A Tribute to Martha Silano Up at the Poetry Foundation

Martha and I with pumpkin display in 2022

A Tribute to Martha Silano at the Poetry Foundation

Hello friends! I would have posted this earlier but had a bit of a health challenge and ended up in the hospital and then have been catching up on rest.

But I wrote a tribute to my long-time poet friend, Martha Silano, that went up on the Poetry Foundation web site (and was in the newsletter), and I was very happy and hope this helps people remember her and her writing. Marty passed away of ALS in May of this year. Her last book, Terminal Surreal, just came out from Acre Books. I hope you will look up her work as it is very worth reading.

Here’s a link to the article: An Oracular Voice: Remembering Martha Silano | The Poetry Foundation

And here is a sample from the article:

Sharing cocktails outdoors during 2023

The last time I saw Marty—Martha Silano—in person, it was fall during a week of wildfire smoke and we decided to visit a local sunflower farm in my neighborhood of Woodinville, Washington. We got lucky—the haze lifted for a few hours, the air quality wasn’t too terrible, and the temperatures had dropped enough for us to be comfortable outside. We met at my house for a quick catch-up chat, snacks, and wine, and I noticed that she hadn’t eaten or drunk very much. I think the beginnings of her swallowing problems—her first ALS symptom—were already happening, though she didn’t complain about a thing that day. I have a picture of us smiling among red and yellow sunflowers, the sky blue but slightly hazy above us. She told me how glad she was to be able to get out into nature again, without the pervasive wildfire smoke. Soon afterward, she was diagnosed with ALS and such outings would become impossible. I am so glad to have the memory of that day, now.”

I wish you all a healthy and happy week and be sure to find a way to tell your friends how much they mean to you.

Happy Fall! Solarpunk Poetry, Judging Poetry Contests, Pumpkin Patches, Adventure and Hummingbirds

Me with pumpkin display after Solarpunk Poetry Talk

Happy Fall! Pumpkin Patches, Solarpunk Poetry, Judging Poetry Contests

Ah, the beginning of fall. The pumpkin patches are opening, the last of our flowers blooming. This week we had a ninety-degree day and a couple of days of wildfire smoke, so we aren’t feeling that welcome fall chill just yet.

Yesterday was the Writer’s Digest Virtual Poetry Conference, so I got to see my friend Mary Biddinger’s talk on prose poetry and flash fiction in the morning, then showered, dressed and did my own talk on Solarpunk poetry, which is a type of science fiction poetry that looks to a more hopeful future for ecology, equity, and humanity. Then I turned around and ran out of the house to make it to opening day of the Woodinville Pumpkin Farm at JB Family Growers. (Yes, it’s a lavender farm AND a pumpkin farm!) The sun was shining in a blue sky, although there was still a level of smoke that made me a little verklempt. It was so nice to roam around the beautiful sunflower maze, the broad pumpkin patch, and the towering corn maze. Are you feeling Fall yet?

Sunflower maze with sun flare, JB Growers Pumpkin Farm

I really overscheduled myself this September, so yes, I am still working on judging the SFPA’s poetry contest—now I’m just writing some comments to the winners. I read over 600 poems (often not on their own page, or in the same font, so that was fun!) and chose nine winners in Dwarf, Short, and Long categories. It reminded me that often judges aren’t looking to rule you out, they’re looking to rule you in. At least that’s how I do it. When you submit a poem to any contest, make sure it’s unique and that it stands out. This year, for instance, there were a lot of both Mars Rover and dragon poems, not bad subjects, but it makes it harder for me to discern the best of the lot. A French formal poem on colonialism in space? Yes, that caught my eye. I was also surprised by an overall lack of imagery—has imagery gone out of fashion again? Anyway, the contest winners will be announced soon enough.

Anna’s hummingbird and cherry blossom

Hummingbirds and Travel Plans

In case you thought I’d lost interest in photographing birds, I have not, and here is some proof. I’m even thinking of getting a new lens for my camera (they are super expensive, so I have to wait to buy them one at a time).

I also have some travel plans—going to a writing residency on one of the San Juan Islands in a few days, so trying to get ready for that. I also was offered the amazing opportunity to stay in Paris at a friend’s apartment for five months—but five months was tricky because the visa is harder to get than a three-month visa, and Glenn wouldn’t be legally allowed to work from remote. But it was awfully tempting! It made me think—do we shrink our lives too much out of fear? What if we could be living a more adventurous, larger life?

What is stopping us? Our network of doctors, friends and family, or our comfortable routines? Our cats? I am not going to stop thinking about doing a longer-term Paris stay now that I have it in mind, maybe just for one or two months the first time instead of five. I’d love to go at Christmas, or around my birthday. Dream dream dream!

Peppers at Tonnemaker’s Farm Stand

I’m also going to my friend Catherine Broadwall’s launch of Water Spell, her fairy-tale, pop-culture memoir of divorce, on the 25th at J. Bookwalter’s winery in Woodinville, and I’ll be helping open her reading (along with poets Kristine Iredale and Erika Wright). So, consider coming out for some wine and some poetry and poetic memoir. I believe there’s an open mic too?

I’ll be working on my book manuscript on the writing residency and conjuring up some new poems. I’m bringing some reading material too, as it will probably be raining for a good deal of the trip (end of September tends to herald the beginning of the rain season, which lasts through June). I’m hoping to see whales and foxes, but I’m really going to try to concentrate on the writing part.

Wishing you all adventurous Fall plans, and an excuse to pull away, have some alone time, and write!

A Tough Week with Bright Spots: Celebrating Poets, Fall Feels and Surprise Cherry Blossoms

Glenn and I with gourds at Bob’s Corn and Pumpkin Farm

A Tough Week with Bright Spots: Celebrating Poets, Fall Feels and Surprise Blossoms

A good week to avoid social media. Also, I’m considering becoming a youth influencer for things like empathy, love of science, poetry, and feminism. Any podcasts hiring? (And I want to say more, but you know what? I’m not.)

Fall has finally arrived here and you can see evidence in the pictures – the time of flower blooms is waning, and the time of pumpkins is here. Glenn and I visited Bob’s Corn and Pumpkin Farm (picture evidence below) for amazing corn, apples, some cool gourds, and our first porch pumpkins. Spending time outside with blue skies and fall in the air has given me all the fall feels, though we can’t yet wear our sweaters (supposed to be in the eighties in a few days.) I’m almost done judging the SFPA poetry prize, and then I’ll be doing a live tutorial on Solarpunk poetry at the Writer’s Digest Conference on September 20th. Busy month, right?

Erika Wright, me, Catherine Broadwall

Celebrating Local Poets

The reality of life for poets can be tough, and our time together brief, so celebrating the wins of your friends is important and deserves time and space. So I got together with a few young local poets who are burning it up – Catherine Broadwall’s new memoir, Water Spell, is being launched at J. Bookwalter’s the 25th and me, Erika and Kristine Iredale will be opening for her, so come on out. That talented girl also just signed for a new poetry book with local press Girl Noise Press, so double the congrats.

Surprise: Cherry Blossoms?

In the middle of the week, I was feeling pretty heavy, so it was a good surprise to see my Rainier cherry tree break into blossom, and the little hummingbirds can not leave it alone.

I’m ready for some rejuvenation, the hope in falling leaves of new birth, the unexpected flowering.

Poet Friend Visits, Flower and Pumpkin Farms, and Red Moons with Wildfire Smoke

Zinnias with wildfire smoke sun, McMurtrey’s

Wildfire Smoke, Red Moons, and Other Signs

September began with odd signs: red moons, smoke-smothered skies. Are we done with the apocalypse yet? I stayed inside the house most of the week, asthma and itchy eyes keeping me from my beloved garden. It is now said that we have three seasons instead of two in the Pacific Northwest, instead of Rain and Summer we have Rain, Summer, and Smoke. It definitely has been the case the last few years. September is usually a hopeful time for me, but it was hard to get into a better mood trapped in the house and feeling overwhelmed by the heat and heaviness of the air, not to mention the news. (Getting rid of all vaccines in Florida? That’ll be great for Americans’ health. Just kidding.) Tonight is a total lunar eclipse, a Blood Corn Moon, though we won’t see in here in North America. I can still feel the eclipses though—something about them makes me uneasy, jittery. If eclipses are a portent, what are they portending? Will it finally be something good?

Red moon, September

September 2nd was the book launch for our friend Martha Silano’s Terminal Surreal, which was online, and at which many people read Martha’s poems from the book since Marty is no longer with us. It was also Martha’s birthday. A reminder to celebrate your friends as much as you can while they are alive. I also thought about the fact that so many people talked about how much they loved Marty’s work—after she was dead. It would have been much appreciated while she was alive, I am sure. Writers rarely hear from their fans, until they are very famous, and often can’t tell if their work is reaching anyone or not. The last Best American Poetry was published that day as well, after announcing the series was ending. NEA grants and BAP going away? I don’t know if fewer accolades make for fewer readers or not. How do you find the poets and authors you love? Bookstore strolls? Reading reviews? Reading anthologies? Another thing to think about.

Kelli and I with dahlias, McMurtrey’s

Poet Friend Visits and Flower/Pumpkin Farms

In happier news, my poet friend Kelli Russell Agodon and her husband Rose came out for a visit and after brunch we made a field trip to McMurtrey’s where we saw gigantic pumpkins, tons of dahlias and sunflowers, and cut bouquets to bring home. It was nice to be outside right as the smoke started to subside, and the rain came back – which hopefully will help all the wildfires. I got to talk about poetry and enjoy fall blooms and, you know, try to do that thing where you celebrate the good things in life: friends, flowers, etc. Glenn’s credit for the photos.

McMurtrey’s Red barn, zinnias, and pumpkins

Today the air was finally clear enough to not even worry about carrying my inhaler or wearing a mask outside, and we took advantage of it by going out to another farm – Bob’s Corn and Pumpkin – and came back with a brand new batch of just-picked apples, sunflowers, and corn, as well as mustard, jam, and pickles. I also got to visit a bookstore for the first time in a long time which cheered me up as well. Just being around books makes me feel better, and seeing other people reading books. I’m such a nerd, right?

It was also cool enough to need a jacket, and that along with the pumpkin viewing put me in the right fall mood, I think. I will try to think positively, write poems, send out work, and finish the contest judging I’ve got in front of me. If the smoke and heat stay clear long enough, maybe my brain will function well enough to actually do those things. Many people with MS curse the summertime, with good reason – all that heat and sun short-fuse our systems. But fall is a season we can love, so long as it doesn’t mean everything’s on fire.

Happy September! Last Days of Lavender Gardens and Hot Air Balloons, Judging Poetry Contests, and Preparing for Fall

Happy September! Last Days of Lavender Gardens and Hot Air Balloons

This week was more gentle than the last few, despite some smoke and haze in the air keeping me from getting out as much as I wanted to. We visited McMurtrey Farm flower field just as a hot air balloon took off from just across the river (shot at left) among the sunflowers, and the next day we went to say our goodbyes to the local Lavender Farm (until September 20th, when it reopens as a local Pumpkin Farm!) We took home dahlias and daisies and sunflowers, enough for two bouquets and one for our neighbor. In boring homeowner news, we had our asphalt driveway repaved, which was too expensive, but I guess our HOA requires it now? I am reminded that homeownership is full of unexpected costs. But it is beautiful here. The hummingbirds are busy in the garden, as are the wasps, and baby chickadees, flickers, and Stellar’s jays. Below are some pictures from McMurtrey, which also becomes a pumpkin patch soon (and then a Christmas tree farm!)

And from the last day at JB Family Growers Lavender Farm:

Preparing for Fall, and Judging Poetry Contests

Although it’s still warm (with wildfire smoke), fall is approaching, and I’m already ready for dishes featuring delicata squash and our late-harvest corn. Getting the house ready for more visitors, I’m also trying to make space for my books (which my unread stack is now big enough for its own Ikea bookshelf) and changing up decor. My latest stack of books includes collections of ghost stories from other cultures, which should be fun. Our winery book club is reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for September, a book referenced by so many of our recent club picks, it’s amazing. Were we all super spellbound by that book as teens, and now it’s creeping into our selections?

I’m also judging yet another poetry contest, this time for the SFPA. I judge contests once or twice a year, and I always wonder if people are sending their best work. I don’t send to many individual poetry contests, but I’ll tell you this—you probably have more of a shot than you think. You never know what an individual judge will like. And don’t take not winning personally. Who knows what any judge will like or dislike?

I’m also getting ready to get into poetry submission mode, as I haven’t been sending out poems much in the last few months. Too busy? Too discouraged? Feeling like poetry is maybe a waste of my time after twenty years and feeling like maybe I should switch genres? Maybe a little of each. September is a month of renewal, after all, with its shades of new pencils and new sweaters and of course, more new books. Housecleaning, closet cleanouts, and yes, taking stock of our writing and deciding where to spend our time and energy, with bouquets of dahlias and sunflowers around the house and pumpkin apple muffins in the kitchen.