Sunday, briefly

I've come down with a miserable summer cold. It's disgusting. I feel like a hound dog.

Have been reading several collections of new and selected poems. Lola Haskins's Desire Lines intrigues me. Her use of the word bloom has haunted her work for these twenty years (1983-2003). Maybe always. Her poems focus on "to be," celebrating the life that is and isn't recognized. Her persona poems are distant voices, ethereal-- yet electric, with images that burn in your memory. Lola teaches at the Rainier Writing Workshop, where I completed my MFA at PLU in 2006. I never studied with her formally, but enjoyed her readings and workshops during our residency sessions.

Here's a test:

Look over your poems written in the past three years. Select your favorites. Are there any repeat words? Identify them. Put the poems in a sequence and see if the repeat words gain meaning in the sequence. Are there subtle shifts in meaning, like a kaleidoscope?


It's so interesting looking for the repeat words in the new and selected collections. I think it's a mental landscape. It reveals a lot about the poet's concerns and creative process.


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Every book or drawer or notebook, something pops out that's connected to PLU. I think I'm missing everyone. I received an email from Michael Schmeltzer the other day, regarding A River & Sound Review www.riverandsoundreview.org. Please check out the first issue. Shout out to Jay Bates, founder of A River & Sound, which began as recorded reading series. He has done a terrific job. Hope you'll consider sending your work there. Tell them you read about the review here.


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What are you doing today?