Monthly Archives: July 2022

Yes, revisiting that old topic of the inner critic, that nagging voice inside that tells you all the bad things about you, all the irreparable damage you’ve caused in the lives of everyone you know, and don’t know, I mean, the whole entire world probably, and how stupid your career choices were and oh ya,Continue reading “Inner Critic…”

A few years ago, we thought we heard the scurrying of a rodent. up in the rafters. Then we saw droppings under our sink. So the local pest control sent over someone to check it out. And after spending the better part of an hour in our attic, he told us that yes, we hadContinue reading “Enjoying the Ride”

There is a particular busy intersection in St. Louis—near a freeway onramp, in between the Target and Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, just behind a new housing development—which, every now and then, a family of geese crosses. More than once, I’ve just exited the freeway only to see a row of brake lights ahead ofContinue reading “Here and Gone”

Forgiveness is tricky. Too often, when referring to self-forgiveness, it is equated with a lack of self-reflection. As if the only way to forgive oneself is to deny the gravity of what occurred. It just feels too bad to remember that…stuff, especially when that stuff involved another person, and especially when that person is someoneContinue reading “The Trickiness of Forgiveness”

One of my favorite places to go in New York is The Strand. I am biased, I know, but I really think it is the best independent bookstore. Two floors packed with new and used books, vintage and hard bound books, helpful staff who have encyclopedic knowledge of whatever section they work in and basicallyContinue reading “Making Beauty”

Writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez is claimed to have said that the longer he knew his wife, the less he knew her. It’s not that familiarity breeds contempt; it’s that familiarity fools us into believing we are experts. And we stop observing. I’ve spent quite a few years being less observant. But, so much is changing…theContinue reading “If the Angel Deigns to Come…”

How easy it is to hide away parts of ourselves. To present the edited, polished version. But, it’s only part of the story, and I’ll be honest—hiding hurt. In her poem, Poem as Mask, Muriel Rukeyser acknowledges that she used metaphor to hide. She writes: When I wrote of the women in their dances andContinue reading “No More Mythologies”

Lately, I have grappling with paradox. One of my favorite poets, Paul Tran (yes, I have written about them previously) said in a recent interview that they spent much of their lives in search of form. The sonnet or villanelle? Or perhaps free verse? They also explained that the search for poetic form was aContinue reading “Paradox”