This is the latest addition to the mural on my bedroom wall. The griffin is from Greece! Rome! Monsters! - written by John Harris with fantastic illustrations by Calef Brown. I talk to him more than I’d like to admit; he gives me career advice.
Archive for February, 2012
Bedroom Wall Mural
Posted in Uncategorized on February 28, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Underwear for the Afterlife
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Afterlife, Hades, poetry, Underworld, women's poetry, writing prompts on February 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Another writing prompt from Dr. T: “When I was in the Underworld…” Most women remember someone telling them – a mother, a friend, a friend’s mother – how it is always important to leave the house in underwear you wouldn’t be embarrassed to have cut off you if you were ever in an accident. Such [...]
A Wine Country Murder Mystery in Three Parts
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged California, California environment, food, murder mystery, objects, stonemasons, wine country, women's poetry on February 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
For the most part, I love to read and write poetry that can be read aloud. We are reading Billy Collins’ Ballistics in my poetry class at the moment. I have listened to many recordings of Collins reading his work; he has a totally deadpan delivery, which works well with his style of writing. Collins [...]
La Sirena
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged archaic words, found poems, poetry, Sailor's Word-Book on February 20, 2012 | 1 Comment »
This week our prompt was “I sailed the Seven Seas long before you were born.” I was thrilled to have a reason to use my favorite treasury of words: The Sailor’s Word-Book. It’s available as a free download through Project Gutenberg. LA SIRENA I sailed upon the Seven Seas Long afore ye were ever born ‘Til [...]
The Quotidian Inferno
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Contrapasso, Dante's Inferno, ecology, freewrite, Las Vegas, poemancy, Virgil, West on February 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Every week we are given three writing prompts in class, and we have to do a “timed write” for ten minutes. Usually these prompts are pretty strange. Oddly enough, with the exception of one, all of my (very few) published poems have been freewrites; this is probably because the prompts are so weird and I’m [...]
A Brief History of Mirrors
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged COSMOS, mirrors, poetry, stars, women's poetry on February 16, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Every semester my poetry prof. assigns something he calls a “fascination object” poem. In the past I have chosen things like a weathervane or a Jerusalem Cricket (aka potato bug); this time I chose a mirror. I found an Encyclopedia Brittanica entry on the history of mirrors – much is borrowed from that entry, so I [...]
Pixie of the Serengeti
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ancestor poem, ecology, poetry, Texas Panhandle, women's poetry on February 2, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Besides those sad tales of hardship – the ones about covered wagons with busted wheels, Indian wars, short grass prairies and dry wells– most Texas stories involve beer and broken cars. Standing two inches shy of five feet, my grandmother Pixie wore horned-rim glasses, kept her hair trimmed just over her ears like it had [...]
