Life after Forty
Ahead of me on the journey by a decade, friend, mentor and often guide Marchiene Rienstra told me the other day about an insight that came to her on one of her morning walks...
A Few Words from Writers and Readers
helpful resources for writers and my words: essays, poems, book reviews and now and then – a prayer.
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Recent news More posts »Do You Do Well to Be Angry?
In this political season so fraught with angry people – it’s worth asking “Do You Do Well to Be Angry?” A question God once asked the Hebrew prophet...
Put Down Your Pack
Margaret Atwood once said – “I write prose to know what I’m thinking. And poetry to know what I’m feeling.” For me too – poetry was the right vessel to convey the emotions that swept over me after my brother called with words I had been longing for – for four long years. Closure on a tragedy – time for healing to begin.
Stanley Kunitz: Speaking of Poetry
Stanley Kunitz’s spirit continues with us – in words like these from his 1994 commencement address at St. Mary’s College, Maryland. Draw them in –...
“Take a deep breath..” says Elizabeth Berg
This from an email Elizabeth Berg sent writer Donald Murray. I came across it while reading My Twice-Lived Life. I discovered Donald Murray late in my writing life. What a gift...
Ted Kooser’s Poetry Home Repair Manual
“The poet Linda Gregg asks her students to take a close look at just six things each day. What seems like a simple discipline turns out to be quite difficult because, by habit,...