… he liked the country undecorated, hard, and stripped of its finery.—Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows he liked ithard as ironwoodno medals pinned to its chestno stars and stripesor fancy ribbons tohide its true naturean eagle stripped ofarrows and olive branchessoars high abovethe shifting windsof freedomto see more clearlyall the peaks and valleysof […]
The spadefoot always knowsthe day it will break. No time to stay below,the desert awakes. Feel the thunder’s hammer throw,your long thirst to slake. Hear the clattering crescendo—no short-lived, sprinkly fake. Arise with the riotous outflow,the world is a lake. Bask in the sunset’s afterglow and sing for the lives at stake. From my new
When the Rain Comes Read More »
Though yesterday was World Environment Day, I believe every day should be environment day. What could be more important than this precious earth we live on? So here is a little cento from my latest collection of ecopoems, Watch Us Burn: Poems for a Lost Earth (Kelsay Books). Ecopoems are scientifically based poems that emphasize
Despite the title of my new ecopoetry collection, it is not all doom and despair. There is beauty and wonder. And hope. In her inspiring collection of essays, Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit describes despair as a trap that gets you off the hook. “If the world is totally doomed no matter what, little
The Beauty and the Sorrow Read More »
You may have heard the term “ecopoetry” and wondered what the heck is that. So what exactly is an ecopoem? A relatively new term with no precise definition, still evolving like life itself; but in general an ecopoem shares certain traits: 1.) Tends to be eco-centered rather than anthropocentric 2.) A nature poem that has
I am the Earth: Ecopoetry Workshop Read More »
One of the poems in my new collection, Watch Us Burn: Poems for a Lost Earth. Ever since I moved to this beautiful desert city, I have struggled to put into words the fierce and strange attraction this place wields over me. But with the help of these poets and this venerable poetic form I
Thirst is All I Know Read More »
The title poem from my new collection, Watch Us Burn: Poems for a Lost Earth, just published by Kelsay Books (https://kelsaybooks.com/products/watch-us-burn-poems-for-a-lost-earth). The lines of this cento in order of appearance are by: Theodore Roethke, Elizabeth Bishop, Anne Waldeman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Margaret Atwood, Alberto Rios, Jane Hirshfield, W.H. Auden, T.S. Eliot, Rafael Campo, Carl
Watch Us Burn Video Read More »
I am excited to announce that my sixth poetry collection and my first book of ecopoems has just been published by Kelsay Books. Nature and the environment have always been a central concern of mine, and I thought it high time to speak up against the unprecedented destruction of this great web of life. Muscogee
Watch Us Burn: Poems for a Lost Earth Read More »
Before I became a poet, I wrote and published children’s stories. I have always loved this quote from Henry David Thoreau that inspired my story “No Time.” Though Thoreau did write poetry, he was much better known for his other writings. But in many ways the life he expressed was one long poem that continues
I will be sharing the stage with my friend and fellow poet Sandra Luber at the next TAPS meeting on Saturday March 21, which has been rescheduled from March 28 due to the No Kings March. I will be reading some of the poems from my new collection Watch us Burn: Poems for a Lost