In case you missed the announcements here and on various social media, opportunities to hang out with me and so many poems this week: Thursday at 7:30 pm at The Potter’s House DC Friday at 7:00 pm at Washington ArtWorks (Combat Paper/Warrior Writers Exhibition and reading) I think I was nine or ten in…
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I know I JUST posted a few days ago, and you wonderful subscribers get this shoved into your inbox whenever I hit publish. I try to be conscious of that with posting and frequency. But I want to tell you two things. Anyone who’s been in a writing group with me–hospital or otherwise–knows the introduction…
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My mother is back in town and on her first evening back has provided me (and therefore you) with the following gems: -She offered my younger son $20/inch to cut his ridiculous face-covering bang. She looked at him for maybe an hour and asked me, “How can you stand this?” And offered to buy…
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Kind dears, I am averaging a post every other week. I have heard your outcry, and I apologize, I apologize, I apologize (maybe go into the archives when you really need a prompt–there are years of writing back there). This thesis writing thing is sort of kicking my ass. But stick with me. Just…
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This week, a participant in a writing group asked me why I write so much. I answered with something not untrue–something like, “Because I’m really fucked up and trying to survive.” But that wasn’t the whole truth. It was like a sliver of the truth, or a version of the truth. Because while, yes, I believe…
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In a writing group this week, someone asked me what they should be writing about. They said, “No offense, but I don’t care about poetry or whatever. Writing has been one of the things that’s helped me and I want to do it right.” Well, no offense taken. Poetry is immediate, precise, emotionally honest, and…
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The picture above was one I took from the back corner of an auditorium where I was lucky to get a place to sit on the floor, with my back against the wall, behind the speakers, to hear some of my literary heroes talk about process and feminism and the body in literature. That crowd,…
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It feels pretty good to accomplish big things, to complete projects we’ve started, to end a week of writing and creating art with a big, awesome performance as we did this week. But it can also leave you feeling empty somehow. A feeling of, Now what? I imagine some of the writers I worked with…
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