I’m finishing up the editing details on a short essay. So of course I did grammar check. Now note: I teach writing. So I’m well aware of grammar. But, as a poet, I’m also aware of style. And style trumps formal grammar. For instance: don’t begin a sentence w/ ‘And,’ as I did above. Nor…

 Some days, it helps to remember that we’re all stardust. Really — what we’re made from is cosmic. And that counts for something, surely. So when it’s 96 degrees the first days in June, and the air conditioner is busted (1st world problems…), and I forgot to pick up stuff for a dinner I’d actually…

In a country where we throw away edible food to the tune of 133 BILLION pounds annually, we still have 1 in 6 Americans hungry. And 1 in 4 of them are children. Little kids — like my adored (and well-fed) grandson. You read those figures correctly: “In the United States, 31 percent—or 133 billion…

Today I celebrate two births: my elder son’s and my  mother’s. Bittersweet, remembering how happy Mother was when Nathan was born on her birthday (the REAL Memorial Day, you know!). Family. What really matters. More than almost anything, to those in mine. Of course, we define that wider than blood: the dear friend whom I…

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