I Talk Shit To Myself (and maybe you should too)

I would lie and blame it on hypnotherapy. But it happened way before that. I'm a domestic under pressure.  Stressed?  I iron.  Stalling to avoid some perceived craziness (like going to work)?  Scrub the tub and wash the dishes.  Company not coming (like ever)?  Purge the place with incense and dust the baseboards. So it [...]

The Poet President

These are from the Spring 1981 edition of Feast, a biannual literary magazine of Occidental College writers.  Not bad, B, not bad.

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Colin Nissan WRITE EVERY DAY Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of [...]

Not a Metaphor To Your Name

Entry May 11 Some see you in similies... But I see you best unrelated...with not a metaphor to your name: your hair not like the silk of corn or spiders but like your hair, your mouth resembling nothing so wonderfully much as your mouth. Why should I say you are like a slender water bird [...]

Notes on Now

1.  If you were around in 1989 when Big Daddy Kane was rocking a high top fade (with that blonde streak), you should not be rocking one NOW--unless you were going for the Old Player look. 2.  If you bought and sewed in your weave  in August, NOW is a good time to brush it--unless [...]

‘Bout to be epic

When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.  (Audre Lorde said it) It's gonna be epic, and I'm looking forward to it. (I said it)

Monthly Meter: September

fellowship/publication submissions: 9 fellowship/publication acceptances: 1 fellowship/publication rejections: 4 books: The Art of the Poetic Line - James Longenbach The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz Secret Shame: Diana's Bananas--they look a little lewd (or maybe that's just my Freudian foolishness) but they taste so good! And my dingy truck--when did I become one of [...]

The Girl That Won’t and the Girl That Will

Yesterday I stopped by my favorite gyro joint.  The joint is in a fairly congested shopping district; yesterday's beautiful weather was cause for more than the usual congestion but I felt prepared, had put my claustrophobia in check long enough to score some late lunch. I was barely 2 steps out the door with my [...]

The Hardest Words To Write

the straight up ones, the yeah I said it ones, the ones without metaphor, simile, allusion, or affectation; the ones that tattle; the least lyrical; the crybaby ones; the soft ones are always hardest. the up too late, drank too much, won’t sleep ones; damn did I really ones;  the never meant to and if [...]

The Elegant President by Julian Gough

" I was fascinated by Mitt Romney's honest and thoughtful words in the recent video filmed at a $50,000-a-plate dinner for his donors. And I was sad to hear him say yesterday that he thought he could have expressed himself in a more elegant way.  There is nothing more elegant than verse, and so I [...]