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

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! )

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

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