Category Archives: Writing

📡 Welcome to Poetropolis

🌀 Now Playing “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” by Florence + The Machine “There can be no understanding between the hand and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator.” —Metropolis (1927) Back in Service. You’ve entered a place where poetry isn’t distributed by algorithm or approval, but by intuition, accident, and emotional voltage. AsContinue reading “📡 Welcome to Poetropolis”

All In (Except When I’m Not)

Now Playing: Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance(or fine, “How Deep is Your Love” if you’re feeling unironically tender—Word Raccoon sees you.) Subtitle: In which Word Raccoon wears earrings, opens the door, and questions your life philosophy with snacks. Hi, Word Raccoon here.Let me start with a poem, one of my mostContinue reading “All In (Except When I’m Not)”

My Novel Is Like a Weary Mattress (And So Am I) Or, the Literary Powers of Love

Now Playing: The sound of the fan overhead. Because I’m too tired for anything else. Look, I know what you’re thinking. But this isn’t that kind of blog. I’m just saying: my novel is big, hard to maneuver, and no matter how I position it, it never quite fits where I think it’s going toContinue reading “My Novel Is Like a Weary Mattress (And So Am I) Or, the Literary Powers of Love”

I Keep Leaving My Novel in the Uber

(Now Playing: “Here You Come Again” by Dolly Parton) I tried singing the karaoke version the other night and had completely forgotten it spans three keys. I’ve got a decent range, but good golly, Ms. Dolly. Word Raccoon, in the background, was fanning herself with a taco shell and whisper-sobbing, “Modulation is emotional warfare.” IContinue reading “I Keep Leaving My Novel in the Uber”

I’m Longing to Linger ‘Til Dawn, Dear (Word Raccoon Got the Rizz!)

Now Playing: “Dream a Little Dream of Me”(Yes, I sang it last night. All heart, zero shame.) Reporting live from the bunker where the Busted Poetry Vending Machine sits flickering, refusing to dispense anything but metaphorical lint and fragments of verse. Word Raccoon’s tried shaking it, threatening it with a ballpoint pen, and bribing itContinue reading “I’m Longing to Linger ‘Til Dawn, Dear (Word Raccoon Got the Rizz!)”

From the Forgotten Drawer: Looking for Virginia

Originally published in Woolfzine (2017) Now Playing: Virginia Woolf by Robyn Hitchcock (I heard him do it live. Snaps.) I wrote Looking for Virginia back in 2007 for a creative writing class. For a long time, I wasn’t sure what I’d made, only that it felt sharp and strange and necessary. No one saw itContinue reading “From the Forgotten Drawer: Looking for Virginia”

Head Butted by Submission Season

Now Playing: Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey Morning, Lovelies! I’ve been perfectly pretentious and submitting my rear off. Word Raccoon has been cracking the whip while I do her grunt work: organizing the precious word-hoard. And TBH? I HATE admin work. So I slinked over to Submittable, and what do I find? A whole flurryContinue reading “Head Butted by Submission Season”

Because We Can, Can, Can

Now Playing: Music from Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! I’ve found a recipe that works for me, though it’s not supper—sorry to subvert your expectations so early in.It’s about writing. What else? LOL. Act I: The Writing Recipe Start working on a poem, song lyrics, a short story—whatever—when your heart is good and aching (you don’tContinue reading “Because We Can, Can, Can”

Pink Sunglasses, Poetry, and Other Strays

Now Playing: “Kiss Me” – Sixpence None the Richer I forgot how much I love this one. The video’s a soft homage to Jules et Jim—Truffaut’s bittersweet tale of art and longing. I couldn’t skip it! Poetry and I Might Be at a Crossroads After a wild, exhilarating couple of weeks, poetry and I are…Continue reading “Pink Sunglasses, Poetry, and Other Strays”