I'm delighted that my poem "So Long to the Good Old Moon" has found a home at Ascent literary magazine. (Update: This poem is also in my book Sugar Fix.) This poem takes its title from a headline in the July 4, 1969 issue of Life magazine - one of a trio I have, thanks to some creative gift-giving by my daughter, covering the Apollo 11 mission. As you'll see, the poem itself has little to do with the moon, but it has a lot to do with giving up our old ways of thinking about things - or at … [Read more...]
Station Eleven: Beauty in a Ruined World
December 4, 2014 By Leave a Comment
One mark of a good book is whether it entices me to explore subjects I initially find unappealing. By that measure and others, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, is a haunting success. Read my review of this 2014 National Book Award finalist here in the December issue of the Murfreesboro Pulse. … [Read more...]
Speaking of Marvels, and Other News
August 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jane Austen once wrote in a letter, "What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance." As I write this, we're having a heat and humidity spike in middle Tennessee that's typical for August, and I feel quite inelegant indeed. For the most part, though, it's been a remarkably lovely, oh-so-temperate summer here. Consequently I've been doing a lot more porch-sitting than blogging (and looking quite elegant in my beloved wicker porch swing, I'm sure. Uh-huh.) … [Read more...]
And the Winners Are…
May 4, 2014 By 1 Comment
Ooh! It is May! May 4th, soon to be May 5th, and I've been dallying around in the real world when I should have been online, drawing a winner for the Big Poetry Giveaway! I do have good excuses, including: the fine, fine weather here in Tennessee, the delicious bloom of the honey locust, an early morning trip to Nashville to hear one of my writing idols, Wendell Berry, who I now adore even more, after seeing him in person being unable to put down one of the World Book Night selections … [Read more...]
Middle Tennessee Poetry News
April 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment
We're well into National Poetry Month, and besides the Big Poetry Giveaway happening on my blog (and many others), I have more poetry news to share, with a focus on middle Tennessee: First of all, my friend and fellow poet Sandy Coomer has the article "April: A Time for Poetry" in Inside Brentwood Magazine. In addition to discussing the importance of poetry and National Poetry Month, Sandy also covers many middle Tennessee poets and poetry events, including - with photos - the poetry … [Read more...]
