August 26, 2016
Is Grief a Waiting
You hear the strange cricket in the oven sing, and ask what it sings. This is what it sings. —Frank Bidart, “The Third Hour of the Night” […]
August 26, 2016
Fall Forward
In my 190-plus posts for this blog, I’ve only once thought to sing the praises of A.Word.A.Day, Anu Garg’s brilliant daily email blast. Allow me a second huzzah: A.Word.A.Day is, […]
August 13, 2016
There Ought to Be Clowns
I sort of swore off writing about clowns earlier this summer, but I’ve continued to hear their shuffling feet and their muffled laughs. A couple of weeks ago, former Texas […]
August 5, 2016
Ghost Stories, Systems
Between sad, hateful blats from Trump’s trumpet and the usual political dogwhistles came the (largely unheard in national mainstream media) dirges for three (more) Black women killed, in the words […]
July 29, 2016
“Still unknown objects that belong together”: Poetry and assemblage
I recently recorded a poetry craft talk for The Writing University Open Courses program, which will implement another session of its “How Writers Write: Talks On Craft and Commitment” series […]
July 27, 2016
It’s All about the Music: A Tribute to Tim Duncan
A few years ago, I scrambled my first boulders at Old Rag Mountain, reportedly one of the most challenging and dangerous hikes. Coming and going, the nearly nine-mile hike itself […]
July 21, 2016
Histories of Our Faces
I recently returned home from teaching for two weeks in the Between the Lines program at the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program in Iowa City. The session in which I taught […]
July 12, 2016
Identity In Flux: On Jewishness & Poetry
In late 2014, I asked six different poets of various ages and backgrounds questions about Jewish identity and poetry. I had answered some questions about poetry and faith on The Best […]
July 9, 2016
Trump Card
I’m writing this post on a Wednesday morning, after having just read a spirited debate over the meaning of the Brexit vote in The New York Times. All five of […]
July 7, 2016
The Kangas of the World
My five-year-old daughter and I have been reading Winnie-the-Pooh this week. In the seventh chapter, the nativist Rabbit tries to drive out recent arrivals Kanga and Roo by kidnapping Roo […]
July 1, 2016
On Passing and Whiteness: Jewish Poets Speak Out
In late 2014, I asked six different poets of various ages and backgrounds questions about Jewish identity and poetry. I had answered some question about poetry and faith on The […]
June 28, 2016
A Real Kind of Sublime
We look at alien grace, unfettered by any determined form, and we say: balloon, flower, heart, condom, opera, lampshade, parasol, ballet. Hear how the mouth, so full of longing for […]