Living and writing, learning and dreaming in Juneau, Alaska.
Filigrees of frost — then sun, between pleats of cloud, a softness that is somehow loud.
When I Zoom meet with my poet friend Wendy we often share things we’ve read and take some time to write. The following is inspired from Ron Paggett’s poem “How to Be Perfect”, found in Collected Poems 2013. This line in particular sparked interest: Keep Your Windows Clean. Keep Your Windows Clean The view is… Read More
The mind’s place is a terrain of contradictions. Favorable breezes ruffle a lush rolling landscape that shimmers with dew and blueberries and the sheen of spider silk. Verdant and severe in turns. Topographical layers of a country, both well-known and yet largely undiscovered. Glacial floes of ancestors scrub this interior landscape – linking me to… Read More
Books are time machines. Words are ink and energy fusion. What a great week: new pages written; familiar stories re-visited. The mind is a place. Well-worn paths and unmapped territory. Imagination’s color wheel is fired and fueled by the abundance of a summer evening. Mood and tenor of the tale defined by noir glimpses and… Read More
I time-travel, allowing moments to re-ignite. Writing a new world, I delve into the sensory zone of by-gone moments. Under spells of graphite and old slides. Faded photographs and flowers pressed between the pages of books. Summer wine decanted. The indelible yet elusive aspect of memory adds twist after twist in my newest story. Collecting,… Read More
The light of August seeps into paper, weaves into the forest as vibrant as ignited confetti. A crow perches on a high cedar and calls into the air, half- song, half-scathing commentary. In the still heat of summer, memory simmers and shines: an oasis created out of worn books, crumpled letters, and tree forts swaying… Read More
Inscribing a list keeps me on my toes. Basic rules when generating a list: go big, be expansive, accept failure as part of the equation, and always use a pencil with a good eraser! Categories: books read, books I’m longing to read, books that must be re-read. Destinations…hmm…possibilities Goals (this is where the eraser comes… Read More
Summer palette deepens. The road curves toward home, overgrown and dusty. Notebooks fill up like baskets full of dry and fragrant kindling. I watch as hummingbirds thrum by – feathered kinetic energy. Studying cloud wisps, I imagine myself reclining on a raft, bobbing through a distant August day. It is delightful to be in multiple… Read More
Reflections on a Pandemic Spring leading into Summer: “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley: In Search of America Opposites. In The Mahabharata there are many references to the pairing of opposites. Winter ends and spring begins. There are… Read More
“To observe attentively is to remember distinctly.” Edgar Allan Poe WINTER SHARDS My earliest memories are composed of winter shards. On frosty mornings, cradling a cup of coffee and gazing through ice rime on the window, I conjure a late winter. Within the internal reel of episodic memory I view slabs of ice that beach… Read More
Ice is unstable, unpredictable. A sheen of crystal can cause tires to spin out. The surface of a frozen lake can give way. On a cold Pacific Northwest day, wind chill kicks up a notch and I am reminded of past winters and higher latitudes. Today the Writer Elkhound’s keen eyes track crows half-flying, half-blown… Read More