TGIFF

I’m slogging through one of my many to-do lists. I’m getting things done, such as organizing dates, coordinating kids’ schedules, getting reading for summer camps, really mundane things that really give me a sense of calm once completed. It’s nice being able to control the controllables.

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Writing has taken a back seat to revision. I’ve been weeding through my manuscript, making notes and moving poems around. For me, the process is anxiety-filled yet satisfying at the same time. I’ve had enough distance from the work that I can really serve the poems. I can strip away much of the emotion and really take out words and phrases that don’t fit. And, I’m able to add lines here and there to flesh them out.

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On the agenda this weekend: T-ball, play dates, gardening, poetry, and a little adult time at the Home Grown Festival. I’m really looking forward to this fun little gathering to benefit the Beverly Library. Should be a hoot.

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Call for work: Gulf Coast poems

Poets for Living Waters is a poetry action in response to the Gulf Oil Disaster of April 20, 2010, one of the most profound man-made ecological catastrophes in history. Former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky describes the popularity of poetry after 9/11 as a turn away from the disaster’s overwhelming enormity to a more manageable individual scale. As we confront the magnitude of this recent tragedy, such a return may well aid us.