Walt Whitman When I Heard at the Close of the Day When I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv’d with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that follow’d; And else, when I carous’d, or when my plans were accomplish’d, still I [...]

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Leave it to NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac to put me in such a great mood at the end of a long  week (but productive–wrote fifteen more pages; am now into the 3rd chapter of my novel). Love this poem by Peter Meinke, so funny and strange. We all have a kooky uncle. Mine is my [...]

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This poem, sent to me by The Writer’s Almanac (list serv), really moved me: Fishing by Kate Scott Sam was a galunky kind of guy, my cousin says. He walked like this. He takes on a bow-legged swagger that makes us laugh. And boy, could he drink beer. He lifts his hand, tipping imaginary cans [...]

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Starting to get crazy busy. I’m at the top of the rollercoaster about to head down. I start teaching at two schools next week and am already teaching at one that started last week. And i’m writing a book. I’m scared. I’m exhilarated. Last night after teaching and then a three hour meeting I came [...]

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I’ve said before that i’m a huge fan of short-shorts. Stories that are just a couple or few pages long, or sometimes as small as a paragraph (Manuel Munoz is a master at this–read his incredible story “The Wooden Boat,” as well as Brady Udall’s “The Wig”). I also love narrative poetry, for the same [...]

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Congratulations Mark for winning the National Book Award for Poetry! (for Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems). I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mark Doty and his partner, writer Paul Lisicky a few times when we lived in NYC (Paul and I were in an anthology together and I was thrilled to read with [...]

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Happy Halloween! Oh, I wish I had this picture of me, age eight or nine, dressed as King Kong for Halloween, circa 1976 or 1977. It was soon after the 1970s remake of King Kong starring Jessica Lange. I was obsessed with the movie. But for some reason I wore the most terrible costume! It [...]

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from The Trouble With Poetry by Billy Collins But mostly poetry fills me with the urge to write poetry, to sit in the dark and wait for a little flame to appear at the tip of my pencil. How is it that Billy Collins knows just how I feel about writing?

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Sunday night I saw poet Billy Collins read at DG Wills in La Jolla. DG Wills is one of the tiniest bookstores i’ve ever seen; it has used books, first editions, and black and white photos of writers and celebrities on the walls (like an autographed pic of 1950s beefcake, Samson and Delilah star Victor [...]

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The gym has been great not only for my health and soon-to-be ripped-ness, but I’ve been catching up on NewYorkers left and right. I finally read the wonderful piece on Frank O’Hara’s writing by Dan Chiasson from April 7. (photo from TheNewyorker.com) I’ve been a fan of Frank O’Hara for some years now, ever since [...]

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