When you talk
The air becomes filled with butterflies
And while you talk …………………….Surreptitiously
I catch them in my hands
And put them gently in my pocket
And when I leave you
I go home
Take them gently from my pocket
And arrange them …………………….Like this
On a piece of paper
So that when you find out what I am doing
And no longer let them loose when I am there
I can come home …………………….And remember …
I was going to do a post on writing today, but with what is happening in Washington, D.C., I have to speak about this insanity.
I will start by saying that I support peaceful protest of all kinds, because it is guaranteed in our Constitution, but I never support protest that is violent, including from those with whom I agree politically. Violent protest is never acceptable. Please do not reply by comparing today’s actions to other protests; as I stated, I disagree with all violent protests. Besides that would be like a child saying “Well, he did it, so I am too.” The logic is ridiculous.
What is happening today, though, is far worse than violent protest. By breaching the Capitol and disrupting the Constitutional work of the government, these people, who were incited by President Trump have committed many federal crimes and are committing insurrection. They are attempting to…
You might recognize some of the poets in this new international anthology — published by Four Windows Press. It’s a beautiful book and I’m honored to be included in it.
Four Windows Press has released a major anthology of English-speaking poets, No More Will Fit Into the Evening, A Diversity of Voices. The volume contains a healthy sampling of work from 39 poets from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.
In the “Introduction” to the volume, the Editors, Thomas Davis and Standing Feather, both poets, say that “an early decision was made to invite poets either they knew about” from their years participating in multiple poetic communities “to submit ‘the ten best poems they had ever written.’” From the hundreds of poems submitted over 250 poems were included in the final publication.