When Anatoly Nayman recounts his first meeting with the Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova, he describes her gesture of hospitality. The woman who had let me into the flat brought in a saucer on which lay a lonely boiled carrot, which had been peeled perfunctorily and had already dried up somewhat. Perhaps such was her diet, perhaps it was simply Akhmatova’s wish, or the result of disregard for housekeeping, but for me at that moment this carrot expressed her infinite indifference–to food … [Read More...]
Commit Poetry: Tapping on the Walls
What about tapping on the walls? Imagine a 5 x 5 square numbered 1 to 5 horizontally along the top and vertically down the left side. Picture the letters of the alphabet running in order … [Read More...]
Commit Poetry: Romeo and Juliet – Masks and Divisions
We are sitting at the edge of Michigan’s own slice of the Caribbean—Torch Lake. The water is teal, sometimes turquoise. A handful of children are making little crayfish corrals of sand, circled and … [Read More...]
Commit Poetry: The Lake Isle of Innisfree by W.B. Yeats
Wow. It's been so long since I've posted here, I was automatically logged out and had to go dig up my password. I've been seriously tied up with other stuff and have let the blog … [Read More...]
Dared: To Paint a Wall Chartreuse
Chartreuse. The color of your creativity. That phrase pinged around my head this morning. I wrote it on an index card, attributed it to L.L. Barkat, and pinned it to my bulletin … [Read More...]
Commit Poetry: Committing Romeo (and other stuff)
Here we go again. I swear—I can’t seem to resist a good dare, especially during National Poetry Month and Tweetspeak’s “Year of Shakespeare.” This time, it’s to memorize three sections … [Read More...]
Dared: A 30-Mile Bike Ride and a Request
I've gone and dared myself again. Back in December my cardiologist told me I needed to lose some weight. Sigh... I know that, but he's the first doctor who ever called me out. In the past … [Read More...]
Commit Poetry
Commit Poetry: Ozymandias, Breaking Bad, and a Duck
I read a Facebook post on January 11 of this year announcing that it was the 200th anniversary of the day The Examiner published Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem, “Ozymandias.” Ozzy who? I … [Read More...]
Commit Poetry: Edgar Guest – and My Uncle Edgar
For Edgar Gilmore with congratulations and the best wishes always of another Edgar. Sincerely, Edgar A. Guest June 17, 1939 That’s the inscription inside Edgar A. Guest says: It Can Be … [Read More...]
Dared
Dared: Hobnobbing With Alligators – and other Adventures
. . . Hosanna to the alligators in the highest: Glory be to their Maker. —Diana Woodcock, “In the Company of Alligators” We have lived here now for a whole year. Our … [Read More...]
Dared: Bikes, Lanterns, and Mary Oliver
After I took that spill on a hill at dusk into a pile of Mackinac Island horse manure some years back, I was afraid to climb back on my bike. But when we moved into this neighborhood carved from the … [Read More...]
