poem – Laux 9.9.2021

On the Edge by Dorianne Laux After your mother dies, you will learn to liveon the edge of life, to brace yourselflike she did, one hand on the dashboard,the other gripping your purse while you drivethrough the stop sign, shoulders tense,eyes clamped shut, waiting for the collisionthat doesn't come. You will learnto stay up all …

poem – Wellwood 5.6.2021

 The Dakini Speaks by Joyce Wellwood My friends, let's grow up. Let's stop pretending we don't know the deal here. Or if we truly haven't noticed, let's wake up and notice. Look: Everything that can be lost, will be lost. It's simple - how could we have missed it for so long? Let's grieve our …

prose – Erdrich 3.11.2021

“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. …

annual donating in 2020, and a poem 12.31.2020

This year, in keeping with my desire to "give back" by donating a portion of my art sales to charitable organizations, I'm donating to the Madison School & Recreation pottery program. Their mission statement is "MSCR will enhance the quality of life for individuals in the Madison Metropolitan School District and for the community by …

poem – Oliver 12.17.2020

Walking Home from Oak-Head By Mary Oliver There is somethingabout the snow-laden skyin winterin the late afternoon that brings to the heart elationand the lovely meaninglessnessof time.Whenever I get home - whenever - somebody loves me there.MeanwhileI stand in the same dark peaceas any pine tree, or wander on slowlylike the still unhurried wind,waiting,as for …

poem – Eliot 9.24.2020

Wait Without Hope By T.S. Eliot I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hopeFor hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faithBut the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.Wait without thought, …

poem – Harrison 8.13.2020

Death Again by Jim Harrison Let's not get romantic or dismal about death.Indeed it's our most unique act along with birth.We must think of it as cooking breakfast,it's that ordinary. Break two eggs into a bowlor break a bowl into two eggs. Slip into a coffinafter the fluids have been drained, or better yet,slide into …

poem – Malloy

Epitaph by Merritt Malloy When I dieGive what’s left of me awayTo childrenAnd old men that wait to die.And if you need to cry,Cry for your brotherWalking the street beside you.And when you need me,Put your armsAround anyoneAnd give themWhat you need to give to me. I want to leave you something,Something betterThan wordsOr sounds. …

poem – Berry

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in your head. Not even your future will be a mystery any more. Your mind will be …

poem – Heeter 2.20.2020

Wild Grief by Chris Heeter Start up close and from the back side.Don’t reach for the long view yet.It’s too much to ask of your grieving heart. Look close up, to the silhouette of seed heads on Wild grass.Stand behind a sunflower, on the back side,where each extended petal glows with sunlight. When Wild grief …