“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!
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 – ...
The Theology of Not-Yet
It happens this way … I just finished reading Nine Essential Things I’ve Learned About Life by Harold S. Kushner, the author of Why Bad Things Happen to Good People ...
Beware of staring ducks
It happens this way … Yesterday I received my paperback copy of the summer issue of QU, a literary magazine published by Queens University of Charlotte, NC. I knew they had ...
To the last days of August …
It happens this way … Notes from an August Gardener In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. – Albert Camus Sunday ...
Make More Mistakes
It happens this way … Last week’s post about my lying to cover up mistakes uncovered a distant memory. It was 1980 and I was standing at the kitchen sink ...
In Praise of Left Hands
It happens this way … It only took minor minor-surgery to make me realize how important a left hand is. (For all the lefties out there, read “right hand.”) The ...
Changing the Hospital Narrative
It happens this way … I used to hate hospitals. When I was in sixth grade, I fractured an ankle while ice skating on Woodbridge pond on New Year’s Eve ...
The East Coast Diaries, Part VIII
It happens this way … July 5: We left Philly for a final visit with my mom and a delightful lunch with my Mount student Ampy Pikarsky (’72) and her ...
The East Coast Diaries, Part VII
It happens this way … The 4th of July in Philadelphia where it all started! My Mount student Rhonda Fabian (’75) and her husband Jerry met us for front row seats ...
The East Coast Diaries, Part I
It happens this way … The second trip of 2019 took us to New Jersey and Philadelphia. We spent June 28-June 30 at the Mt. St. Mary House of Prayer, a ...
A Sunday Thought
It happens this way … It’s taken me decades to understand that when my poems are rejected by a publication, I shouldn’t take it personally. I’ve learned to breathe deeply, ...
The Maui Diaries, Part 6
It happens this way … May 21, 2019 Ranked one of the ten best aquariums in the country, the Maui Ocean Center in Ma’alaea is a well-planned, well-laid-out ocean-lover’s delight ...
The Maui Diaries, Part 1
It happens this way … May 16, 2019 All I wanted for my 74th birthday was a sunset walk on a Kihei beach. So when Kathy, her mother Patsy, and ...
Celebrating a new neighbor
It happens this way … Last Sunday our new neighbors, a lovely Ethiopian couple, invited us to a party celebrating their daughter’s first birthday. We have known the father for ...
10,000 words about early spring
It happens this way … If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 10,000 words from our April yard. Here’s to an abundant spring time wherever you are! ...
By your students you’ll be taught, Part II
It happens this way … Last Wednesday we completed our third poetry class at Happy Valley Library. These classes were an experiment to see if any one in the local ...
Green Book: a must-see
It happens this way … Rarely does a movie touch, move, and delight me the way Green Book did last night. We picked up the library’s Blu-Ray copy and watched ...
By your students you’ll be taught
It happens this way … Last Wednesday night, I taught the first of three poetry workshops at the beautiful Happy Valley Library. I had expected ten adults to show up, ...
Spring is sneaking in …
It happens this way … Arrival This week Spring smuggled passels of squills and crocuses into our yard. Which means it’s clear-out time for weeds and moss and all those ...
R.I.P., Mary Oliver
It happens this way … Few poets have captured the poetic imaginations of readers around the world like Mary Oliver. Her passing today at the age of 83 unleashed an ...
Changing the narrative …
It happens this way … I’ve never believed in setting goals or making New Year’s resolutions. Too much pressure to succeed and too many disappointments when I failed. However, this ...
‘Twas the Morning Before Christmas
It happens this way … Last Christmas Eve morning, it started to snow. Anyone who lives in this part of the world knows that three flakes are cause for panic ...
The doctor’s doing fine …
It happens this way … There’s nothing like filling out the annual “Medicare Wellness Checkup” list to make me feel great. Here are some of the questions that gave me ...
A Buddhist Detective?
It happens this way … I just started to read a detective series by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay about an ex-Buddhist monk turned LAPD cop turned private investigator. The ...
