How's your social distancing? It hasn't really felt too different yet here because of spring break, but next week I have to start teaching my classes online (a first for me) and my son won't go back to school for two more weeks. The dogs are happy though! They haven't been left alone for days. …
I've been trying to work on a poem for my mom, but I am insecure about my poetry. After my mom left my dad, she started writing poems. Maybe she wrote them before that, but I have no proof. What I have is a journal filled with poems dated 1975 or 1976. My mom inscribed …
Well, not really. And I'm not someone who tries to talk to the dead because I don't think they're listening. But anyway, Plum Tree Books wrote about poetry and death--two things often seen together--and the post suggested trying to write a poem with the title I Can Talk to the Dead. I am not a …
Today a new friend in my life puts her heart out into the world. Her heart should be lifted up and celebrated. Well, perhaps every heart should be. Forgive the potential sappiness. But sometimes sappiness is okay. We don't have to be all edges and armor every day of the week. (Anyway, I don't know …
The troubles in the world overwhelm some days. My own troubles take enough energy, don't you think? Well, not really. I mean, they take lots of energy, but I don't have to worry about if I will eat. Perspective. Perspective may be one of the most commonly lost things. It's late. Do you know where …
At 17 I put away my dream to be an artist. Art turned from dream to hobby. Sometimes people mistook me for an artist--usually because I wore a scarf or long earrings or too many bracelets. I don't know. What do people mean when they say, "You look like an artist." I figured they meant, …
In April of 1989, seven months before she passed away, my mom wrote this. You'll probably call this weekend, but I wanted to ask you how your reading went. Talk about being on the spot! To just say "I enjoyed your poetry" sounds rather insipid. I wish I were not your mother so I could …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 