Month: March 2011
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National Poetry Month
I love that poetry gets its own month. Today I spent the day brainstorming ways to celebrate with my students and now I’m considering how I’ll celebrate on my own. I know a number of poets have taken on a similar challenge to NANOWRIMO, and written a poem a day for the month of April…
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lightning never strikes the same place twice
(video from youtube.com by Catherine Galasso) Except that it does. I’m working on a poem about lightning, about those who have been struck multiple times. The stories and the research I’ve been encountering are scarier than you would think. Roy Sullivan, for instance, was struck seven times. He finally killed himself in his early…
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a lesson from dad…
My dad is on a boat. On his boat, he has a lamp. He likes the lamp. He wrote about the lamp. The resulting poem is lovely, really. The flame dwindles as dusk arrives. I lift the glass chimney from the brass oil lamp, strike a match and night flame jumps to life. The lamp…
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Nighty-night!
Recently, I’ve been having nightmares. Bad nightmares. The other night I dreamt I killed someone, sniper style. According to the all-knowing internet, this could simply mean I’m trying to kick a bad habit (which I am, perpetually) but I think this is more likely due to the string of uplifting literature I’ve been reaching for…
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The value of imitation.
Last night, when I was trying to fall asleep, a few insistent lines came to me. I jotted them down & read them over and at first, I was pretty satisfied with myself. Then I realized that what I had written had more than a little resemblance to Ellen Bass’s poem, Relax (not in ability,…