“It happens this way” are the opening words from a poem of mine called “A Few Words on Inspiration.” They signal that this blog will share what inspires me to stand up – like poet Galway Kinnell – and say “with as little concealment as possible, what it is for [me] to be on earth at this moment.”
Welcome to the journey!
To resolve or not
It happens this way … I hate New Year’s resolutions. They always seem a set-up for disappointment, guilt, and self-incrimination. Then I came upon this wisdom from Thich Nhat Hanh ...
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The art of feeding birds
It happens this way … One early winter years ago, I felt a twinge of empathy for all the birds scrounging for food around our yard. I hadn’t gotten into ...
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Order Nothing More to Lose
It happens this way… Therese and Carolyn with their preview copies Thanks to all of you who have already pre-ordered Nothing More to Lose, my poetry chapbook based on based ...
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In the Season of Geese
It Happens This Way … Since it’s that time of year when flocks of noisy geese migrate across our skies, I thought I’d reach back to a poem I wrote ...
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Nothing More to Lose
It happens this way … For several years I had been playing with the idea of writing a series of poems based on the journey of a dear friend whose ...
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Permit Me to Scream
It happens this way … The words appeared in the comments section of a Facebook post. The post was a video clip by a black activist who argued brilliantly — ...
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Fresh air, blue skies, and RBG
It happens this way … It’s been months since I opened this page to write a blog. So much has happened since last June — some depressing, some discouraging, some ...
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Calling All Creatives …
It happens this way … Like most of you, I keep searching for ways to stay sane during these challenging times. When I can’t write or garden, I’m out in ...
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Challenges for a Non-Pet Person
It happens this way … My local friends are probably tired hearing about the anxiety I’ve been feeling — not about important issues like the virus or riots — but ...
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Anything Is Possible at 75
It happens this way … I’ve been in love with the dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp ever since I read her book The Creative Habit, Learn it and Use It for Life ...
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Around the corner
It happens this way … One of the minor disappointments during this time of quarantine is not being able to make my annual pilgrimage to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden ...
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A Sunday Thought
It happens this way … Last Sunday at 8:00 a.m. I was standing on a long line of folks waiting to get into Home Depot. Masked and unmasked, we were ...
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An Easter Sunday Memory
It happens this way … In 1970 I was a Sister of Mercy and an English teacher at Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, NJ. When Easter Sunday arrived ...
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Welcome to my new blog site
It happens this way … Why use two sites when one will do? In the name of simplicity and frugality — and with the help of Shawn Aveningo-Sanders, my favorite ...
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Ode to Toilet Paper
It happens this way … Sometimes levity is the best reaction to today’s news. Here’s the lightest of light verse. Ode to Toilet Paper Oh, what enticing names: Angel Soft, ...
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Sharing Sight with Monet
It happens this way … Thanks to Jacinta, Petra, and Aimee for publishing “Eye-minded” in the Spring 2020 issue of their glorious magazine. Snapdragon: a journal of art and healing ...
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Poetry in English and Arabic
It happens this way … Next Saturday, March 7, from 2-4 p.m. the Ledding Library in Milwaukie, Oregon, will host its annual bilingual poetry reading. The event is a collaboration ...
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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
It happens this way … I just finished reading Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. Gottlieb is a therapist who not only shares her experiences with challenging patients, ...
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Turn every day into a Valentine!
It happens this way … When little irritations get in the way, I try to remember what I wrote in this poem. Happy Valentine’s Day –– and may you all ...
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What I Learned from the Presbyterians
It happens this way … On the evening of January 15, while my students and I gathered in our local library for another meeting of the Happy Valley Poetry Society, ...
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The Best 15:54 Minutes You’ll Spend This Year
It happens this way … I’ve taken a break from blogging for a few weeks during this holiday season, not because I was very busy (the holidays were kind and ...
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Away in a manger ten days before Christmas …
It happens this way … One of my goals as a young poet was to rewrite the Bible from a woman’s point of view. Over the years, I’ve slowly accumulated poems ...
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Sunday Evening with Buddha
It happens this way … While doing some research on the Buddha for a poem, I came across a series of his quotations tonight. I thought I’d share some of ...
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What I Just Learned from High School Students
It happens this way … During the past week, Kathy and I had the pleasure of going to Reynolds High School in Troutdale and to David Douglas High School in ...
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Breaking with Charity
It happens this way … By some strange You-Tube happenstance, I came across the conversation Tara Westhover, the author of Educated, had with Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, at the ...
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To All Dog Lovers Out There
It happens this way … A friend just emailed me to say she put down her dog this morning. It was a compassionate thing to do since her sweet pet ...
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SMITTEN: How do we identify ourselves?
It happens this way … There’s a new anthology coming out in a few weeks called SMITTEN: This Is What Love Looks Like from Indie Blu(e) Publishing. It features 120 women, ages ...
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In Memory of 9/11
It happens this way … Here, a Holding On for New York City October 1, 2001 Twenty days of barricades and twos and threes pause on Chambers Street – ...
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