May.
14
2020
My poem “The Owl Hour” appeared this month in Rockvale Review Issue 6. This beautiful online journal pairs each poem with a piece of art. Four of the poems, including mine, were chosen by flutist and composer Michael Morton, to be interpreted in an original composition. The poignant, breathy flute seems perfect to go with this poem that is driven primarily by a memory of sound.
My poem is one of my earliest memories of my father who passed away when I was 10. A WWII veteran, he had started his own construction company and worked passionately so he wasn’t home much and I have a very few memories of intimate moments with him. But the Owl Hour is one of them. A fainting hooting at dusk always reminds me of him.
Shelley Thomas provided the ‘velvet’ as she describes it, art to go with my poem. I love that both artist and musician describe how the poem called their artistic expressions. I find it particularly thrilling when the Arts come together to create a wider and deeper moment.
Thank you so much to editor Sandy Coomer for producing this wonderful journal. You can read, see and hear my poem and the other wonderful work by going to www.rockdalereview.com. Click on Issues, then Issue 6. Scroll down and click on the artwork and the poem appears.
May.
06
2020
My poem “When Grief is Animal” has been selected as one of 4 Honorable Mentions in this year’s Robinson Jeffers Tor House competition. The judge was Marie Howe, one of my favorite poets, and it is so exciting to think that she read and reacted to my poem. Robinson Jeffers is very important to us since we have a beautiful collection of his work. My father-in-law had dreamed of opening a used book store when he retired so had collected certain writers for years. He never opened the book store, but enjoyed the books nonetheless. When he passed away we inherited the Jeffers while Jim’s brother got Zane Grey. We have about 6 first editions and three signed copies. One of the trips we plan on taking once the quarantine is over is to Monterey to visit Tor House in person. There are certain places sacred to the Arts and I believe it is one of them. You are learn more about it and also read my poem and the wonderful other winners at www.torhouse.org and then click on Prize Poems.
Apr.
23
2020
My Poems “Forbidden Beach,” “Apology to a Mill Town,” and “Polymer Scavenger” have been published by the online journal The RavensPerch. Readers can go to theravensperch.com and scroll down the right hand side of the page to Poetry. Click there and find my poems. It seems like the poems are available to be rated, but several people have encountered a problem both with rating and leaving comments. But at least the work is there to be read and enjoyed!
Feb.
20
2020
Two of my poems are now online in the Fall/Winter 2019 issue (Vol 7, No 1) of Medical Literary Messenger, An Artistic Voice for the Healing Arts. The journal is easy to access at med-lit.vcu.edu. The first poem on page 4 is “The Loon,” and is the true story of a woman who lost her mind and with it her voice. She lived in the family home on a hill above Eld Inlet which was visible through the evergreens. But more than visible, it was audible. This is her story. The second poem, “The Beauty,” page 17, is about another Hospice patient. Even in her late eighties and having undergone several rounds of chemotherapy, she still had the most beautiful hair. She was so proud of her hair. She and her family also lived not far from the ocean.
Dec.
31
2019
My poem, “Intimacy of Water,” is in the January 2020 issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN)!!! It can be read online by googling the magazine, clicking on Table of Contents and then “Art of Nursing,” which is a monthly feature. I have sent work into this premier nursing publication a couple of times our the years and felt moved to submit again this fall. I can hardly express how happy I am to have my writing appear in a place that I consider my nursing periodical Bible!
And I am happy they chose this poem which shows me that I can still practice my nursing in specific ways even after I am retired. Things that we do that we love make the best poems perhaps. This poem expresses my love of nursing, my affection for my neighbor and my confidence in myself self in my role of compassionate caregiver.
Nov.
25
2019
Two of my poems, “Following Water” and “Gaze and Shutter” just came out in the Fall 2019 issue of Zone 3! This journal originates at Austin Peay University, where daughter Carolyn earned her degree. “Gaze” is about a grandfather and granddaughter we witnessed while hiking at Hurricane Ridge. They made such a touching pair, I knew immediately they deserved a poem! “Following Water” is a true poem about our son-in-law who passed away tragically. Travis was the ultimate woodsman and we think about his forest wisdom often.
Nov.
14
2019
My poem, “The Woodsman,” is in the 2019, Volume 2 edition of the wonderful Seattle-based Crab Creek Review. This poem is based on a story told to me years ago and brought to mind again when I taught a poetry class at the Correctional Facility near Shelton, WA. Hopefully it portraits how beauty deeply touches the heart of each of us — to the point of pain at times.
Aug.
19
2019
I just received my copies of the We’Moon 2020 Datebook themed “Wake Up Call.” This beautiful annual publication is packed with art and writing by and for women. It includes moon phases, astrology, and every aspect of earth wisdom imaginable. This year I have 2 pieces: “St. Anne, Patron of Mothers of Daughters” and “Mokosh, Goddess of the Working Woman.” St. Anne is, of course, in Christian lore, the mother of Mary the mother of Jesus. I have long thought about Anne’s story and how difficult it is for mothers of famous daughters who follow a path that almost totally excludes them. And in that light how tough it is for all mothers to let their offspring go to follow their true path and purpose. Mokosh is my maiden name, bequeathed to me by my Czechoslovakian grandparents who immigrated here in the nineteen-teens without money, language or knowledge of their gods. I found out by accident on the internet many years ago that Mokosh is an actual slavic goddess who is being studied more actively now. The Slavs didn’t have a written language years ago and the culture was too poor to erect lavish statues. Besides Mokosh is a homely goddess of fieldwork, spinning and childbirth. Her name means water, something they had little of. She is not glamourous, with a big head and large hands. Her feast day is any Friday.