Publications & Achievements
Read “The Duplex” Free Now!
Hi friends! Happy Wednesday! I hope you're all having a wonderful week. As some of you know, I've been focusing primarily on my clients the last few years (copywriting, line-editing, resumes, publishing assistance, etc.), but in 2020, I decided it was time to dedicate...
New Poem: A Seagull Makes A Lone Call, Off-Course (after Sylvia Plath)
A SEAGULL MAKES A LONE CALL, OFF-COURSE And across from me a bird roots in the gutter, looking for spare twigs. Its dark feathered body dip in and out of the track, its tail striking the air. I wonder insteadif it has made a nest up there when its body disappears....
New Poem: In The Morning, Where I Walk (after Sylvia Plath)
Where Sylvia Plath's "Blackberrying" and social distancing meet . . . IN THE MORNING, WHERE I WALK Out to the street where cars have been parked for days, I know little of what brings the birds out of their hiding, what has come of the neighbors who leave their trash...
A New Poem: Social Distancing & What’s Left Of It—
SOCIAL DISTANCE & WHAT'S LEFT--- I look out my windows, check social media, more often than I should, & wonder where the parked cars have gone, also too often, question if there is somewhere I could have gone, too. Out there, I know, someone is sleeping, more...
It’s the “Almost Halloween” Friday Round-Up!
Happy Friday, friends! I hope you've had a wonderful week. I know in the last couple weeks I've been a bit off my game as far as posting regularly. I've had good reasons---family stuff, birthdays, travel, illness---but that doesn't mean I feel good about not writing...
Birthday Weekend Round-Up!
Hi friends! Happy Friday! I hope you've had a wonderful week! It's been almost two weeks since my last post. Last week was quite the week, and I did very little writing. This week has been all about catching up and getting back in the rhythm, so again, very little...
A Birthday Saddle & A Friday Round-Up!
Happy Friday, friends! I hope you've had a wonderful week! Compared to last week, this week has absolutely flown by. Cadence turned 5 on Thursday (I still can't believe it---FIVE?!), and earlier this week, we took her out for a family birthday dinner at Texas...
New Poem “In Nature” & The Prompt Behind It
IN NATURE My daughter calls the outdoors home & needs no reason to enter. Her skin, the brush. Her voice & birdsong. Her running speed & the air through the field. They are the same. Sometimes, she blends in so well, I cannot see her. The brownest strands...
Poem of the Day & Reading Posts
Poem of the Day: Brigit Pegeen Kelly
Happy Tuesday, friends! After a bit of a break, here’s the new Poem of the Day: Brigit Pegeen Kelly’s “Doing Laundry on Sunday.” Enjoy!
Poem of the Day: Sylvia Plath
Happy Friday, everyone! For our Poem of the Day, here is another poem by Sylvia Plath, “Winter Landscape, with Rooks.” Enjoy!
Happy National Poetry Month! Poem of the Day: Angela Voras-Hills
Happy Wednesday, and Happy National Poetry Month! For today’s poem, we have Angela Voras-Hills’ “On My Way Home,” from her collection, LOUDER BIRDS. Enjoy!
Poem of the Day: Sylvia Plath
Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. To start our week, here is a poem by Sylvia Plath, “Blackberrying,” which seems particularly fitting right now. Enjoy!
Poems of the Day: Allan Peterson
Happy Friday, friends! To carry us into the weekend, here are several short poems by Allan Peterson, from his latest collection, THIS LUMINOUS. Enjoy!
Poem of the Day: Vievee Francis
Happy Thursday, friends! Here is today’s Poem of the Day: “Another Antipastoral” by Vievee Francis. Enjoy!
Poem of the Day: Rebecca Pelky
Happy Wednesday, friends! Here’s today’s Poem of the Day: “Radium Girl” by Rebecca Pelky. Enjoy!
Poem of the Day & Remembering Ralph Angel
Happy Tuesday. In memory of Ralph Angel tonight, here are several of his poems from his collection, YOUR MOON, from New Issues Poetry and Prose. Enjoy.
Book Reviews & Author Interviews
Her Heart of Hearts & The Art of Discovery: Reading Jackie Haze’s Borderless
When I think of highways, I think of other cars, the open road, corn fields. I think of how limitless, how borderless these highways can be, allowing us to go straight, turn left, or turn right, as we please. But there are also barricades: toll roads, No U-Turn...
‘This is Not a Pipe’: The Powers of Nature & Grief over Perception & Definition: Reading Ross Gay’s Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude
I don’t know about you, but in my mind, perception and grief are united. This is not to say that one cannot exist without the other, but only that our perceptions vary based on our state of mind---especially when we are talking about grief. On an average,...
Dialogue of the Body, Dialogue of a Storm: Reading Sandra Marchetti’s Confluence
Sometimes I find myself thinking so much about what poetry is or what it can do that I forget to think about how it can make me feel. Perhaps that is the sign of a lesser poetry, a poetry with holes in it: one that goes through the motions, the mechanics, of...
“Look Where That Has Gotten Me”: The Potential Self-Awareness & Honesty of Poetry: Reading Tracey Knapp’s Mouth
Let me begin by playing a round of Two Truths and a Lie... We all know how this works, right? The speaker shares two truths about themselves, and a lie, but the lie must not be easily distinguished from the two truths, and the other players are supposed to...
The Rhythm of Reading & Hearing Poetry: Reading Three Beautiful Collections by Susan Lewis
Do you ever find yourself in a reading slump? Or too unreasonably busy to even consider finding a way to fit reading in? And when you finally do have the time and energy, do you find yourself searching for that writing style that just throws you back in, every...
“The Way Poetry Evokes Things / Only Potentially There”: Perception, Identity & Heritage: Reading Allan Peterson’s Precarious
In the quiet moments, when we stop to take a breath and think, we may realize that all of our thoughts, our questions, our hopes, are connected---that is to say, back to two main ideas: Where am I going? and Where have I been? Again, as if to say something...
The Waking, Danger & Consent of the Body & Love: Reading Lisa Mangini’s Bird Watching at the End of the World
When we spend a lot of time reading poetry, I know we can become critical of the pursuit of love and the defining of boundaries in poetry---but sometimes, a poet chooses to address these exact topics, and they get everything right: they create something new,...
Clark Kent is a Super Hipster: The Art of Finding Beauty in the Absurd & the Mundane: Reading Shawnte Orion’s The Existentialist Cookbook
Here I am, attempting to think of what to say, but my coffee spilled, and it made such a lovely and dark display across my table. This is the sort of mindset in which Shawnte Orion places me: an area of in-the-moment appreciation, the odd humor of something...
Past Literary Events
Happy National Poetry Month! How Am I Celebrating?
Happy National Poetry Month!bGet ready—here’s how I’ll be celebrating this month!
There’s a New Series Coming! How Do I Submit?
Happy Sunday! I’m grateful to announce the re-launch of my Poem of the Day Series, in addition to my new arrivals, Favorite Fiction Friday and Saturday Spotlight. Read on to see how to submit!
In Honor of Linda Gregg: One Poem (For Now)
Today I heard of the passing of Linda Gregg, a poet I unfortunately did not know. To honor her, as I honor any poet who has died, I read her work for the first time. It’s heart-wrenching. This is my take on my first experience with Linda Gregg, and a poem of hers I hope will never let me go.
In Honor of Marni Ludwig: Five Poems
In honor of the excellent poet, Marni Ludwig, here are five poems: Four of hers and one of mine. All my love today to Marni, her family, and her friends.
My Reading with Write Night! Next Up: Dinosaurs.
Last night, I had the extremely great opportunity to perform as one of the five Selected Readers for Lit Literary Collective's Write Night in May, organized by Krista Cox and Ultreia, Inc. Thank you, to Krista and Lit Literary and everyone, for having me. I...
My Dumb Heart
---To my fellow Benders, I threw on my grief. MY DUMB HEART is open wide and overflows with water. How I manage to stay alive is beyond me. I like to...
Dear Emily—
---Hope is the thing with feathers. Here is a truth: I thrive on hope. But yet, here is another: if you fill a pillow with feathers, I cannot sleep--- I wake in the middle of the night, heavy-chested and warm, throwing off the dark as if it were a spare...
Black & White Poetry Jam This Weekend!
Hi everyone! I have a great event to share with you! This Saturday, right before the Bowl, is the Black and White Poetry Jam at the Potawatomi Greenhouse Conservatory, right across the street from Indiana University South Bend, backed up against Kids' Kingdom. ...