My career is a beach bucket with a hole losing sand.
Chéri
The 2009 movie Chéri was based on two novels written by Colette: Chéri and The Last of Chéri. In my early twenties, I loved them for the descriptions of yearning, of love left unfulfilled. Chéri as Colette described him had mannerisms similar to those of one I yearned for–the way he ate, or rather, didn’t eat, the way he…
Self-discovery
Just recently, I’ve been able to read and critique poems with greater insight. In workshops, I was always full of praise. Everyone’s poems were so accomplished. I held poetic gems in my hands and felt nothing but awe. During critique, others would point to diction shifts, the need for stronger verbs, an adverb, or three,…
Buying Books
When I retired from the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc, I became ineligible to use the statewide UW libraries’ resource-sharing service. I like poetry, memoirs, and sometimes essays and novels. My kind of literature is published by small presses, or with a small press run, something out-of-print but not out of copyright, something that has too low…
Diary vs. Blog
August Müller (1836–1885), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons I’m not much for blogging. The diary wins this competition. First thing in the morning I sit on a couch that faces east while my hand moves across the page. Blogging is “better,” in the sense that…