Confession Tuesday

It's Tuesday. Do you know where your poems are?


I am basking in the glow of the Dodge Poetry Festival. What a FABULOUS weekend! Unfortunately I have been going full tilt since getting back. (Nose, meet grindstone.) But I am trying to hold onto the spirit of the people and the words at the festival.

Maybe the biggest takeaway for me is that poetry has to be a priority in my life. To paraphrase Nikky Finney, you cannot find time for poetry in your day--you have to make time. So I'm getting up between 4-5 a.m. to write poetry. Yesterday was great. I got up, bleary eyed but ready to go, and wrote a draft. Today, I woke up and graded papers. Oh well. Them's the breaks. Tomorrow will be better.

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As I type this post, I think "Duh! Of course that's what I need to be doing. Now get to work." 

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Books purchased at Dodge:

Kim Addonizio, Ordinary Genius: A True & Beautiful Course in Writing Poetry
Matthew Dickman, Mayakovsky's Revolver
Ada Limon, Sharks in the Rivers

Natasha Trethewey, Thrall

And two children's books (my daughter loves them!):

Georgia Heard, Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems

Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, Science and Verse

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I'm reading with Steve Almond on Thursday at Salem State University.

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I am holding my breath for tonight's debate. Here's hoping the president has a good night.