Category Archives: Uncategorized

Riding the elevator downto the basement, the universitymusic professor warns that it mightfeel a little creepy down there. Though I spent time with bandsand percussion instruments in thisbuilding more than a half century ago,I’ve not been in its bowels. But … Continue reading →

but it’s still a chair,reads the sign tapedto one of the blue ones at the poetry center,the message a poem itself,though maybe more a koan, which I doubt someonemeant it to be, thoughyou never know— poetry found everywhere,after all, especiallyduring … Continue reading →

Words aren’t coming—no big dealif you write or not, doesn’t matteron this blustery, rainy day. And then something nudges youto stuff your stubborn feet into purplerubber boots, don the rain jacket and hat, consider, then discard,the idea of umbrella as … Continue reading →

We sometimes think that stunningend-of-day skies happen onlyat the edges of the Earth, ideally standing on a spit of landor sand by the ocean, wheresome unseen hands watercolor the heavens. But then we stepoutside wherever we happen to be,take in … Continue reading →

We must admit there will be music despite everything.—poet Jack Gilbert from “A Brief for the Defense” In my case, the sharp sounds of mallets hitting metal,practicing the bells solo to “Stars and Stripes Forever,” which I haven’t performed in … Continue reading →

Now that I’m officially one of the young-old,as one of my old-old friends has dubbed me, I have been made aware that I have a fondnessfor certain citizens of gardens that are, apparently to many, old lady plants. They seemto … Continue reading →

(for Sue Reynolds, my mentor in mint) Now the new babies are sleeping,tucked into their compost-linedcribs in the front yard, though with time they will creep, as babiesdo, before they leap into energeticgrowth. But for now, the geum and poppies, … Continue reading →

(For the Artemis II astronauts who looped around the moon onApril 6, 2026, the first humans to do so in more than a half century.) It must be, I imagine, likecatching a glimpse of someoneyou have a crush on, or … Continue reading →

Be kind… It feels good The license plate ahead of mesuggests on Easter morning,having just come from a labyrinth walk at churchwhere, as I circled the perimeter,holding space for the walkers, I could not keep from smiling,watching the faces of … Continue reading →

And in the pouring, somehow a blessing.And in the pounding of my heart, somehow a blessing.And in the gaps, somehow a blessing that gathers itselfeven now, that has been gathering itself for ages,that will never stop. —Jan Richardson ••• And … Continue reading →