Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent! (In the Western churches, that is!) Now begins the season of penance — of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. This Lent, I’m doing a few personal penances, including a fast from Facebook (so you won’t see me there, except perhaps for a Sunday post-share). On top of … Read more
So this spring — to my great excitement and gratitude — I’ve been allowed to sit in on a graduate seminar on translation theory and practice. (EEEEE!) For this week, as a practical exercise, we were to translate a brief Spanish-language poem (actually, a single stanza from a much longer Spanish poem) into English or … Read more
It’s back! Last June, I posted a draft of “The Lime-and-Tequila Love Song” as a revision exercise. The idea was to see what different poets would do with a single rough draft … and to give you an exercise in creativity and voice. I was really excited about the response, so we’re back for another round. Like … Read more
All right, folks, autumn is in full swing (FINALLY!) and I’m back to writing poems. Which means I’m also back to bugging y’all with prompts to get you writing, too. 🙂 Today’s prompt comes from a brief discussion I had over at deviantART about short poetry. I tend to prefer medium-length to long-form poetry, and I’m … Read more
Let’s do a little experiment. I’ll present you a poem — one of my 100 Themes poems, to be exact — in unpolished form. You take that draft, rewrite it according to your own style and creative fancies, and post it below (in the comments). Sounds a little awkward, perhaps, but bear with me. What … Read more