Poetry and About Poetry

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – (314) BY  EMILY DICKINSON “Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all – And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm – I’ve heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - (314) BY  EMILY DICKINSON “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.

Lantern Puzzle by Ye Chun My rating: 5 of 5 stars Ye Chun paints her poetry in an English that refers both to her life and family history in China and also to the pictorial language of that land. She weaves the personal, the political, and the natural in a fabric that speaks quietly but profoundly. Nowhere do I read or hear a misstep, just the ebb and flow of the river of her experience. View all my reviews

Lantern Puzzle by Ye Chun My rating: 5 of 5 stars Ye Chun paints her poetry in an English that refers both to her life and family history in China and also to the pictorial language of that land. She weaves the personal, the political, and the natural in a fabric that speaks quietly but profoundly. Nowhere do I read or hear a misstep, just the ebb and flow of the river of her experience. View all my reviews

In the last 12 months, the following journals have accepted my poetry for publication: “This Weaving” Summerset Review, Summer 2014 “Eden” Literature Today, Fall 2014 “Bad Dreams” The Birds We Piled Loosely Fall 2014 “Betrayals” The Write Place at the Write Time Fall 2014 “Above Emile Creek” FLARE: The Flagler Review Fall 2014 “Ex-voto” The Crucible December 2014 “Murder in the Garden” Literature Today, Winter 2014-15 “Fire, Food, Metal” Carbon Culture Review Feb. 2015 “The Diversity of Habitable Zones”  Carbon Culture Review Feb. 2015 “Flowing into the Adjacent Possible” The Scapegoat Review Spring 2015 “As Tart Cherries Are Still Sweet” The Scapegoat Review Fall 2015 “Geology of The Blue Ridge” The Scapegoat Review Fall 2015 “Stars, Drought, and Adam” On the Rusk Issue 7 “Harpies” Hound “Treehouse Summer” From the Depths (Haunted Waters Press) “The Difficulty of Morning” Heron Tree online and September 2015 print “Remnant” American Tanka “Perf...

In the last 12 months, the following journals have accepted my poetry for publication: “This Weaving” Summerset Review, Summer 2014 “Eden” Literature Today, Fall 2014 “Bad Dreams” The Birds We Piled Loosely Fall 2014 “Betrayals” The Write Place at the Write Time Fall 2014 “Above Emile Creek” FLARE: The Flagler Review Fall 2014  “Ex-voto” The Crucible December 2014 “Murder in the Garden” Literature Today, Winter 2014-15 “Fire, Food, Metal" Carbon Culture Review Feb. 2015 "The Diversity of Habitable Zones"  Carbon Culture Review Feb. 2015 “Flowing into the Adjacent Possible” The Scapegoat Review Spring 2015 "As Tart Cherries Are Still Sweet" The Scapegoat Review Fall 2015 "Geology of The Blue Ridge" The Scapegoat Review Fall 2015 “Stars, Drought, and Adam” On the Rusk Issue 7 “Harpies” Hound “Treehouse Summer” From the Depths (Haunted Waters Press) “The Difficulty of Morning” Heron Tree online and September 2015 print “Remnant” America...

My Emily Dickinson by Susan Howe My rating: 4 of 5 stars Howe's short book is an illuminating take on one of my favorite poets, focusing in particular on a careful reading of "My Life Stood---a Loaded Gun." Howe does an excellent job of showing the poetic and other influences on Dickinson, especially the Brownings, Shakespeare (King Lear in particular), Fenimore Cooper, and Jonathan Edwards. Sometimes, Howe lets her own poetic rhetoric carry her away into near intelligibility, but I simply take that as her excitement and appreciation for what Dickinson was able to do. If you appreciate Dickinson, give this a read. If you are not sure, definitely read this work of one poet reading another. View all my reviews

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is one of those novels I was supposed to read as a youth, but never got around to it. In this case, the consensus is right. Mockingbird Courageously looks at the Jim Crow South and the damage it did to white and black citizens alike. Told from the viewpoint of a precocious girl who has a strong sense of right and wrong, it is reminiscent of Hucklebery Finn in that Lee like Twain uses the innocence of a child to skewer an adult society built on racism and classism, and the adults who sustain it. The characters are alive and real, and the story is exciting even though I have seen the movie and knew what was coming. Now that I have read it once, I imagine Mockingbird will reward my rereading. View all my reviews

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is one of those novels I was supposed to read as a youth, but never got around to it. In this case, the consensus is right. Mockingbird Courageously looks at the Jim Crow South and the damage it did to white and black citizens alike. Told from the viewpoint of a precocious girl who has a strong sense of right and wrong, it is reminiscent of Hucklebery Finn in that Lee like Twain uses the innocence of a child to skewer an adult society built on racism and classism, and the adults who sustain it. The characters are alive and real, and the story is exciting even though I have seen the movie and knew what was coming. Now that I have read it once, I imagine Mockingbird will reward my rereading. View all my reviews