Betty Adcock's poem may be a teenager now, but it certainly hasn't lost any of its political relevance. If anything, it's more relevant now than ever, given the recent Democratic party primary, and the friction that was given center stage in what some political bloggers called "the oppression Olympics." With the word feminist in the … Continue reading To a Young Feminist Who Wants to Be Free
It’s not less travelled
Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is probably one of the best known poems of the 20th century, but for entirely the wrong reason. I teach it nearly every semester in my Interpretation of Poetry classes, not so much because I enjoy it, but because I'm tired of hearing people invoke the final three lines … Continue reading It’s not less travelled
Saturday Monkey Blogging
I've been away for quite a while--I suspect that the people who keep popping by for my limited readings of "The Forge" haven't missed me any. I'll get back to the poetry blogging soon, but last night, my daughter graduated from high school. Amy and I call her Monkey, and there are some pictures below … Continue reading Saturday Monkey Blogging
Publishing news
Got word late last night that Relief A Christian Quarterly Expression has accepted a (very) long poem of mine for publication. I don't have all the details yet, but if they took it all, then wow, because it's ten sections long, practically a chapbook. It would be my most substantial publication to date, at least … Continue reading Publishing news
What does it take to kill a writer?
That's a post over at The Electronic Girl talking about how, in fiction at least, there's a sense that it's easy to lose writers of great books to the memory of their movies. She uses as her primary example James Leo Herlihy, best known as the author of Midnight Cowboy. But he's unknown, you say? … Continue reading What does it take to kill a writer?
Early Mother’s Day Poem
Growing up a Jehovah's Witness, I didn't celebrate the holidays, large or small. Not celebrating Christmas always got the most attention, along with Halloween, largely because of the outward display, but we didn't observe the smaller ones either. But even though my relationship with my parents is rocky because I left the church, I still … Continue reading Early Mother’s Day Poem
I’ll Never Make This Mistake Again
Way back in March, I posted the reading list for my summer class in Contemporary American poetry. Right about now, I'm feeling like Gob Bluth--"I've made a terrible mistake." I included Billy Collins's Nine Horses for a couple of reasons. I'm focusing on the variety of voices in contemporary poetry, and while Collins's voice is … Continue reading I’ll Never Make This Mistake Again
Influences
So I'm paging through my contributor's copy of Measure and I come across this poem titled "Arrival" by Mike Carson. Now, I know nothing about Carson--never even heard of him before this poem, though he's been published in some fine journals--but I can tell you who he's been influenced by, just by reading these lines.The … Continue reading Influences
New Issue
And I'm in it! Alas, not online, or even on the cover, but I have two poems in the latest issue of Measure A Review of Formal Poetry, and I'm in among some heavy hitters as well. My contributions to the issue are "Unhealthy Sonnet" and "i sing of Brian, born of God." Interesting side … Continue reading New Issue
"The War Works Hard"
Dunya Mikhail is an Iraqi woman poet whose collection, The War Works Hard, should be required reading for anyone looking to get a sense of political poetry today. Most of the poems in this collection were written between 1985 and 2004, and so they cover three wars--the Iran-Iraq War, and both US-Iraq wars, as well … Continue reading "The War Works Hard"
Another Poem to Love 