It’s so important for us to see ourselves named and reflected, our experience named and reflected, before we can quite know what it is.~Ellen Bass This post by Lynne Jensen Lampe (link below) deftly reminds us of the importance of a community of trusted readers in the life of a poet/writer. These people can appear …
ND Poet Laureate — 1995 until his death April 28, 2022 While much has been and will be said about this remarkable poet/writer, his ability to be intensely present will be his legacy for me – and a personal reminder to carry that forward in my life. He gave 100% of himself to the conversation …
Like many of you, I’ve been reading a lot more lately including some books that have languished in the procrastination pile. One goal has been to read and study one of Shakespeare’s Sonnets a day. They are too rich a diet to ingest more than that especially if one wants to understand them in their …
I’ve added a new poem (Ideal Audience) to the post Favorite Poems by Kay Ryan. Check it out by scrolling in my BREADCRUMBS tab or click this link: https://bonniestaiger.com/2018/12/04/1104/ And if you haven’t read her new book, Synthesizing Gravity, it’s excellent.
North Dakota Quarterly https://ndquarterly.org/2019/10/03/issue-86-3-4-table-of-contents/ What a stellar volume this upcoming issue of the NDQ will be and it includes a poem of mine, When the Water Recedes. Check it out and subscribe. NDQ is a literary and public humanities journal whose roots extend back to the early days of the University of North Dakota. One of the …
Seraphim in Snow Neither starshine nor moonlight. Instead, snow shine wraps me in diamond dust at midnight’s hour. Clouds cling to the earth, yet a thousand celestial luminaria light this solstice night. In the yard a host of snow angels pressed everywhere. No sounds, no footfalls. No crinkle of crenelated wings. © Published in Destiny …
I restrained myself to 3 of her poems. Not an easy constraint because I could have easily included many more—her work is that inspiring. It is grounded, tactile, and rich in imagery. The Moose inspired my poem, Shuttle to Rockport by the Sea. She said it took her 20 years to write and finish that …
In the noise and busyness of life, here are a few from Kay Ryan, who boasted about living a quiet life and having a blank history. She says, “My poems talk about that palpable silence – a creamy, latexy kind of silence, that when we’re experiencing it, is as a dream luxury.” And this quote …
Amherst June 2017 Gentle Reader: I’ve been asked to tell about my pilgrimage to Amherst but I had to put that aside until I got a good start on the poems which immediately percolated from that seminal experience. Frankly, I also had to let the emotions subside so I wouldn’t blather on about it here. …
Gentle Reader: Yesterday, I spent a fair amount of time re-centering myself after several weeks of work-related busyness which left me out of sorts and, frankly, cranky. That kind of hubbub was my norm for so many years that I’ve needed time to shift my focus and reprioritize my time. The first step came about …
Gentle Reader: A recent conversation with a fellow writer has prompted me to give thought to what I might do with my time if I were to achieve a better balance in my life. What occurs to me, in the context of an alternate use of time and inclination is that I would like to write …
Gentle Reader: The annual List of Banished Words— a release by Lake Superior State University—has caught my attention again. Fortunately, normal people can take consolation that much of the blame for this year’s list goes to politicians and the news media. For the rest of us, the advent of texting, instant messaging, and Facebook has …
Bonnie Larson Staiger 