Author Archives: Drema Drudge

This morning I asked Word Raccoon to write a poem before reading anything much. I appealed to her intellect, which is often the antidote. To what, I’m not sure. She wrote a decent draft. But honestly, she’d like to feel inspired. She reminded me that asking her to write a poem a day (or submit,Continue reading “Chocolate-Covered Almonds and Existential Dread”

Dear Reader, Word Raccoon has reached peak poetry fatigue. It is, of course, National Poetry Month. TBH, I think it’s that she doesn’t like the bossiness of the month. Sure, fine she has signed up for ONE challenge! She has agreed to do something towards poetry every day this month. Which she probably would do,Continue reading “Poetry and Peanuts”

Dear Reader, How is it after six p.m. already? Other than a few chores, cooking lunch and supper, and one tiny notebook poem, Word Raccoon has been doing nothing.  Okay, fine, not nothing: she was binge watching The Miniature Wife. What, it was fun, she says.  And, she’d like to point out that in theContinue reading ““Renewal” and Crispy Chicken Bowls “

Dear Reader, Word Raccoon is moping. She sat down to record in her spreadsheet recent responses to some poetry submissions, and all of them were no’s.  She knows this is how the game is played.  She knows we did not/do write just to be published. That’s not our main reason at all. But it givesContinue reading “Vetting with a Chance of Brownies”

     Dear Reader, Today (Friday; hello from the past) I made brownies and spaghetti. The brownies were from a box, but I added walnuts. Plenty of them, at Word Raccoon’s insistence. She said that made them “high protein,” and so demanded a couple for breakfast.  The spaghetti sauce was semi-homemade, which feels like the rightContinue reading “Walnut Brownies for Breakfast”

Now Playing: “How Deep is Your Love,” Bee Gees. Because I heard a track of their isolated vocals last night on YouTube and could not stop listening to it. They rule.  Dear Reader, Yesterday morning, this poem stopped in to say hello in response to something Word Raccoon read: Someone talked about her Marketing planContinue reading “Still in the Bones “

Dear Reader, I am not fooled by the momentary glimpse of the sun I am enjoying. A nearby tree’s leaves are folded inward, so we are not finished with this rain. I did see a squirrel enjoying a long drink of water from a puddle in the middle of the street. As I was studyingContinue reading “Word Raccoon Requests Paper”

Dear Reader, While I was sick, spring donned (will any other word do?) her frilly skirts. She has braided a crown of violets and dandelions, festooned the redbuds, and called for a dance. The grass still has its youthful bounce, not yet touched by time or mower. I don’t care if this is gushy andContinue reading “Look, Light”

Dear Reader, Today, the curtains are partly open and I just realized how dark it has been in here the past few days and how I haven’t minded. Astonishing. Word Raccoon and I have been down for the count with something, maybe the flu. A spring flu? Gross! We dragged our writing desk indoors today.Continue reading “Word Raccoon Requests More Coke Zero”

Dear Reader,  On Happier in Hollywood this week, host Liz Craft recommended a 2026 Oscar-winning short, The Singers, based on Ivan Turgenev’s eponymous short story, which is currently on Netflix. She said her mother has watched it six times already. (It’s only 18 minutes long.)  While this is a modern-day take on it, you’d benefitContinue reading “The Singers, Times Three”