Saturday, December 13, 2014

Belties


Away in a manger
two Belties*
ate hay 
. . .


*These are Belted Galloways, otherwise known as Belties, or as Oreo Cows.
They live locally
and we love them.

xx

Monday, December 8, 2014

Snowbirch


This:
to stop you in your tracks
and 
remind you of:



Birches

by Robert Frost

When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. . . 

(partial poem. . .)

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Winter Vignettes


Here's that red wheelbarrow again
now toting ice

and



two red kayaks
hunkered down

and


old woodpiles
slumbering

and


pond
glazed with ice

and


brook a-gurgling

ahhhh

winterlove

xx

Monday, November 24, 2014

Simmering


Second draft zooooooms
and now
it has to simmer
shhhh
do not rattle and roll
tiptoe away.



Maybe when you return
to the draft
it will have developed
multiple reflective layers
and lead you
gently
on to the 
next
one.




xx



Saturday, November 15, 2014

Second Draft



Sono in giardino
means
I'm in the garden.

It's a sign I often saw
hung on doors 
in spring and summer
in Montagnola, Switzerland.

I'm deep now into a second draft
of the newest book
doing a lot of planting and weeding
of words.

Sono in giardino
hangs on the office door.

xx

(P. S. If you click on 'giardino' in the column at far right, you'll see a similar post with this sign from 2010, but in that instance, it meant I was taking a break! )



Sunday, November 9, 2014

A Salad of Names

In today's mail
a stunning array
of names
and spellings:

Abby, Aidan, Alan, Alina, Amya, Artakous, Ashanti, Aubrie, Averie
Bobby, Branderius, Branquarus, Brian, Brock, Brooke
Caden, Cairi, Cameron, Camron, Chandler, Christian, Colby Conner
Dakota, Dalaysia, Dalton, David, Denton, Dhara, Diana, Donovan

Elizabeth, Ella, Emily, Emma, Ethan
Garret, Gavin
Hailey, Haley, Hanna, Hannah, Harley
Isaac
Jacob, Jadarius, Jade, Jamiricale, Jarred, Jerius, Jill, Johnny, Joseph, Joshua, Justin

Karen, Kayla, Kelsie, Keresten, Kloie, Kyla
Landon, Logan
Madelyn, Madison, Makayla, Makenna, Markese, Maya, McKenzie, Meg, Megan, Monique
Natalie, Nathan, Noah
Paige, Parker, Peyton

Quienyelta
R.J., Rachel, Ragen, Reid, Rodquavius, Ryan
Sabrina, Samantha, Shakia, Sophie, Sydney
Taylor, Trent, Tyler, Ty'quan, Tyrah
Vanessa
Yasmine, Yesenia
and
Zack, Zane, Zoe

Say them aloud: tongue-twisting poetry!

xx

Monday, November 3, 2014

Transitions


So one day it was like this
(above)
all dozy mesmerizing autumn
and
two days later 


giant nor'easter
blows into town
lashing power lines
and blasting trees

and yet
amid the
no heat
no water
no power



these candles
allowed me to 
write
straight through
to the
ending
of a first draft

oh yeah
that felt soooo good.

You writers out there
will know the feeling,
mm?

xx



Friday, October 17, 2014

Setting


I am writing more slowly lately


because I am hypnotized
by this autumn bonanza


this dazzling 
treegold
waterpink
splendor
. . . 

xx

Monday, September 29, 2014

Contemplation


(Click to enlarge)

See that lone figure
in the distance
along the uneven breakwall?

Miss your step
and down slips 
your foot
your ankle
your leg
crrrrrrack.

But see that lone figure?
She is sure-footed
wise
and 
careful.
She will not
fall.

That's
my
editor:
Joanna Cotler.

The
best.

xx

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Simplify . . .


Simplify, simplify, simplify:

this is what I seem to be aiming for lately
in writing
in art
in life.

To pare down to harmonious elements
in size
color
sound
emotion
texture.


If I could write a novel
as perfect as this small
flower arrangement

well, then,
that would be
something
!!


xx

Saturday, September 13, 2014

International Dot Day

Have you heard of
International Dot Day?

September 15 

Check it out here:


Make your mark?
It's fun.

Here's my dot for 2014:




lar-de-dar
xx

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Away and home and garden bounty . . .


My husband and I have been away for a few days
returning to a place where we'd worked and lived for eight years
and although it was pure joy to be there
and be among so many old friends
I came away feeling dizzy
from such immersion
in a former life.
. . .
As soon as I got home
I went to the garden
to pick the newly-ripened produce
so crisp and green and red and new.
. . .
I needed to do that
I don't know why
but
 it steadied me.

. . .

Hmm.

xx


Friday, August 29, 2014

Into the Woods


(Click to enlarge and step in . . .)

What is it about the woods
that is so resonant?

Trees: 
you'll find them in most of my books.

Paths and roads and rivers:
also in most of my books.

Always the lure
of 
natural images.

"I'm going for a walk . . .
You come, too . . ." *

Mm?


(*From Robert Frost's "The Pasture")

xx

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Refilling the Well

Sometimes
you empty your well
and
need to refill it

so

you find a lake
and a kayak


and you set off


and all is quiet

and


the sky so blue
the clouds so white
above
and
below



and
you stop
and let the well
refill

ahhhhhh
you say
ahhhhhh

xx


Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The Not-so-brisk Walk

I'm going out to take a brisk walk
but
barely out the door
there is this:

(click to enlarge all photos)
(it helps)

Helloooo, cone flower
hellooooo, bee

Two more steps
and then:


I touch its wilted neighbor
and it dissolves
blood red
in my hand

Onward
going to walk
going to walk briskly
but
then


Hellooo, black-eyed Susan
and


giant hippo boulder
. . . 

Walk on, walk on
and then



Oh, mannnn!
Oh, mannnn!
Look at that!

That's it.
I wave the white flag.


I call a truce.
I'm not walking anywhere.
I'm just going to sit here
and 
drool.

xx



Sunday, August 3, 2014

The Beauty of a Weed


Click to enlarge. 
 Put your face right in there.
  
Stunning, right?

Queen Anne's Lace
(species Daucus carota)
 is considered a 'noxious weed.'  

huh.

xx


Saturday, July 26, 2014

Very Maine-y Day


(Click to enlarge all photos)

Today a visit
to a very Maine-y beach
on a midcoast bay.

Didn't get close-ups 
of enormous smooth boulders
but they're there
at the base of the pines.

You can clamber over them
and hang your legs
over the sides
and 
let the cold ocean water
splash
up around your ankles.

Cropped out of the photo
on the right, above,
is another favorite
beach endeavor:



Husband is hunkering down
doing a crossword
right there
on the beach
in the sun
and the clean air.

xx

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Names

The beautiful names in today's batch
of fan mail:

Aaliyah, Aidan, Alex, Armani, Asira, Asia
Caroline, Chris
Danielle, Dionel, Declan
Emmali, Ian
Julia, Jadon
Kemiya, Katrina
Lily
Maneya, Michaela
Nikhil
Ruthie, Robert
Sebastian
and
Sophie.

If you say them aloud
they form a 
poem
of
sorts

xx

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Radio Interview

Being interviewed is not easy for me, but Dana Sheridan at Princeton University, put me at ease:

http://www.princeton.edu/cotsen/gallery-programs/bibliofiles/#comp000053c0f5a500000018157e41

xx

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Contrast

I am still 
swooning
in the garden


in this riot
of color


and fragrance
and texture:


rock and lichen
and moss and petals
and leaves

each offsets 
the other

as in a story
the smooth softens the rough
the muted balances the bold
the fragile offsets the strong
humor tames the serious

mm?

xx


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Bookbinder

Last week I met
bookbinder and book conservator
Alison Kuller
generous with her time
and studio



and now I am hooked
and want to know more
so 
I'm taking a course
at Maine Media Workshops
in August.

A little more about Alison Kuller here.
More about Maine Media Workshops here.

xx

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Maine is Busting Out All Over


Four weeks ago
this was a leafless, bare, brown landscape
and now
what an explosion
of greenery
and flowery


so dense and lush
it knocks out
your eyeballs

you can't take it all in
at once

you have to focus
on small pieces


and even then
you can hardly believe
such bounty exists


so casually


so delicately



you could lie down here
and say
'ahhh. . .'

xx




Saturday, June 7, 2014

Story Focus, II


In the last post, I tried to compare shaping a story to focusing a camera, beginning, say, close up to a person or place and then pulling back to show the context or wider setting.

You could also do the reverse, as above: there's a stone patio, a stone wall and dense trees beyond.  What sort of place is this? What might happen here? Then move in a little closer:


The wall is carefully crafted, hand-built, hmm . . . who built it? Why is it important?  And if you go closer:


Well, well, well . . . look what was there amid those stones all along. Is that critter the subject of the story or a sign of . . . what?

Guess you've got to write the story to find out . . .

Mm?

xx