Upcoming Reading with Jack Straw, Unreasonable Hope (in Hard Times), Meanwhile Cherry Blossoms

Upcoming Reading with Jack Straw April 24

Jack Straw, the program for writers, has decided to do a Jack Straw Alumni Poetry reading series celebrating those of us with books that have come out in the last year or so and I will be part of it! On April 24th at 7 PM at the Jack Straw Cultural Center in Seattle, I’ll be reading with other great writers (and friends), and the host will be Kathleen Flenniken. I hope you can come out!

I haven’t done a live reading in a little while (save an open mic at my book club recently) and I’m a little nervous. Then the next day I have a virtual class visit that I’m really looking forward to!  It’s a reminder that even with everything going on, April is still poetry month.

Unreasonable Hope (in Hard Times)

Sometimes life requires perseverance and hope that is not logical.
I planted this cherry tree after I was diagnosed with terminal cancer and then MS, after the 2017 solar eclipse. Now it is over 20 feet tall and in bloom.
The day I took this picture, a few days ago, I was told by one of my doctors I should stop trying to make money and go on disability (not an easy process—or one I want to go through at this point), then went to the book club I curate for a Woodinville winery where we did a book-club open mic and I stayed late until the stars came out, and I looked up and saw a crescent moon weirdly aligned with a bunch of planets. I felt alive and connected to my community and able to contribute.
Today’s news with “WWIII” trending on Twitter and the threat of global war seems very dark, and outside of my control.
Sometimes you have to continue on with life even when confronted with things that could leave us feeling that hope is unreasonable. Sometimes it’s important to call the people you love just to tell them you love them. It’s important to plant something that looks like a small dead stick in the ground and hope something will come of it. The world feels hard and unforgiving right now. If it feels that way to you, too, you are not.

Meanwhile, Cherry Blossoms

Today we had a breath of real spring—above 50°F, finally, some sunshine, and the final set of cherry trees responded accordingly. Today, Glenn and I drove around to look at different patches around our side of town, and along the way we stopped to get flowers and go to the bookstore where I noticed all these children of different nationalities, speaking different languages, and the harassed parents running after them, and it felt like: all people don’t want to kill each other. People just want to give their kids ice cream and walk in the sunshine with the cherry blossoms. And I felt, briefly, illogically happy. No one reports: peace breaks out unexpectedly! Some place was blaring “La Vie en Rose.” Anyway, every day can offer these brief glimpses into an alternate universe, but we have to keep looking.