Tag Archives: writing

The Serious Work of Play

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Please join me Friday, September 25 at the Broomfield Main Library for a reading of concrete poetry–which is also painted on the concrete in local parks and playgrounds!

The city of Bromfield commissioned “this unique public arts initiative [to} blend literary talent with visual design, embedding poetry directly into our community.” I am very grateful for the opportunity to participate. And I am happy to announce that my hopscotch poem, “The Serious Work of Play,” is ready to encourage all the hops, skips, and PLAY you might miss every day.

Details of the event are here: Concrete Poetry Reading and Reception

Other Upcoming Events

  • This Saturday, Sept 12 at Desiderata Ranch in Berthoud — Columbine Poets presents its annual Poets Fest, with a workshop and reading by New Mexico poet Scott Wiggerman. Registration is still open (and if you live far away, you can always attend by Zoom, like me). For more information go to: 2026 Columbine Poets Fest
  • Monday, Sept 21 at Hooked on Colfax in Denver –TwentyBellows Lit is hosting a farewell open mic before it ends all active programming. Come celebrate and say goodbye to this wonderful Colorado literary community. Thank you TwentyBellows Lit for publishing my work and the work of so many others.

    My Recent Publications
  • My poem “Assignment; Moon” is included in the 2027 We’Moon Daily Calendar, now available for order on the We’Moon Website
  • I also have three poems published in Filth, an anthology by Colorado’s own Stain’d Arts: Stain’d Magazine Volume IV
  • Two of my poems, “Cracking Open” and “Ungrounded,” were on display at the Ekphrantastic Art & Poetry Exhibit at the Longmont Firehouse. These poems were created in collaboration with painter Sarah Broers Brown. See her fantastic work at: Home | Sara L Broers Brown.
  • My poem “Swimming Beneath the Surface” was exhibited in Synergy, the Loveland Library’s Art and Poetry Exhibit. This piece was written in response to the painting “Sunkissed” by Linda Johnson.

And last but not least, a correction: if you received a newsletter from me yesterday, it was a (very, very) rough draft and not ready to be sent out. So sorry about that!

Happy Poetry Month!

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April is National Poetry Month—do you have any plans?
You could re-read an old favorite or peruse the poetry shelves at the library to find something new. You could attend an open mic or you could read to your family at your dining room table. You could enjoy a Shakespearean sonnet or laugh out loud at Shel Silverstein’s verse. Whatever brings a little poetry-joy into your life!

As I continue to recover from gallbladder surgery, I am happy to say that I will be at TWO readings in the near future. On April 15, I will be the Guest Bard at the Blue Water Poetry Zoom (email me for details if you are interested). And on May 19, I will be joining a group of talented writers at Mutiny Comics in support of Aspen Everett’s new book Tributaries. What a great read, I highly recommend it! In fact, I will share my official review:

Breath and heartbeat. Dry grasslands and fertile riverbanks. Birdsong and human voice. In Tributaries, Aspen Everett’s lyricism plunges us into these branches of more-than-human experience, immersing us in each heightened moment. And as we flow from page to page, our arbitrary divisions are washed away, leaving only interconnection. 
—Amy Wray Irish
author of Breathing Fire and Down to the Bone

However you choose to celebrate, thank you for continuing to support poetry.

Reading Invite & A Poem

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You are invited to an Open Mic and Reading on July 23rd, 7pm, where the focus will be on connection and healing. And in that vein, here is a poem I wrote on Mother’s Day. I hope you are able to give and receive some kindness today. And thank you for reading!

A Mother’s Gift

Wade knee-deep into the waves
with a leaky crate for a gift box.

Let sandy, grit-encrusted shells
emerge as water washes away.

Gather mussels cracking open,
their tongues a purple bruise within.

Harvest seaweed, dried and tide-twisted,
with bulbs still fleshy brown.

Let sea glass and tide-smooth stones
rattle like eggs in this nest.

Discover the joy in this gift
to you from a watery mother.

Let the ocean soak you
in its salty heart

as you bend and search, bend
and receive

Her love.

A Prize-Winning Poem

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Red Maple by Georgia O’Keeffe

Salvation

On Sunday
I went to church
at the river.

Where words of light
broke
the stained glass
water.

And the choir
of fall-crisp leaves
rose and fell.

Submerging me
in their sermon.
Their song
of death, rebirth.

Such rich currents.
Such holy wine.
Autumn, blessing

And blessed.
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I am also blessed to share the publications and organizations that have recently honored my work:

  • My poem “Salvation” was awarded first prize in a Minnesota State Poetry Society contest. MSPS also awarded an Honorable Mention to my full-length poetry collection Flowers and Bones in the John Rezmerski Memorial Manuscript Competition. Thank you, Minnesota!
  • Three of my poems were published in We are the West: Tributaries, the second annual print anthology of TwentyBellowLit.
  • My poem “Frying Pan, Fire” was published in print and online in Progenitor: Volume 58.
  • My poem “Crow Brothers” was awarded a first prize and published in Cadence, the annual publication of the Florida State Poets Association.
  • In 2023, my poetry was featured alongside art exhibits at the Lone Tree Arts Center and The Town of Windsor Museum.
  • Coming Soon: my poem “The Wilds after Winter” will be published in the annual publication of the Pennsylvania State Poetry Society.

I am also very grateful to everyone who turned out for my poetry workshops last year in Crestone, Ft Collins, and Denver. Thank you for continuing to support the Colorado poetry community!