Red Room Where the Writers Are

What I've Learned to Love About Publishing Creative Work Online »

Lately my poems and essays have been appearing more with online literary magazines.   I used to feel a little let down by the intangibility of this medium.

Czeslaw Milosz at San Quentin »

 I'm deep into writing By Heart: A Prison Conversation, and just re-read what I wrote in Disguised as a Poem about Milosz's visit to the prison. 

An Interview with Ellen Bass, excerpt - (forthcoming soon in Poetry Flash) »

ROBERT SWARD:  Would you say something of the transition you made from your writing and the work you did pre- and post- The Courage to Heal

Body, an elegy (Poem text) »

from my forthcoming book, "How God Ends Us" (University of South Carolina Press 2009)  

Snippety people and lots of rain »

Joy and Robinson Jeffers »

A few days ago, when it was ninety degrees in Oakland, I walked out the front door of my house, down the porch steps, out the gate, and stood by the mailbox, watching a tiny tornado of leaves swirl ac

Maloney arrival! »

Hallsfoot, lunch and a rambunctious rabble »

Electricity blues, Maloney and domestic crises »

Attention DMB Fans »

LeRoi Moore, the versatile saxophonist whose signature staccato fused jazz and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave Matthews Band, died August 19th of complications from injuries he suffered in an ATV accident. He was 46.

NOMINATION for Poet Laureate »

Poet Laureate candidate Stephen Kopel has devoted himself exclusively to poetry.  His body of published work encompasses several books, and over 270 anthology and juried literary journal inclusions.

"O Taste and See"--Join Me at the Table for Delicious Poetry in Deep France »

Join me for a workshop in "Deep France" (non-touristy) Auvillar, where we will explore the senses through our poetry, and enjoy an adventure in good eating, delicious wine, walks through

The Grind, or "Douce Campagna" »

I spent this summer between two residencies and traveling. I spent this summer writing and writing.

The ones that got away »

Crossing the Line »

This is cross-posted from my other blog.

Silence is the Door to Poetry »

I just found this statement in an old notebook.

Dark Card »

Read my review of Rebecca Foust's Dark Card here.

Poetry thoughts, minutes and this week's heroes »

Back to school and divided reviews »

Pablo Neruda's 100 Sonnets of Love »

I think the primary job of any translator of creative work from one language to another is to find the words and phrases in the second language that most closely adhere to those words in the first lan

Where Walt Whitman Plays Tennis »

Last spring, I joined a tennis team.  Our team's home court is at Davie Stadium in Oakland.  Actually, half of the property is in Piedmont.  Davie is public, has five courts.  You can call and res

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 100: A Translation »

100En medio de la tierra apartaré las esmeraldas para divisarte y tú estarás copiando las espigas con una pluma de agua mensajera.

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 99: A Translation »

99Otros días vendrán, será entendido el silencio de plantas y planetas y cuántas cosas puras pasarán! Tendrán olor a luna los violines!

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 98: A Translation »

98Y esta palabra, este papel escrito por las mil manos de una sola mano, no queda en ti, no sirve para sueños, cae a la tierra: allí se continúa.

On East Frances Willard Street »

I once lived in a renovated garage painted bright yellow.  I was twenty-one and divorced.  The garage was in an alley, and my front yard was my landlady's back yard of emerald lawn and tidy flower g

Takes Courage to Submit Work to Magazines »

     It does take courage to send one's work out to literary magazines.

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 97: A Translation »

97Hay que volar en este tiempo, ¿a dónde? Sin alas, sin avión, volar sin duda: ya los pasos pasaron sin remedio, no elevaron los pies del pasajero.

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 96: A Translation »

96Pienso, esta época en que tú me amaste se irá por otra azul sustituida, será otra piel sobre los mismos huesos, otros ojos verán la primavera.

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 95: A Translation »

95¿Quiénes se amaron como nosotros? Busquemos las antiguas cenizas del corazón quemado y allí que caigan uno por uno nuestros besos

My chest quakes, an emptiness. Celebrating and Mourning Mahmoud Darwish, The World's Most Important and Resonant Poet »

 He says, on the verge of death, he says,“I have no more earth to lose”

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 94: A Translation »

94Si muero sobrevíveme con tanta fuerza pura que despiertes la furia del pálido y del frío, de sur a sur levanta tus ojos indelebles,

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 93: A Translation »

93Si alguna vez tu pecho se detiene, si algo deja de andar ardiendo por tus venas, si tu voz en tu boca se va sin ser palabra,

One Great Poem a Day »

 All I'm doing here is posting one great poem every day(not mine, obviously) and attempting to summarize the key elements that I think make the poem work....i.e.

The Power of Titles »

As an author I prefer, and practice, selecting a name for my work that is somewhat enigmatic and generates maximum curiosity in the mind of the browser or grazer of bookshelves or online inventories.  Being a wordsmith, I respond strongly to language, especially in the wording of titles.  (Yes, first impressions do count for me.) Regrettably, the language of our contemporary culture has been whittled down to the most basic vocabulary and the most semantically empty sound bites.

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 92: A Translation »

92Amor mío, si muero y tú no mueres, no demos al dolor más territorio: amor mío, si mueres y no muero, no hay extensión como la que vivimos.

One Great Poem a Day »

No blogs for the past week - frankly, I was burned out on the contest thing and two blogs a day, and I needed to write some poetry - which I did, so I'm going to ease slowly back into this...

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 91: A Translation »

91La edad nos cubre como la llovizna, interminable y árido es el tiempo, una pluma de sal toca tu rostro, una gotera carcomió mi traje:

MARGO BERDESHEVSKY -- NEWS »

FC2 Award 2008 -Margo Berdeshevsky's manuscript of illustrated short tales, "Beautiful Soon Enough" has been chosen as the winner of Ronald Sukenick/ American Book Review Innovati

Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet 90: A Translation »

90Pensé morir, sentí de cerca el frío, y de cuanto viví sólo a ti te dejaba: tu boca eran mi día y mi noche terrestres

"I love Beethoven, especially the poems." -- Ringo Starr »

Did you know that pianist Alfred Brendel writes poetry? This is the title poem from his collection Cursing Bagels(Faber & Faber, 2004)That pianos