So often what keeps us from showing up fully for our creative work is fear. What kind of writer would I be if I had been bolder, sooner? I was ... Read more

I’ve been memorizing “The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock” for a few weeks now, a little each morning while I do stretches and sit-ups and brew the coffee. I’ve ... Read more

I pulled a blackberry off a vine while on a walk, popped it in my mouth. The nickel-sized berry was so ripe, it melted on my tongue. The taste right ... Read more

This past month, I learned how to draw a trillium bloom. I followed the directions in Pacific Northwest Line Drawingand have been practicing it over and over. It never quite ... Read more

The title of this month’s newsletter comes from the Philip Larkin poem “Trees”. When I read it, I gasped and knew it was the found line I’d been wanting for ... Read more

I wrote thirty poems in April. Though I’m not sure how I found the time, those moments of concentration on language, emotion, and image were the tow rope that pulled ... Read more

Productivity. Effectiveness. Organization. All things our culture places too much value on. I don’t have to tell you it has something to do with money. It’s why we’re now all ... Read more

Let me admit something. I’ve barely written a word, going on three weeks. I fixed the shifting tense in a chapter. I dashed out a couple of okay poems. Mostly, ... Read more

Feb 08, 2026 Every project teaches you how it wants to be written. That’s been my experience, anyway. Just like good books teach you how to read them. If you’re ... Read more