There comes a time in a woman’s life where she has to let go of long-held goals and finally to admit she’s never going get into grooming or have a wardrobe that’s pulled together. The same goes for an elf. For a long time I’ve wanted to make this blog more polished. Someday […]
MoreFor My Daughter by Grace Paley I wanted to bring her a chalice or maybe a cup of love or cool water I wanted to sit beside her as she rested after the long day I wanted to adjure commend admonish saying don’t do that […]
MoreIf I resist fussing with radio stations, I find long drives conducive to reflection and analysis. Last week I drove back to Michigan after visiting my mother in Maryland, and this excerpt from Carl Dennis’ “Last Interview” was something to chew on (along with my french fries and roasted almonds). I left it at […]
MoreThanksgiving, the kids come home and I rejoice because at last I can delegate again. Delegation, one of the perks of parenthood. Delegation, how the napkins get ironed, wood hauled, dishwasher emptied, onions sliced, chairs moved, table set, chaos ordered. Delegation, essential to any host whose hands are covered in butter and turkey bacteria. And a […]
MoreA controversial study just released by a group of historical linguists proposes that twenty-three words still in use today have survived mostly unchanged from the end of the last ice age. Using statistics, the researchers have tried to prove that these 15,000-year old “ultraconserved” words come from one mother tongue. That language, which they […]
MoreA dear friend gave me this elf for my birthday. Nothing better than a gift you didn’t know you wanted, a gift that makes you feel that someone has studied you, understood you and desired to please you. I’m delighted with this felted fellow! I see hours of amusement ahead with his pose-able body and […]
MoreI Have News for You by Tony Hoagland There are people who do not see a broken playground swing as a symbol of ruined childhood and there are people who don’t interpret the behavior of a fly in a motel room as a mocking representation of their thought process. There are people who don’t walk […]
MoreCome, Let Us Find by William Henry Davies Come, let us find a cottage, love, That’s green for half a mile around; To laugh at every grumbling bee, Whose sweetest blossom’s not yet found. Where many a bird shall sing for you, And in your garden build its nest: They’ll sing for you […]
MoreAncestors by Angus Martin All these people at my back, watching me—out there— people clothed in animal skins and others only in body hair, – half animals themselves, poking me with sticks in the soft parts of my unconscious, startling me with sudden mad cries and eliciting responses – that escape my knowledge […]
MoreDespite good intentions (isn’t this always the way), I didn’t get much done on PoemElf during the month of August. Vacation and sloth kept me away from the computer, and then the fall, spinal cord injury, massive infection and passing of my dear father-in-law. I loved him so much. On returning from his funeral, I […]
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