I like that term better than “paranormal romance,” which sounds like it should involve bending spoons, which is only slightly weirder-sounding than the term I ran across in Wikipedia searches of literary genres: “monster erotica.” Alrighty then. It’s true that I am writing a time travel romance involving the great Baroque sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini (great is the adjective he insists on accompanying his name, like some people insist on their middle names). It’s set in…
Memorial Day began as a way to honor soldiers who died in the Civil War. Coincidentally, Walt Whitman’s birthday was a few days ago. One year, I wrote him a birthday poem, after having seen a play about him. The play movingly used his own lines to express his witnessing and nursing of the suffering soldiers. Today I’m grateful for Whitman’s moving tributes to the hundreds of thousands who made their sacrifice in our Civil…
Thanks to all who participated in my Great Poetry Book Giveaway this year! I picked names out of the numerical hat and sent a copy of my Gods of Water and Air to one winner and Stanley Kunitz’s book Passing Through. I noticed we all entered each other’s Poetry Book Giveaways. It was a pleasure to read blogs I hadn’t visited and learn about books I will now buy. In the giving spirit, I’m offering…
English poet John Clare epitomizes for me something I’m often reaching for in my writing and occasionally dazzling into, in still and open moments. This poem, featured on Poetry Daily, amazes me, first into silence and then into writing. The meaning of “clock a clay,” as poet Susan Stewart tells us (she selected the poem for PD) comes from a rural Northhamptonshire belief. The idea is that you can tell time by counting the number…
Lovely day here, the breezy and brilliant kind of spring day I imagined from Monet’s painting, after which I wrote my poem. The traveling exhibition “Monet in Normandy” visited the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco some years ago and it inspired me to write back to several of the paintings. Bought the book too, so I can keep talking back to Monet — or rather, asking questions, as in this poem. Do you ever talk…
Writing a Poem with Monet It’s April and I’m growing green, but bills cover my desk. The money in my check book dazzles like the mineral caves carved by the surf at Pourville, where Monet stood at his easel to paint thundering waves. I sign my check in the lower right as artists will, re-total the balance and turn up a new one. Diamonds a mile down in Monet’s sea crack, chip, and erode. A…
I’m so pleased to have an April Guest here at Rocket Kids: Erica Goss, Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, California, and the host of Word to Word, a show about poetry. She has a wonderful new book out that will spur your own creativity: Vibrant Words: Ideas and Inspirations for Poets (PushPen Press 2014). Welcome, Erica! Activating Your Core Strength as a Writer By Erica Goss We’ve all been there: faced with a blank page,…
What am I going to do for National Poetry Month (April)? This year, I don’t have time to write a poem a day, though I used to, and I did it for five consecutive Aprils. But I AM making a special Poetry Month discount offer on my newest book, Gods of Water and Air — you can get a copy for only $11.00, including shipping, if you order one from me in April. Email me,…
With so much activity honoring our beautiful art confined to the one hectic month of April (taxes and poetry?), I find myself in awe of those who are doing the Poem-A-Day challenge, giving readings, doing book reviews, and creating poetry events. NoPoWriMo, the official site for the 30 poems in 30 days challenge, lists resources. Today’s is The Big Poetry Giveaway, which I’m going to participate in. I’m still figuring out the other books, besides…
I’m delighted that IthacaLit, that fine litmag out of Ithaca, NY and piloted by poet Michele Lesko, has published Barbara Ellen Sorensen’s interview with me, as well as a couple of my new poems. Barbara’s interview focused on topics of importance to us both: imagination, creativity, and spirituality. Barbara, author of the recent collection Compositions of the Dead Playing Flutes, asked me questions that made me dig down into my sources. I especially liked thinking…