I’ve been sleeping poorly for the last week or so. I even overslept one day, waking up about the time I should have left for work. I actually sleep well once I make it to bed. I just get toRead More

Sometimes in my poetry I struggle with the concrete. Or maybe it’s the opposite. The abstract. I don’t know if I think abstractly. Depends how you define “abstract”, noun, verb, or adjective. I’m certainly not concise. I may take thingsRead More

Once upon a time, I had to memorize a poem for school. Truthfully, I can’t even remember what poem it was that I memorized. I’m pretty sure it was She Walks in Beauty by Byron but I wouldn’t bet myRead More

43. Silence I HAVE known the silence of the stars and of the sea, And the silence of the city when it pauses, And the silence of a man and a maid, And the silence for which music alone findsRead More

It’s already April 4 and I haven’t read any poetry all month. That’s a sad thing, normally, but since it is National Poetry Month it seems especially egregious. There ought to be poems on the morning news, appearing in mailboxes,Read More

I’m proud of my friends who actually get their poems published, even whole books of poetry published. Pride is a funny thing to feel since it suggests some sort of ownership, like I had anything to do with their success.Read More

I hated writing poetry as a kid, mostly because I seem to lack the ability to rhyme or the sense of rhythm that other people agree upon. The rhythm? I really don’t know what my problem is. I never seemRead More

I have a slight problem. My two favorite words aren’t ones I get to use very often. One isn’t exactly “nice.” Philology. Genitalia. The first: “the branch of knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of aRead More

The problem with writing poetry is other people who write poetry. I’m a snob, apparently, but hear me out. If you write poetry and care about poetry, you’ll run into other people who also write poetry. If you’re lucky, someRead More