May, my friend Alan Kleiman,…
Nissa in Rachel’s Arms I was invited by Kaaren Kitchell and Richard Beban to submit for their ParisPlay site’s annual “Sensual Surprise” Surrealist Café, so I sent a poem about kisses. Not just any kisses, a very special kind — doggie kisses. Before my beautiful Silky Terrier Nissa died, about a year ago I wrote the poem about the way she liked to bestow kisses as a form of language. In honor of Nissa, it’s…
It’s always near. Love is breath a fragrant breeze from a body turning toward you with a need for the touch of your hand. A scent of longing for you to offer a cup of food and your longing for the grateful gaze. Follow love. Let it wash death away. Even now I feel the puppy’s paws prance on my thigh, telling me to wake up and follow her downstairs to the empty bowl and…
Continuing my April revise-a-poem-daily exercise, I worked on this one today. How’s your April exercise going, whatever it is? Repairing with the Filament of Red Spiders I stepped out on the deck this morning while the clouds leapt like whales breaching the blue surface. Red spiders had suspended where I walk to water plants. Had to sweep them into corners with my broom and reset their daily task, my daily task. That’s how your retreat…
A Breeze All I need is a breeze from the sky’s highest plane and I’m a lizard on a rock, letting sink into my cells the currents from a furnace that never goes out, the way the heart’s never do. I look up from my rock at the mare’s tail canopy and its frozen flow find my need for the streaming heat, to imbibe the costume of light until I am brightness swallowing brightness and…
The wonderful Tiferet Talks on Blogtalkradio are now out in Tiferet Talks Interview Anthology — a perfect way to treat yourself to something special for Poetry Month! The book is described on Tiferet’s site this way: The Tiferet Talk Interviews is a fascinating collection of twelve interviews transcribed from the Tiferet Talk Radio show, conducted by award-winning, bestselling author and host, Melissa Studdard, with a forward by Donna Baier Stein, Publisher of Tiferet Journal. Some…
Happy National Poetry Month! To celebrate, I’m giving away Kindle edition copies of my book Earth Lessons, which is available in print and e-book at Amazon. Earth Lessons – Kindle Edition Free Until April 6! If you’d like to have the book for your Kindle, it’s free for five days this week! Hope you enjoy it and enjoy the start of a month of celebrating poetry. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel…
Ready to dive into National Poetry Month on Monday? I’m pondering how to celebrate it. A poem-a-day? Special poetry hour every day? A poetry book giveaway? I did the poem-a-day challenge with a workshop group for four years in a row, and got a number of good poems out of the exercise. This year, I’m thoughtful about my Poetry Month and trying to write a new poem a day. There are many ways to celebrate,…
Writer and blogger Dan Coffey had a marvelous idea: why not blog a lot of blurbs on books he picked up at AWP. In Dan’s blog series Sublurbia, that’s exactly what he did, and the array is fascinating. Some of my favorite phrases from these blurbs: “a wedding that is also an articulate division”“this book unfurls like a ready-made litany of misspelled youth” (that’s misspelled, not misspent)“how autobiographies can be and not be”“celebrating our slutty…