Poetry is for those waiting spaces
I've no idea why this moved me so. Perhaps it is the juxtaposition of this poem with those large bug-like sunglasses. Perhaps the recognition that any poetry reading is beautiful. Perhaps the very fact that this woman filled the waiting spaces with poetry as she sat in the car waiting …
Day Eight, like a stone falling quicker
If we were dying in 37 days, as did the man who sparked all this, we would likely want to slow down the days, lengthen them, stay as long as possible. As we got closer to the end, they would likely speed up, dashing past, a lifetime in a few …
To Raleigh, today, in search of a giant acorn
I'll be driving and belting out some Johnny Cash tunes all day today, racing to get to Raleigh for a book reading tonight, a speech tomorrow, a workshop and another speech on Sunday. If you're there, come! It would be fabulous to meet you! READING and SIGNING – Ornamentea (Raleigh, …
Poetry is where empathy begins
I got a most remarkable, handwritten note from poet Naomi Shihab Nye after she received a copy of Life is a Verb. “We need this book,” she wrote, among many things too wonderful to say. She suggested we could start a rock band, “Digh and Nye,” and I, of course, …
Poets help us grieve
I feel fairly certain I have included this poem in a Poemapalooza of past years. Perhaps with this very picture, which I love so. No matter how many times I read this poem, I feel a lurching forward as I recognize–yet once more–the ways in which objects are imbued with …
Calling all 37days Challengers
I have an incomplete list of those intrepid souls participating in this challenge and blogging their process — if you are doing so and would like to be included in the list I'll post here on 37days, please email your blog address (even if you think I have it already) …
Day Seven, let’s rebrand “selfish”
Day Seven. Is this number seven the very best? Look closely. It's made up of little threes. Imagine my delight! Caren asked how my challenge is going. What? Mine? Despite migraines and general explosive overwhelmedness and many many many hours of travel and the fact that since the challenge began, …
Let the 2009 Poemapalooza begin!
Every year, we here at the World Headquarters of the Verb celebrate National Poetry Month with an extravagant Poemapalooza. Inviting poets from all over the world, we dig into metaphor and some happy iambic pentameter with a vengeance. We put poems in our pockets and give them out randomly to …
My slightly winded, Zen self
Imagine my surprise to wake up in Atlanta on Saturday morning to find myself on the front page of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I like the headline: "37-Days Challenge. Author: Pick Thing, Stick to It." And an even bigger version of my slightly winded, Zen self on the front of …
