Artists and art–Mine and others
Visiting with old friends (and all of us are getting older!) is one of life’s greatest pleasures. During my Lake County visit in Northern California I found refreshment and inspiration in over half dozen artists, writers, peace activists, and environmental visionaries. The usual Northern California mix. Lake County is three hours north of San Franciso…
I first met William Dawson in Mountainaire, New Mexico on August 2007 at the 10th annual Sunflower Festival. I performed my story “Big Butts Are Beautiful” complete with backup girl singers and drum. William has previously appeared on Riehlife several times. His most recent contribution is “River of Sadness.” Here are his thoughts on the…
I met Colleen McKee through a St. Louis poetry workshop “Loosely Identified.” Colleen, a St. Louisan, is the author of a collection of poetry, My Hot Little Tomato (Cherry Pie, 2007). She also co-edited Are We Feeling Better Yet? Women Speak About Health Care in America (PenUltimate, 2008). Her Riehlife Poem-of-the-Day “Natural Causes” originally appeared…
Last night I was among the appreciative audience for a grand poetry reading by Charles Sweetman and Walter Bargen. Funny and soulful they alternated in 15 minute sets keeping me by turns howling and riveted with the play of their minds. I confess this is not always so. Often, I’m just waiting for the brownies…
What is poetry? How do we read poetry? What distinguishes poetry from other forms of literature or art? Perhaps “more intense use of language– “higher voltage” per word (Perrine)? Here are two glimpses of Mary Oliver’s view of what poetry is: “The thoughtful machinery of the poem…” Mary Oliver’s introduction to Poetry, 1994 “If poetry…
I met David Lucas through the St. Louis Writers Guild. Recently, at the Missouri Writers Guild, he was a whirl of activity–making everything work as it should. David is a poet, genre writer, and blogger. His blogs show his multi-dimensional interests: writing, self-defense, and dating locations in and around St. Louis. Today on Riehlife he’s…
Women’s Memoirs runs part 2 of “Who Owns the Story?” as a writing prompt. Who Owns the Story? You’ve decided that yes, you’re going to do the scary thing. There in the mirror of the written page you’re going to expose yourself—warts be damned. Read on to find out what our really fun writing prompts…
In thinking about the sometimes fine line between poetry and prose, I appreciate William Stafford’s observation: A Certain Amount of Attention It occurs to me as I travel to campuses for readings that many of the people I meet have the feeling that there is a mechanical ability involved in the making of poetry. That,…
Robert Lee Brewer of Poetic Asides on Facebook writes: We’ve begun another poetic journey of a poem-a-day through the month of April over at the Poetic Asides blog. Read the poem-a-day guidelines here. The basics: I provide a prompt and sample poem each morning (Georgia, USA, time). Then, poets write their poems in response to…
I know the talented poet Laurie Wagner Buyer both from Women Writing the West and Story Circle Network. Laurie Wagner Buyer can be found at the website named after her, or Working Words Guide.–JGR ____________________ Finding Poetry in Everyday Life by Laurie Wagner Buyer We usually find what we look for. We always see things…