Category Archives: Writing

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)”

Now Playing: Not Christmas music! Two more days! I’m going to be maudlin, because I need to be. Word Raccoon says go right ahead and is standing by with a frown and a shaken bottle of Coke Zero to spray at anyone who complains. Today, I threw away the last of the condolence flowers. IContinue reading “Another One”

Now Playing: The Great Remember by Steep Canyon Rangers  Word Raccoon and I have been flirting with a cold. She insists we’ve dodged it, though I still sense some passive-aggressive sniffling. Last night, while we were curled up and theoretically resting, she sprang up from her seat and demanded we record “You Know, You’ve BeenContinue reading “Bib Overalls, Christmas Trees, and I Read a Poem (NOT in That Order)”

Word Raccoon, my writing persona, has news. The good kind. My poem “So Much Depended” will be published in Moonstone Arts Center’s upcoming anthology Remembering Ezra Pound. We’re so excited! I’ve been, like many others, transfixed by William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow,” that Imagist gem of a poem that you can’t unsee. That wheelbarrow.Continue reading “So Much Depended on a Literary Friendship”

Word Raccoon says she wants a “Start Over, But Make It All Hank Green” button on YouTube.Actually, no.  She wants a “Make It All Green Brothers” button. Because YouTube is starving us. As if insomnia isn’t bad enough, it’s trying to cure it with: What we want in our YouTube feed is: Hank Green explainingContinue reading “Word Raccoon Wants a Green Brothers YouTube Algorithm Button and She Wants It NOW!”