One of the critiques of the environmental movement has been that it’s too much gloom and doom. The facts and statistics can be so depressing that people just turn off. It’s understandable […]
Rewilding
National Poetry Month 2021: One Poem to Love
…We’ll float,
you said. Afterward
we’ll float between two worlds—
five bronze beetles
stacked like spoons in one
peony blossom, drugged by lust:
if I came back as a bird
I’d remember that—
until everyone we love
is safe is what you said.
On Purpose: Work, Religion, and Community
I used to be a priest in the Church of Poetry. I had 60-80 parishioners per semester, mostly young people with varying dedication to Poetry. Some entered the classroom having only worshipped […]
Time to Redefine Ourselves
In a time unprecedented during the 50 plus years of my life, I am trying, again, to redefine myself. Or I am still trying to redefine myself, despite the pandemic and the […]
On Signs, and Politics, and Gardening
My husband and I live in Tennessee, on the edge of Memphis. One of our friends had a sign up in his yard, one of those that says, We believe: science is […]
The Best Things People Said to Me After My Sister Died
Ok, so my husband is the person who said–and says–most of these things to me. And no, people aren’t generally quite as specific or direct as this. But perhaps, if you know […]
VOTE
Vote for a woman. Vote for a person of color. Vote for a Democrat. Vote against fascism, corruption, cruelty, enriching the 1%, racism, sexism, science denying. Vote because your friends will be […]
How Can We Use Social Media Better?
During the Black Lives Matter protests immediately after the killing of George Floyd, I was posting much, much less on social media than I’m used to. Normally, I post at least once […]
The Love of Poetry
I’ve been reorganizing my poetry bookshelves, as one does during a pandemic, slowly sorting through books I’ve collected over the past thirty years. Most I sort by last name, slotting Barbara Ras […]
What She Said, May 12: Katherine Riegel
Our private and beautiful body parts/ should be renamed. There should be as many/ ways to describe them as there are seashells.
– Katherine Riegel
The Gloria Sirens 