A blinding snow squall whipped through upstate New York this afternoon, followed by a precipitous drop in temperature. The temperature’s already below zero here at Snyders Lake, and it promises to plunge even further before dawn. I was planning to go to an open mic in Troy tonight, but I couldn’t bear the thought of… [Read More]
RED ALERT–a poem for the gloom-and-doom folks who think America’s never had it worse
I vowed that after the election, I’d stop writing about politics, but I’m afraid that’s a promise I’ll inevitably break. Last week I wrote this poem to read at the open mic at New World Home Cooking in Saugerties. The reading featured Therese Broderick and Alifair Skebe, both reading from their excellent new books, which… [Read More]
Slump-A-Dump: Rapping my way through a creative block
Writing as everyday spiritual practice was the topic of one of my recent blog posts, but writing mindfully and staying in the present moment is a lot more difficult than it might seem. Since I’ve been feeling creatively blocked lately, I decided to follow my own advice, switch genres and write a poem about my… [Read More]
Country concert distilled as poem
Sometimes a poem’s the best way to capture the essence of an experience. Case in point: my excursion yesterday to “Country Throwdown,” a marathon country music concert in Saratoga Springs with many bands, including Montgomery Gentry, Jack Ingram, Jamey Johnson and Little Big Town. There was lots of excellent music, but maybe it’s time to… [Read More]
Blogging trumps poetry: I’m so much cooler online
Tonight I’ll be reading my poetry at the Albany Word Fest, an annual event that’s a virtual orgy of the spoken word. I thought I should come up with at least one new poem for the event, but instead I came up with a severe case of writer’s block. I managed to confront it in… [Read More]
Seven reasons I love writing poetry
Writing poetry is a wonderful way to jumpstart your creativity and hone your writing skills. A decade ago, I wouldn’t have dared write this sentence, much less declare myself a poet, but now I have no qualms about it. After all, who decides who’s a poet and who isn’t? Danged if I know. I’ve written… [Read More]