Words

Dear Friends,

Our innate desire to see things get better is being challenged daily. Every time I get myself stabilized, sense that I might be moving forward towards something, I get upset by the news. Even with the joy of a new administration, so much damage has been done and it’s hard to see a way through it.

I gain ground in this pandemic and then lose it. Doesn’t it always feel like a swirl of emotion — of joy and despair delivered together in one big wallop?

Dear Friends, I’m not really sure what to do with myself these days. These dog days of summer. These unbearably boring and crisis-filled days when we are forever in a swirl of refuse. On one hand, it’s mind-numbingly boring, and on the other, there’s people being shot because they ask someone to wear a mask.

I’m stuck in my house and blessed to be able to be stuck in my house.

I realize this is a double edged sword of blessings. I am privileged enough to remain at home and therefore feel it is my responsibility to CONTINUE to stay home. Yet by staying home, I am dealing with confinement in a small apartment and the memory loss that comes with this monotonous routine. 

When one graduates from a MFA program, one can be lucky enough to receive a Becca Cento:

Here’s the thing — I was digging into my past online, via livejournal. Before social media, before we livestreamed ourselves putting on makeup, before we were texting, there was livejournal. As a writer, this form of daily writing allowed me to connect with others, folks who I would come to know very well without ever meeting them face-to-face. I read about deaths and births and breakups and looked at wedding pictures.

Let’s take a moment to talk about health. As we graciously say, “to a healthy and happy new year,” implying that happiness and health are interconnected. Be well. Be best. Let’s talk about what it means when we are not well. Let’s talk about the difficulty of operating in this society when sick. 

I have been consumed with health problems recently and am amazed at how it alters my life, my notions of time and space. How we operate in a fast pace in the healthy lane and then we are struck with illness, we can enter a whole new world. 

As much as I love October, I am excited for November this year because I will have the opportunity to do two readings supporting my new chapbook. Continue reading “Upcoming Readings”