In the Q&A with Natalie Diaz called “Energy” by Jacqueline Woodson in the March/April 2020 Poets&Writers Magazine, Natalie Diaz said, “I have lived many lives. I have tried and failed at many things. I have won and lost much. I don’t know much, but I believe language lasts. In all its violence and tenderness, itContinue reading “The Violence of Poetry”
Tag Archives: poetry immersion
Unpinnable Poetry
In the Q&A with Natalie Diaz called “Energy” by Jacqueline Woodson in the March/April 2020 Poets&Writers Magazine, Natalie Diaz surprised me with the word, “unpinnable.” She saidd, “I learned quickly that myth is what makes me dangerous—the ability to make a rock weep for its creator, a way to say the river runs through myContinue reading “Unpinnable Poetry”
A Poem as Time
Time also came up a lot in the special section of the Jan/Feb 2020 Poets&Writers Magazine. Keith S. Wilson who wrote Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love (assoc link) his writer’s block remedy is: “Time. They say time heals all wounds, which is a lie, but it is true that no wound healed without time. I hopeContinue reading “A Poem as Time”
Poetry as Survival
In the Special Section “Inspiration” in the Jan/Feb 2020 Poets&Writers Magazine, several of the poets used the word “survival” when talking about how their collection began. Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes who wrote The Inheritance of Haunting (assoc link) said, “This book emerged as a result of poetry as a mode of survival and healing atContinue reading “Poetry as Survival”
Music Lover Poetry
This week I couldn’t resist the Music Lover(assoc. link) magnetic poetry kit. Here’s a poem I wrote with it. The Prompts NaPoWriMo: write a poem that focuses on a single color PAD Challenge: write a trope poem Today’s Poem Bad Guys Who Can’t Aim How do you know whothe bad guy is when they’re allContinue reading “Music Lover Poetry”
The Reach of Poetry
In the Reactions section of the Nov/Dec 2019 Poets&Writers Magazine, I read, “Much of the advice and coaching I offer to undergraduate students who are contemplating MFA programs is to take some time to think about what they actually want out of it, to reach out to people who teach at certain programs or thoseContinue reading “The Reach of Poetry”
A Poem Ponders a Question
The word “question” comes up often in the Nov/Dec 2019 Poets&Writers Magazine. The editor’s note starts with a question, “What is the future of independent publishing?” He writes, “That was the question I asked the eight industry leaders whose answer-essays are featured in this issue’s special section. It was, of course, a rhetorical question. .Continue reading “A Poem Ponders a Question”
Poetry’s Power of Perspective & a Pantoum
In The Literary Life section of the Sept/Oct 2019 Poets&Writers Magazine, Steve Almond wrote an article called “Manuals for Living: What Our Favorite Novels Teach Us About Ourselves. He says he rereads Stoner (assoc link) by John Williams (1965) “an alarming percentage of his time.” In the article he writes, “And so I read theContinue reading “Poetry’s Power of Perspective & a Pantoum”
Poetry as Ordinary Observations of Opposites
After yesterday’s discussion of novelty, the word “ordinary” stood out to me in the Sept/Oct 2019 Poets&Writers Magazine. In The Literary Life section article “Historical Fiction: The Pleasures and Perils of Writing About Other Eras” by Christina Baker Kline and Lisa Gornick. Kline mentions a New Yorker piece in which Jill Lepore writes, “Fiction canContinue reading “Poetry as Ordinary Observations of Opposites”
Poems as Novelty Detectors
In the Editor’s Note of the July/August 2019 Poets&Writers Magazine, Kevin Latimer wrote, “. . . it made me appreciate how easily the human ear can block out background noise. (It’s a built in function of the brain, specifically the “novelty detector” neurons, which store information about patterns of sound and stop firing if aContinue reading “Poems as Novelty Detectors”
Experience Writing 