I’m very happy to have Nic Sebastian’s lovely reading of my poem “Designer” up today at Whale Sound, a marvelous site of poem readings. Thanks, Nic, and Amy MacLennan, who submitted it! If you haven’t yet discovered Whale Sounds, you’re in for a treat. Poems are made to spin out on the air, like birdsong, not just sit in hieroglyphics on a page. At least, that’s my thought. Whale Sound’s readings are a pure pleasure,…
Just sayin … for awhile we’d slipped to Number 2, right behind the toy website. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.
Lesley Wheeler at Fringe Magazine Barbara Crooker at Valparaiso Poetry Review David Citino at Cortland ReviewAndrew Hudgins at Poetry Mary Oliver at Wisdomportal.com Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.
I had a preview of Kelli Russell Agodon’s Letters From the Emily Dickinson Room by Kelli Russell Agodon before it was published, thanks to a manuscript swap, and I’m delighted to see it out, and sporting a stunning cover. Kelli’s playful way of musing on life, relationship, art, and self through engagement with words, right down to their component letters, is highly original. The poems have a breezy, dancing quality that evokes the more buoyant…
Sherry O’Keefe shared a wonderful Frank O’Hara poem on Facebook as one of her favorites. It tickled me so much to read a terrific poem on Facebook, where even poet usually share music videos and political articles, that it made me wonder about starting a series here, asking you for links to your favorite poems. Here’s one of mine, a poem by Stanley Kunitz, “The Round.” It includes his reading and introductory remarks. Sadly, the…
“Spoken Word” has come to mean slam poetry, or rap, which are in themselves interesting new literary forms — though I don’t know if I put them in the same category as poetry readings, and I much prefer the quieter way of reading and writing. Listening to poems has become for me a very stimulating part of my writing practice. So I’m pleased to find audio poetry spreading rapidly throughout the Internet. Poets.org, The Cortland…
Reading C.K. Williams luminous book On Whitman. Few seem to get the spirituality of Whitman, the layered use of the first person, stretching from the earthly to the divine, but Williams does. Of course, his own work has a layered, luminously spiritual quality that balances, as Whitman’s does, the divine with the quotidian. Also reading the fascinating and poetic novel Tinkers, and wondering how someone got a first novel so short published. It’s only 191…
TWICE AS MUCH STARLIGHT The universe, say surprised astronomers, has twice as much accumulated starlight as can be explained by all the known stars and galaxies. — Newspaper article, 1998. We have twice as much starlight,it seems,as stars to explain it.This can only meana hidden conflagrationburns in the cosmic whirl.Where can it live, this occult fire —not at the centergalaxies are escaping.Not at the frontiers of spacewhere new suns are being pioneered.Where does the pure…
Thanks to tips from Facebook friends, I’ve updated my list of non-contest poetry presses. Take a look, and send me your suggestions, if you know of a poetry book publisher that reads queries or manuscripts outside of contests: Non-Contest Poetry Book Publishers Rainy day, writing day. I’m reading Kim Addonizio’s wonderful new book Ordinary Genius, A Guide for the Poet Within. Here’s a little video clip of Kim talking about the book: Kim – Ordinary…
Thinking about the change of seasons and the last burst of bloom and color in summer’s outgoing. We had a week of warmth around here, last bit of near-naked ease in wearing our clothes loosely and feeling the breeze and sun on skin. Wine comes in many forms, but it’s best imbibed under an old tree, preferably one laden with summer fruits. Wine Under a Fig Tree That any tiny winged thingmay explode from you…