Rattled

Yesterday I was running errands and had to pass through Brockport to get to my destination, but never made it. A woman holding a baby and steering a two-year-old and five-year-old across route 19, which is very busy and congested in the village proper. She was jay walking, not fifty feet from the crosswalk. I stopped to let her get across, and Bam! A man not paying attention smashes into my car. My bumper is scuffed, but his front end is a mess. The woman, with her children, scuttled across the street. But this could have been far worse, because the woman wasn't really paying attention to the two "walking" children. Who knows what she was thinking. She had that far away look. I yelled at her. I said what are you doing walking across the street like that with three babies. And she burst into tears. Of course. and her husband is called, and get this, he's an ambulance driver. Perfect.

A long time ago, I knew a woman who lost her child crossing the street. She was racing across the street, with her child in tow, and the child was hit. What's the point of hurry? Needless to say, I was a jumpy mess all afternoon, and my lower back hurts. I took advil when I arrived home. Lost my ambition for the rest of the day.

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Last Thursday, October 21, Father Cavanaugh Reading Series at Fisher, Allie Larkin, Fisher alumna, 2002, read from her novel Stay (Dutton, 2010) to large, appreciative audience. My students really enjoyed reading her book. They fell in love with her characters. It was a perfect evening. Thanks, Allie!


Upcoming, on November 4, at 7:30 p.m. in Golisano Gateway Mid-level on St. John Fisher Campus, Poet Todd Davis will be reading from his newest collection The Least of These (University of Michigan Press, 2010). This reading is presented by The Arts Minor Program and funded in part by Poets & Writers and NYSCA. The reading is free and open to the public.


Today, Sunday October 24, I will be reading with Poet Marie Starr at Books ETC in Macedon NY at 4 p.m. If you're out and about, we hope you' ll stop by for our reading. I will be reading from my newest collection Within Reach (Cherry Grove Collections, 2010) and some new work (poetry and prose).

Publishing News

Publishing News:

The Apple Valley Review has accepted three of my poems for the current issue. I share the spotlight with Alana Ruprecht, Laura Merleau, William Grigg, Bernard Henrie, Chris Anderson, Kimberly Long Cockroft, Laura Drell, Sarah Frost, Karen Shubert, Margaret Rozga, and cover art by Mary Erikson. Thanks to Leah Browning. editor, for this thoughtful showcase.

Every issue of The Apple Valley Review is worth the read, and reread.

Other recent poems accepted by The Chariton Review, Tar River Poetry, 5923 Quarterly(online), Grey Sparrow Journal (online and print issue), Avocet, Nova Scotia Review, and Victorian Violet Press (online).

Big thank you to all of the editors and staff members whose untiring hard work keeps our art, our words in the world, I am so grateful.

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Upcoming readings to promote Within Reach (Cherry Grove Collections, 2010).

Will be reading with Kitty Jospe in November's Genesee Reading Series,curated by Wanda Schubmehl, Writers & Books, 740 University Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607. Date: November 9, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. $3/members; $6/ Public. Books will be available for purchase, and signing, of course.

Looking forward to this event.

Hope to see you there!

Poem for Today

The Last Poem in the World

Would I write it if I could?
Bet your glitzy ass I would.

-- Hayden Carruth

Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey, Poems 1991-1995, Copper Canyon Press

If you haven't read this collection, you need to get your hands on it, and enjoy it
as if you were eating a slice of apple pie . . . Carruth's poetry, intimate and urgent, a treasure
for you and you and you . . . and me too.

Rain,rain, rain.

Rain, rain, rain. Now the weather changes quickly. Now everything swells to its final burst of color-- the mums and marigolds, vibrant golds and burgundy; pumpkins, gourds and squash. The days hunch forward, stretching shadows to an earlier darkness. Still frog song near midnight, coming home Monday night, lugging my bag full of work. I've corrected hundreds of papers in the past week, only to collect more. The semester is in full swing.

Because of the rain, our pigs have been breaking out of their pen. I guess it was a six hour round-up, starring the pigs and my family, Peter, Meghan and Nick and my visiting brother-in-law, Jim. Have you ever tried to con a pig? Here piggy, piggy, piggy. It took all of them to lure them back. I guess they found their way into the duck pen, and the ducks were paralyzed by the sight of the pigs, hiding, still as shadows in the shed--didn't move or blink. Hopefully, the secured pen will hold. Once again, our family's animal whispering skills were put to a test. I think Peter speaks fluent pig, chicken, duck, cat, dog . . . But I think these pigs are defiant, like unruly teenagers, or so Peter says. I think it's going to be tough love. Stay in your pen!

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On Thursday, I'm taking my Encounters class to Bush Mango for a West African Dance class. Can't wait to see their reaction. I love this outing. It unlocks me-- loosens the cramped and stuffy parts of my body. I leave the class feeling so alive. I know I should be doing this type of movement daily. During the summer our farm work gives us that all out work out; but
now as the season turns and we're closing up the gardens, we know that our outlet is drying up.
So what to do, what to do ? Need to establish another routine.

I also know that the movement unlocks my creativity. I've been sputtering since the semester began. Need to reestablish the stolen hour.