Anything but This Thing

So, updating this blog is clearly not a strong area of mine.  I even have it set as a reminder in my task management software, but compared to all the other things I have scheduled, it always seems the easiest to bump to another day.  With so many generative balls in the area lately, one that is summary-ish really doesn't feel like it comes in firs...

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“Midsummer Night” in Drip Literary Magazine

I had been planning to come here and grump about getting this site shaped up, and to complain about school assignments I don't like, and to vent about how frustrating it is to reformat your computer and have to reinstall everything and get all your files and settings just so again.  I could have whined about how just so far, this June is more wet, ...

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Weekend Workhorse

Sometimes it is the smallest thing that can cause a breakthrough. This weekend, I had a minor epiphany regarding a turn of phrase I had been struggling with for "Ophelius Arrested" and suddenly I was thrown into the creative effluvium vortex. As per my process, I got my chicken scratch version down.

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Progress in the Works

I thought I’d talk a bit about my process for crafting a new poem, since, well, I’m right in the middle of it. Nearly always, my poems begin with a nebulous thematic concept, or a particular word or phrase which I wish to feature, or both. Next, I settle on a form which will b...

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Fixed Form Poems

I've occasion to need a few new poems in relatively short time. I've found that when there is a time crunch, having the help of the rules of a fixed form help me reign in all the wild options that my brain immediately spins out of control with. Though sonnets, pantoums and villanelles are go-tos for me (I do love me a good Spenserian sonnet!), I wo...

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Outtake: Mindless

While working on Refraction Cycle, I wanted to include a variety of free-form and fixed-form poems, and while the rules of things like the Spenserian sonnet are second nature, things like the pantoum and villanelle took some practice. I've also learned that practicing and experimenting with the actual material I intend for the poem is what experts ...

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