Tornadoes were the weather danger where I grew up. Illinois’ flat country is like that perfectly made bed that your dog just has to mess up—irresistible to tornadoes. When the sky turned […]
Some Thoughts on the Weather
Announcing the publication of There’s No Wrong Way: 44 Meditations
The Gloria Sirens are happy to announce the first book from TGS Publications: There’s No Wrong Way: 44 Meditations, by yours truly, Katie (Katherine) Riegel. Like most of my posts, the book is […]
Memphis, TN: Ninety-three Percent
My 2017 eclipse day had two breaks in the clouds, during which my husband and I watched the sun with a bite taken out of it through our eclipse glasses. The best […]
On the Need for Solitude
I sometimes think I never wanted kids because, somewhere in the pre-teen core of me, I knew I was a person whose need for solitude was great. Feeling guilty about wanting to […]
A Quiet Passion
I saw A Quiet Passion, the 2017 movie about Emily Dickinson (directed by Terence Davies, starring Cynthia Nixon) this month. I’m not a movie critic, but I am a poet and a […]
An informal review of Matt Haig’s book _Reasons to Stay Alive_
So I finally got around to reading Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive. I follow him on Twitter, and a friend sent me a couple of quotes from him at important moments. […]
Why I Can’t Just Turn Off the News
“Tell everyone on this train I love them.” —Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23 I want to turn off the news. As someone who struggles with depression and anxiety, I need to turn […]
Moving: A Photo Essay
The Problem of Suffering
I’ve been concerned about suffering since I was eight, and I went to a friend’s Baptist church with her. They had fun games about remembering things from the Bible, and—always the showoff […]
Sirens Redux: Five Reasons to Kiss My Gynecologist
Sometimes you read something you wrote four years ago and think, “I wrote that? And I published it?” Well, honey, (as they say here in the mid-South)—yes, yes I did. It was […]