National Poetry Month, Lilacs, Apple Blossoms and Melancholy, Earth Day, Zoom Poetry Inspirations, and a Book Giveaway

A bower of overhead cherry blossoms

Cherry Blossoms, Poetry Month and Melancholy

This week, the world seemed to spring into bloom – crabapple and apple blossoms, lilacs peeked out, and dogwood bloomed. Finally, it seems Seattle has decided it’s really spring, and brought back it’s chillier weather and rain to celebrate.

One night I went out at twilight and took pictures – and got a few shots of flowers under the moon, which I thought was really cool.

It’s still National Poetry Month for another week, and it’s also five days til my birthday. For some reason, I have felt less like celebrating and more melancholy than usual for spring, April, one of my favorite months. The pandemic year (and some months) perhaps has finally gotten to me? Or my MS is kicking up after last week’s excitement? I’ve also been really tired, going to bed earlier than usual. I got a job rejection that really hit me hard. It’s been harder to give myself the pep talks that usually keep me writing and sending out work. I can’t explain it.

: Pink Dogwood with moon

: Lilacs with moonlight

: Closeup on pink dogwood flowers

The first goldfinch pair sighting

Birds and Blooms, Earth Day, and Pictures in Cherry Blossoms

It was Earth Day this week. Last Earth Day, I planted an apple tree and cherry tree in my yard, and over the last year, we’ve faithfully watered, fertilized them, and kept the deer from eating them, and this year, we were rewarded with a few leaves and a couple of blossoms on each. This last year we planted a Strawberry Tree and another cherry (this time, a fruiting Rainier cherry) and we are watching them grow in containers on the back deck. The birds love them. All of the tulips are almost done blooming now – remember last weekend, they had just opened? It’s definitely been a week to celebrate that brief burst of bloom as much as possible, and attend to the garden, cutting back, planting, putting coffee grounds on the roses. Sometimes it’s time to plant, and sometimes it’s time to nurture what you’ve already planted. Maybe I should try this on myself!

I tried to attend to my own inspiration and sadness, and so I signed up for an early-morning Plath seminar (fantastic, and led to me buying several more Plath books) and went to a couple of Zoom poetry readings. (So many good ones are available right now – keep your eyes on Twitter and Facebook for announcements.) I subscribed to a few literary magazines (like most people, I can never afford as many as I want, but I try to mix it up this time of year.) I also tried to capture as much of the magic of our brief spring flowering as possible with my camera, including typewriters in surprising places. Even when I’m not writing, I can practice photography. I can rest, read, and pay attention to the small beauties around me.

: Me posing with cherry tree

: Glenn with late cherry blossoms

: Typewriter with apple blossoms

A Book Giveaway

Anyway, wishing you a happy last few days of April. Hope you can enjoy some flowers and poetry.

And since the publisher of my third book, New Binary Press, has closed due to health problems, I’d like to give away one signed copy of Unexplained Fevers (now unavailable anywhere else – I still have a few copies) to someone (in the Continental US) that leaves a comment on this blog post. It can be a comment about anything – a book you loved, a flower that bloomed – but make sure to include your e-mail contact info so I can get ahold of you if you win! Good luck!

Post-Vaccine Visits with Friends, A New Poem in Chestnut Review, and a Zoom Reading

Pink Puffball Cherry Blossoms

Spring Has Arrived and Post-Vaccine Visits with Friends

This week spring finally arrived in Seattle, with warmer temperatures (yesterday we got up to 80!) The week started with me getting two crowns (ouch), a book rejection, a poem published, and flowers starting to bloom, and ended with meteor showers and a first in-person visit with friends – unmasked and partially indoors! Two weeks before my birthday and now my re-entry/birthday month has included a haircut, a visit to a real-life bookstore, two visits to grocery stores, a tulip festival visit and day trip, and now…visiting with friends!

Kelli Russell Agodon and I had not seen each other in over a year and she and her husband Rose came over. We were all fully vaccinated and so happy to be able take one more step towards re-entry to a normal life. Hugs! Unicorn sprinklers! Pink cupcakes and sparkling rose for my birthday AND to celebrate Kelli’s new book from Copper Canyon, Dialogue with Rising Tides.

It was great to talk poetry, gardens, hang out on the back porch on rocking chairs with hummingbirds, and just goof around. And we had a lovely day for it – the warmest day of the year so far. The tulips in our gardens bloomed while our visitors were here, which seemed like a sign of something good.

: Glenn, me, Kels, and Rose

: A few blooming tulips in our garden

: Just two girls and their rainbow unicorn sprinkler

A New Poem in Chestnut Review’s Spring Issue

I was very pleased to have a poem in Chestnut Review in their Spring issue, “I’ve Been Burned.” It’s from my “Fireproof” manuscript. Here’s a sneak peek:

A Zoom Reading Today with Tamara K. Sellman and Emily Rose Cole

Happy to be reading this afternoon at 4 PM Pacific with Tamara Kaye Sellman for her new book, Intention Tremor, and Emily Rose Cole. I’ll post the Zoom link when I get it. (Will post the YouTube video of the recording soon…)

On Re-Entry, MRIs and Tulip Fields, National Poetry Month – What Are You Doing?

Purple Tulip Field, La Conner, WA

On Re-Entry, Week 2: MRIs and Tulip Fields

So this second week of April, after my two week past-vaccination date, I have been experiencing gradually the pains and pleasures of re-entry into what most people would call “life.” Last week, a Zoom reading, a doctor’s appointment, a haircut, a visit to the gardening store.

This week, a little more challenging: MRIs and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

I had an MRI I had put off for a year, this is to check that the tumors in my liver have not grown or spread, indicating cancer or other bad things, so really not good to put off too long. Wearing a mask for someone with claustrophobia in an MRI tube while having to “Hold your breath” for extended amounts of time is something I will add to my list of “do not want to do again.” Even though I’ve been vaccinated for a while, I still didn’t really feel comfortable in the waiting room (and they were running an hour behind) so I kept walking out of the building and walking back in. So, that was something I tried and didn’t feel comfortable with, but I don’t know how comfortable I was before with MRIs, frankly. Think good thoughts for the results for me.

Me in red tulip field

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

So, last year they cancelled the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival because of the pandemic, so we were really looking forward to attending this year. However, we woke up the day we had made reservations (you have to make reservations and pay ahead of time this year, new irritating feature) and it was spitting snow. On April 10! All day long we were followed by threatening clouds, cold winds, spitting snow, hail, and rain.

And yet, we still soldiered on. This was probably the most challenging thing I’ve done people-wise, and body-wise, although a lot of it was outdoors, and people weren’t pressing in as close as usual. The traffic was knotty getting up – I guess we weren’t the only ones anxious to see some signs of spring. Everything wasn’t blooming yet – even the weeping cherry at Roozengaarde wasn’t blooming, and I would say more than half of the tulips weren’t up yet.

Glenn and with tulips and forsythia

After the MRI, I had a sore throat, tummy troubles, and my ankles were acting up (stress and/or giant magnets sets of my autoimmune problems,) so along with the cold, we maybe should have rescheduled, but we were anxious to get some spring flowers into our eyes, if not our nose (because in the gardens, even though we were vaccinated and outdoors, everyone’s still required to wear masks, which seems a little like overkill to me science-wise even as an immune-compromised person, but… So all the pictures without masks are either outside the official gardens or in an area without other people, just to clarify.)

We saw a pair of nesting bald eagles and a few herons, as well as horses, sheep, chickens, and peacocks, but missed out on seeing seals and otters, which we usually see. We did find a new piece of sculpture we really liked celebrating the annual Snow Goose migration to the Skagit Valley. Here are a few pictures. Even on a day spitting rain and snow, and everything not quite in bloom yet, it still managed to a good day for photos.

: Snow Goose Sculpture in La Conner

: double pink tulips

: double peach daffodils

: Glenn w/ windmill, tulips

So we had an adventure! By the time we got home, we were exhausted and crashed into bed. Every time I go up there, I’m inspired to buy a small farm and start being an organic flower farmer, or perhaps a miniature pony farm.

Me in pink with pink tulips just opening

National Poetry Month – What Are You Doing? How Are You Doing?

In years past, as I read past blog posts for April, I noticed I would attend about three readings a week, give a couple of readings, attend a conference or a ‘con, get together with friends for their book launches. It was so much it was overwhelming even to read about!

This year feels quieter and more muted. So how are you still celebrating Poetry Month during the pandemic? I managed to squeeze in a couple of Zoom talks this week, one by Dana Levin (who talked about strangeness in poetry) and C. Dale Young (who talked about rhetoric vs the image among other things) – two poets who would be hard for me to see in person, so that was cool.

Glenn and I with tulips and threatening clouds

I’m giving a Zoom reading on April 18th (I’ll post more when I have the link) and I’ve been reading more and trying to write more (although I haven’t been able to do a poem a day this year.) Too many in-person re-entry things to do! It takes more energy than it used to to do simple things, like go a store or the doctor, in person. This is part of the re-entry pains. My favorite all-poetry bookstore hasn’t re-opened yet for shopping in person, but soon, and I’ll enjoy browsing there again – it’s a great place to run into poets books you might not have heard about anyplace else.

In personal poetry news, I’m feeling a little discouraged, by not getting a big grant I applied for, or a job I applied for, or individual rejections, or the fact that I can’t find anyone excited to publish my new manuscripts, which may be slowing down my writing and submitting. It may be that the re-entry is more anxiety-producing than I’m admitting or aware of. It’s certainly not “life back to normal” here in the Seattle area, yet. Will it ever be? Life post-pandemic seems fraught with questions we don’t yet have answers for. I’m an introverted extrovert but not being able to interact with others on a regular basis is also still kind of a bummer. I’m hoping to have actual in-person contact with friends and family soon…

Pair of bald eagles with nest

Anyway, I want to wish you an April full of health, happiness, flowers, vaccines, and a gentle re-entry. I hope you read some poetry you enjoy and maybe even discover a new writer to love or lit mag you’re excited about. Hope you can get outside and listen to the birds and enjoy the outdoors and that it doesn’t spit snow on you. I really want to hear about how you’re celebrating a modified National Poetry Month.

Rebirth and Re-Emergence on Easter, Cherry Blossoms and Magnolia, and Staff Poetry Picks (Including Field Guide to the End of the World)

Happy Easter! Poet with pink cherry blossoms

Considering Rebirth and Re-Emergence on Easter

This year’s celebration of Easter is tinged with reflection on rebirth and re-emergence. The whole story of rolling away the stone, rising and walking out of the cave into the garden where Mary mistook Jesus for a gardener – I mean, imagine the metaphor of blinking in the light after quarantining for over a year, having finally waited your two weeks after your vaccination, and re-entering the living world. That was me this weekend. It’s still strange to walk into a store or get your haircut – everyone is still in masks, of course (only 17 percent of Washington is vaccinated, compared to 19 percent of the US) – and there are different things – no reading material in salons, or drinks, no waiting areas. (She cut about four inches off the hair pictured to the left – haven’t got a shot yet – and took my hair to a more pastel-y pink.) I went to Molbaks (our local gardening store) and bought flowers and herbs to plant – and the wares still seem a little scant and of course the crowds you’d expect at Easter aren’t quite there. I walked through the bookstore, taking my time and looking at new titles, and instead of feeling scared I’d catch something, I felt…not scared. That’s the big change. My levels of anxiety when out in public are just way less high. I woke up singing Easter songs but I still think it’s a little early for church to be safe. (I saw an outdoor wedding yesterday where no one was wearing a mask – safe yet? I just felt like, not quite yet.) So instead we’re celebrating at home with Glenn’s homemade cranberry-tinted marshmallows and a baked chicken and grape and fennel risotto dinner. It’s a little dreary outside, but I have plenty of reading material and Glenn brought in a hyacinth and some daffodils from the yard so we still feel springy. (Later this week: an in-person doctor’s appointment and a long-postponed MRI, so less glamorous re-entry things.)

Washington Spring – Cherry Blossoms and Magnolia

It’s a late spring this year, but Seattle is starting to finally look like spring – rows of pear trees in bloom, early magnolias, and cherry blossoms of various types in full bloom. I’m looking forward to spending more time outside with flowers as the weather allows – it’s still ten degrees below normal and of course, a little rainy – but Glenn and I are hoping to make our pilgrimage – we missed it last year – to La Conner, Washington to check out the daffodil and tulip fields – next weekend. The Tulip Festival officially started April 1, but only the daffodils are up there yet. Still, Easter weekend is usually so crowded you can barely take pictures, full of tourists from all over the world – I wonder how it will be this year will be different. I know you have to buy tickets for certain times now, which will slow things down a bit. It will be a bit of a return to normalcy for us, traditions and rituals of spring that we usually celebrate, if a little more modestly than we’re used to. A gradual re-entry.

: Pink fluff Cherry Blossoms

: Pink Magnolia

: Bridal Fluff Cherry Blossoms

Staff Picks for Your Poetry Fix – Field Guide to the End of the World

I was so happy to see that Field Guide to the End of the World was a Staff Pick among Librarians at St. Petersburg College. Even when a book has been out a few years, it’s especially happy-making when someone gives it a little attention. So thank you, Librarians (and Kassandra Sherman!) It’s National Poetry Month, so go ahead and buy some poetry to celebrate!

Stealth Spring in Seattle, Spring Submissions, Poetry Month Approaches

Early pink cherry blossoms

Stealth Spring in Seattle

Waking up to gray, forty-something degrees most days this last week, it felt like we were experiencing a “stealth” spring – flowers were blooming, little by little, birds were singing a little more, but the warmer days (and the accompanying sunshine) have not, so far, appeared. Nevertheless, I’ve kept my eyes open for signs – a few daffodils opening here and there, early cherries, and here and there, a branch of flowering quince. All these pictures were taken in my neighborhood. O3

I had a reading – a Redmond Poet Laureate Reunion Reading – on Thursday, which I had to leave early from in order to speed Glenn across town for his first Pfizer shot. Soon we will both be safe to go inside buildings and visit with friends – although people still are very cautious here, everyone’s still wearing masks and nothing is as busy as you think it should be – except for the outdoor winery tables, which are overflowing with people, here in Woodinville.

: pink cherry trees on my street

: Star Magnolia blossoms

: Weeping Cherry closeup (my yard)

Daffodils

Spring Submissions

And along with spring, comes spring submissions season. Of course, some places read submissions year-round, but for some reason – spring – particularly April – and fall – particularly September – seem to be the big submission month, maybe because most lit mags read during those times. So I’m printing out my Excel spreadsheet and looking at lists of places that are open. Hey, getting published isn’t easy or effortless – it takes a lot of work. And more organization and detail-orientedness than is ideal for someone like me. Oh well. Part of the job of being a poet.

Besides individual poetry submissions, I’m now sending out three (!) separate poetry manuscripts, which seems nuts. Someone has got to pick up one of these collections soon!

Red quince and red rhodies

Poetry Month Approaching!

It’s almost April, which is National Poetry Month – which means more readings – yes, even I’ll be doing a reading – and more attention to poetry in general, which is good. It’s also my birthday month, and when I’ll technically be able to safely go out and be fully immunized. And it’s Tulip Festival time – even if spring is running a little late, Skagit Valley will be full of blooming tulips by the middle of April, and I’m planning a day trip up there to see them this year, having missed it last year due to the shutdown. Wish me good weather luck!

It’s also a month when many new poetry books come out, including my friend Kelli Agodon’s book from Copper Canyon, Dialogues with Rising Tides, among others. Go ahead and treat yourself to a few good poetry books for poetry month. If you want any of mine, signed by the author, (some of them hard to find on Amazon anymore), see here!

Anyway, I am wishing you all a happy and healthy spring, and a happy National Poetry Month. I am hoping the vaccines will be faster than the variants. I am hoping for an end to our plague year at last