Birthdays, A Review of Magdalene, Sleeping Poems, and the End of Poetry Month
- At May 02, 2017
- By Jeannine Gailey
- In Blog
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I decided to have a birthday celebration this year for my 44th. It seemed appropriate – last year at this time I was so stressed and down I barely went out in between cancer testing. I was worried I had about six months – maybe longer. So this year I wanted to celebrate turning 44! It seems miraculous. I invited over a few friends, Glenn made cupcakes, it was rainy and cold outside, but inside we had some fun. Michaela Eaves brought me some pieces of art (she and Glenn conspired to get me this painting of a fox and hare in a forest.) Here are a few pics:
- Michaela’s original Becoming the Villainess sketch art
- MIchaela Eaves fox and hare painting
- Natasha Moni and me
- Kelli Agodon and me
- Three poets – Kelli, Natasha, and me
- poets & artists: Michaela Eaves, Kelli and her daughter, and me
Life is short. That’s what I keep saying – we really do have to pause in the middle of grumbling, in the middle of bad news replaying constantly, in the middle of threats of wars and rumors of wars – we have to celebrate beauty and goodness, friends who make art, cupcakes. (PS Most of the friends in this picture I have known more than a decade now!)
In that capacity, let me know what you think of this review of Marie Howe’s newest book of poetry, Magdalene, up at The Rumpus a few days ago.
http://therumpus.net/2017/04/magdalene-by-marie-howe/
And these sleeping-themed poems up at Sleepyhead Central, as part of the poetry month celebration. One poem imagines a sleep deprivation clinic, another imagines alternate stories for Sleeping Beauty:
I almost thought my party might not happen – two days before, I sprained my ankle – and a day before, I woke up with one of the worst allergic reactions I’ve ever had (a new medicine, I think, sparked it) with purple welts and general miserableness. Happily, I woke up on my actual birthday with no welts and feeling fine (the sprained ankle, however, will take a little time to heal. Boo hiss.) It certainly has been an exciting time!
Now National Poetry Month is over, things can slow down to a little bit more of a regular pace. I’ve almost finished up PR for Poets to turn in, I have a Webinar to record this week (!), a poetry reading down in Tacoma with Kendra Tanacea at Kings Books on the 25th, I’m going to go see awesome writer Karen Russell this week, and I’ve got an Aimee Mann concert next week. They say we might actually have a little more sun now that it’s May. It’s been tough to go out and capture all the flowers that have been blooming despite the rain – but here are a few shots:
- a neighbor’s lilacs
- me in the cherry tree
- cherry blossom closeup
- Glenn and I with a background of cherry trees, Japanese Gardens
- Glenn in the cherry blossoms
Lesley Wheeler
Magdalene sounds great! Stay well, friend.