and would not scare

it wasn't a skunk, but a raccoon posse. "a pack of bandits" is what my mother would call them. soft and fat, the fur up close, the ringed tails, the clasping paw-hands, half-cat, half-bear. I left a shiny black bag full of trash outside our door; I planned to take it out, but I forgot.

White Bird

I have not been writing because inside my brain the words are all written on top of each other, like the letters overlap and to write requires untangling, unlayering. But I wanted to tell you about the white bird I saw after dark on the sidewalk, by itself, lingering as people rushed by with plastic bags and boots.

There was a tern at the bird center. And J got a new dog; her name is Daisy. Also, after work one day, there was a beautiful, colorful sunset.

advent poems

It's advent over at Delirious Hem. Click on the boxes to get a new poem each day.

Laura Goldstein

Don't forget to check out the awesome new chapbook from HEX PRESSE!

Ice in Intervals by Laura Goldstein




You can also see Laura reading her poetry at the new Rabbit Light Movies.

No Tell Motel

You probably already know that Reb Livingston is awesome. I'm super-stoked to have my poems at No Tell Motel this week. It's also my birthday week, which makes it extra good. xoxoxo

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Nearness

I have been craving a certain type of nearness to things: poems, humans, animals. A sort of companionable nearness more than an intimacy. A nearness that I can maintain -- that will not put me in the position of disappointment. I'm not sure if I can write it. I can write that I have been feeling overwhelmed, swept under, pulled in multiple directions.

thank you

New Issue of Womb Poetry: Skeins and Schisms

featuring work by:

Dorothea Lasky
Helen White
Michele Burnett
Julie Strand
Bonnie Emerick
Kristine Ong Muslim
Melinda Wilson
Tara Betts
Susan Slaviero
Jessica Smith
Amanda Ackerman
Megan Kaminski
Nicole Cartwright Denison
Elisa McCool
T.A. Noonan
Maureen Alsop
Constance Merritt
Talia Reed
Tara McDaniel
Jessica Bozek
Juliet Cook

Check it out!