In my last post, I described using Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” as a stylistic model for creating an original poem. In my Alchemy of Creative Writing workshop series at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, I challenged the participants to write a poem in this format using the holidays as… [Read More]
Eleven Ways of Looking at November
November can be the cruelest month, especially when the end of Daylight Savings Time plunges us suddenly into premature darkness. From then on, it’s a slippery downhill slope for many of us, straight through the holidays and into the New Year when we begin noticing the precious minutes of daylight that beat back the darkness… [Read More]
Sign up for my creative block-busting workshops and win a prize!
I’ll be facilitating two workshops at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy this November. There’s still time to register, and if you do, or if you get a friend to register, I’ve got a special prize for you. Read on to learn what you’ll win. But first, here are the workshop descriptions…. [Read More]
Patricia Stoltey’s long journey to publication
I’m delighted to welcome Patricia Stoltey as today’s guest blogger. Pat and I first met in 2009 on Dani Greer’s Blog-a-Day web site, and we reconnected recently on Facebook. Her story is a great illustration of my favorite maxim from the I Ching: Perseverance furthers. Four Things I’ve Learned About Writing Along the Way by… [Read More]
Everybody look what’s going down – Stills song still rings true
Last night I ushered for Stephen Stills and Judy Collins at The Egg, and I’m planning to blog about it, along with some ruminations about aging rockers and those who have left us recently. But just now I happened upon this post from six years ago, and I decided to republish it today. Last night “For… [Read More]
Sunny and 75: a poem about my cheery outlook on life
I wrote this poem nearly two months ago on the day before my 76th birthday, and I hadn’t read it again till last Wednesday night, when I performed it at the Troy Poetry Mission, a monthly open mic at O’Brien’s restaurant in Troy. In mid-reading, I thought Jeez, this is pretty good, so I decided… [Read More]