Back to school means back to more intentional work in my writer’s notebook. I’ve been sharing two or three different poems a day and writing alongside them with my students. Wislawa Szymborska’s “Possibilities” has been one particularly rich text to write beside. I’ve gotten the seeds for several possible pieces from this poem. But this…
This morning, I’m inspired by Terje’s celebration of her 1000th blog post and her suggestion to try “just because” slices: How about instead of deep thoughts and wise words, without looking for hidden meanings, we simply celebrate the slices of life as they are, the small and the big, the ordinary and the special, the…
I look forward to Tuesday mornings all week. Not only is Tuesday slicing day, so I know I have some wonderful blog posts to read and comment on, it’s also the day the new episode of my favorite podcast, What Should I Read Next, releases. In today’s episode, Anne Bogel talks to Will Schwalbe, author…
This month, I’m tagging along with Christie, Margaret, Jone, Mary Lee, and other writers to play with poetry for National Poetry Writing Month. I’ll be creating poems using haikubes, metaphor dice, magnet poetry, paint chips and anything else that catches my fancy. Today, I’m playing with metaphor dice. your mother is a last-minute thunderstormclouds gather low on the horizonbuild before…
This month, I’m tagging along with Christie, Margaret, Jone, Mary Lee, and other writers to play with poetry. I’ll be using haikubes, metaphor dice, magnet poetry, blackout poetry, spine poetry, found poetry, and anything else that catches my fancy, including paint chips! Lion’s Slumber Cat rests in the early morning sunSeeks warm gold in the…
Slowly . . . long pauses between each word Curiously . . . I wonder, why, how come, what if Tentatively . . . not sure if an idea will work out Badly . . . knowing it can be revised Eagerly . . . words spill faster than I can capture them Determinedly .…
Today’s slice is inspired by Ramona at Pleasures from the Page, who generated a poem-list of “those words that hook me every time.” Here’s my own list of the words that always make me click to read a slice. catskittensfur babiesfurry friendsferalfelinedogs too bookslibrariesreadingrereadingteaching readingspine poetry writer’s notebookwriting routinewriting processwriter’s blockwriting reflectionteaching writingwrite cakecoffeecookiesdessertpastrysweets mapsroad…
Today I’m borrowing a format from Aggie Kesler. I am an early riser who loves a quiet hour (or three) alone in the morning. I keep buying more books, even though I already own more books than I can possibly read in my lifetime–even if I live to be quite old. I wish I could…
A few days ago, Judy K wrote an open letter to the Slicing community asking what she was doing wrong in her writing: for eight days straight, she hadn’t received a single comment on her slices! Since her letter went Slice-version-of-viral, she’s received many comments, on that post and others. She even wrote a grateful…
I had a found hour between getting home from work and needing to get on a video conference call. I knew immediately what I would do with my time. Read. A book I had requested through interlibrary loan arrived that day, and I am always eager to start the shiny new book. 3:35. Sit down…
the dirigible plum 