My dad is retired. He spends his summers in Ontario fishing and enjoying a simple existence he’s worked hard to acquire. But that’s not the story. He’s spent a lifetime doing for others — his children first, wife second, himself last. I remember Christmases where we had presents under the tree, but looking back, I don’t… Read More What to Do When You’re Hurting
Here’s the thing about prompts: they don’t have to be serious to be turned into something serious. I remember a friend of mine had been given four words — one included mouse turds — and she was to write a story including those four words. Her essay blew me away. The seemingly hilarious “mouse turds”… Read More Writing Prompt: Say What?
Digging through a box the other day, I came across photos from long ago. The photos brought back some painful memories of relationships past. You know what that means — poetry in the making. It’s no secret that poetry is a great mechanism for working out our shit. As Robert Frost said, “Poetry begins with a… Read More Must We Suffer? Emotional Upheaval as Inspiration
It’s true that life inspires art. However, what if the occasions that inspire also embarrass? Like many writers and poets, I find that some of my best writing is coming from negative experiences. Bad relationships are a recurring theme, and often I know if a poem is published, someone is going to be mighty pissed.… Read More Dredging Up the Past
My latest published poem – check it out here. I’ve been toying with alliteration lately — repetition of the consonant sound in ways that tie the work together in a more audibly cool way. One from Edgar Allan Poe stands out to me: And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Why I… Read More How to be an Alliterate Poet
I was talking with another writer recently about familiarity in writing: specifically, colloquialisms. For those unfamiliar with the term, a colloquialism is that word or phrase we would use in ordinary speech. Slang, idioms, local vernacular — all of it falls under the colloquial umbrella. Anyway, the conversation was about my use of one word… Read More Informally Yours: Colloquialisms in Poems
More good news — another poem published, this one in the March 2015 issue of TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics by Chapman University. Very cool. I was reading up on technique recently when I came across the idea of enjambment. It’s a simple, yet powerful method of running one thought from one line to another.… Read More Poetry Technique: Enjambment
In a writing group recently, one of the participants said about a poem of mine “It’s accessible.” I thought about that. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or insulted. I chose happy, but only just. The poem wasn’t meant to be ambiguous, so I couldn’t fault the participant for the statement. But it… Read More Ambiguity in Poetry
My latest poem, Veterans Day at the Wall, is live on Philadelphia Stories. Check it out here. It’s my first published poem, which is a thrill for me. It’s also a bit of a rude awakening — people will now critique it. Openly. It’s started already. What’s interesting is that every critique is different. Each person… Read More Interpretations and the Poet
I just received some exciting news: one of my poems will be published in the winter issue of Philadelphia Stories! I’ll put up a link whenever it goes live. The news led to an interesting dilemma — I had to withdraw the poem from consideration to the few places I’d sent it. Luckily, I’d kept track of where I’d… Read More The Simultaneous Submission
Poet Under Construction 