November 28, 2017
Why I Love “Low” Art
Where to begin with why I have always valued entertainment considered (by snobs, let’s be honest) to be “lowbrow”? For one thing, this preference led me to my dissertation. I […]
July 21, 2017
On Writing at the Movie Theater
I covet the space of the in-between. This is why I see so many movies in the theater. The movie theater is a liminal space, situated between the darkened fantasy […]
January 19, 2017
Packing List for the Women’s March in D.C.
Cash/credit card/motel reservation/SmarTrip card for the Metro. Do not pack the fact I really can’t afford this. No ticket required. I use my phone for everything. I booked the motel […]
November 11, 2016
“We need to know how to go about reaching the next days of our lives”
Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones” is going around again. W.H. Auden’s “September 1, 1939” is circling through social media, as it did after September 11. Why do we turn to poems […]
May 27, 2016
Books Fall Apart
Over the last week, loose pages from The Bluest Eye have been appearing outside my house. Page 156 in the front garden. Page 147 caught under the chain-link fence. Page […]
May 21, 2016
The joy that has no stem nor core
The joy that has no stem nor core, Nor seed that we can sow, Is edible to longing, But ablative to show. By fundamental palates Those products are preferred Impregnable […]
November 20, 2015
Who Only Has at Heart Your Getting Lost: Wandering Into Poetry
Even for those of us who don’t have to be convinced to read poetry in the first place, it can be a challenge to “keep up” with poetry. If you’re reading […]
March 29, 2012
Mix Tape: “Whatever happens, this is.”
Here’s to Adrienne Rich, who said: “I am uncomfortable with talking of poetry as a priestly profession, because I have little use for organized religions and priestly hierarchies. They have […]