I just found a lovely memoir of William Stafford on Lorna Dee Cervantes’ blog. I had forgotten that I read in his Writing the Australian Crawl that he wrote a poem a day as part of his regular practice. One I’m beginning to share, along with a daily walk. Stafford wrote his poem after his daily walk. No wonder he was so prolific. Walking is the easiest way to get my creative juices going. I…
Did we all know that Poetry Foundation is podcasting? Or the there’s a lot of poepodcasting going on at e-poets? Remind me to figure out again how this microphone thingie works. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.
Time voyages with Thee upon its prowAnd all the future’s passionate hope is Thou. — Sri Aurobindo This arresting quote came to me as the antidote to watching too much of the news — or the “olds” as I have taken to calling it. My husband does not find this amusing. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.
Mostly, I’ve been skeptical. Especially of the exercises, workshops and seminars designed to “generate new work.” As though a poem were a pot, the more the better. Maybe that’s not even true of pots, but at least you can plant a flower in one. Poems should be rarer creatures. With that prejudice in mind, and especially skeptical of any such rigid practice as writing a poem a day, I decided to take up a fellow…
Seems to me mostly a self-congratulation party. Our local paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, has had not one item that even mentions it — and the Chron usually covers poetry books. Just whose party is it, I’m wondering. Well, obviously The Academy of American Poets takes it seriously. You can sign up to receive an emailed poem a day in April, selected by one of their poets. And they initiated the Poetry Read-Athon for schools,…
I have been thoroughly enjoying my National Poetry Month exercise of writing and reading at least one poem a day. Today’s exercise was especially rewarding. I found a delightful article by Naomi Shihab Nye about the idea of “sneaking poems into your day.” I wrote a poem I felt happy to consider revising — always a sign of inspirational fruitfulness, the itch to make it better. And I was emailed by Felicia Sullivan, Editor of…
Is it achieving critical mass, in terms of respectability? Are we yet at the point where you would rather publish in an admired zine than one of the gazillion print journals that increasingly no one but contributors read? In my case, the local poetry community is lively, determinedly neo-Beat and impenetrable. Too many poets trying to get too many readings too few poets attend, unless Robert Hass or Jane Hirschfield might be there, etc., etc.…
Where have you been all my life? Thanks to a “slightly modernized” version edited by Henry L. Carrigan, I can now read this quintessential English mystical poet with pleasure and very few linguistic bumps in the road. Think Shakespeare with spirituality. I love the poems in “The Church” especially, lovely mystical odes that use language and devotion playfully, with an intimate, endearing tone so different than the preachiness I was expecting. Carrigan has given a…
All my life? In searching out poems for an upcoming reading event, I decided to read all — yes, ALL — of Whitman. It’s the only way to read him. Excerpts will not do. I went down to my local used book store and got a big fat hardcover collection, printed in 1931. Back when they favored big type, the kind my eyes like even when I have my lenses in. Emblematic of his expansiveness,…
Gum chewing improves memory. Now where did I hear that? Kidding. Click on the link. Okay, maybe it wasn’t just in — but I just found it. Been doing a lot of chewing lately, on my new diet regimen. Lots of leaves, lots of gum. Makes for a tight face, with all those strong jaw muscles under the surface. I wonder when they’ll write the article about gum chewing substituting for a facelift? **** If…