Monthly Archives: November 2025

It feels like graduation day for a poem when it gets accepted for publication, when I get to move it from the “Ready for Submission” to “Published” folder on my laptop. This morning, I just did that for another poem, “Rooted,” one about my son. It will go live on my birthday over at PoetryContinue reading “Must be Santa, Must be Poems, Must be Lasagna! “

Word Raccoon was right about going to the café yesterday, just as right as she is that I should stay home today and write by the window in her new, comfy pink chair that I FINALLY put together. Anyway, Tuesday the manager asked me to sign copies of my books she’d bought online. 😀 ExcitingContinue reading “To the Tooth”

Now Listening to: “Love Shack” by the B-52’s Alternatively, “Paint it Black,” The Rolling Stones  Let me share some good news before Word Raccoon jumps in here. She’s not happy with me today.  I am pleased to report that Red Door Magazine out of Copenhagen is publishing my poem “Grecian Urn, Busted.” It had beenContinue reading “I See a Red Door (And I Painted It That Way) “

This morning, I huddled with my tea (in the Jane Austen mug, naturally) and the falling snow, all of us quietly keeping company. I’m not usually a snow person. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s beautiful. But cold means having to be indoors, away from my friend the sun, and snow is a visibleContinue reading “Dutch Ovens, Drawings, and More Poem Darlings”

It’s a rainy morning, which I don’t mind, not today, but Word Raccoon protests as if I control the weather. I’m placating her with classic Christmas music and our favorite umbrella. I tossed a pair of earrings into the bag before we left. I’m onto her. Just before walking out the door, I discovered ourContinue reading “Rain, Word Raccoon, and a “Ruefled” Morning”

I woke this morning knowing I’d turned a corner. Not loudly, not with a sunrise and a soundtrack, but the kind of quiet shift you almost miss unless you’re paying close attention. Grief is sneaky like that: one morning, your body remembers how to breathe before your mind does. Today, I feel lighter.  As ifContinue reading “And That is Everything, Word Raccoon Says”

The crockpot is filled with a pot roast and root vegetables. Rolls are waiting to be baked for when Barry’s bestie comes over this evening.  We have been prepping the house the past two days. It’s clean. (Not that it needed that much, but one task leads to another.) I am getting ready to meet aContinue reading “The Sound of Silence “

NOW PLAYING: The Christmas Song. Nat “King” Cole forever, duckies! Word Raccoon is pleased to announce that the issue of Suspended Magazine, Volume 3, that she has wriggled into is out today. My poem, “What Does a Poem Do When No One’s Watching?” is in it. WR says that technically, she’s the one doing thingsContinue reading “Word Raccoon Gets Suspended (In Print, Not From School)”