Or
try. Within two hours, texts from the kids and husband trickled in… “Where are the car keys?” “When
are you coming back?” “I miss you already!” And one graphic photo of a bloody toe…all
gently eclipsed in San Francisco by my brother, his wife and my niece. They
kindly whisked me off for a beer—even though I am not much of
a drinker and fruitflies tend to get the better portion of any quarter glass of wine my
husband pours for me.
But
this was The Trappist, and in the bronze dusk of the unassuming low-lit hallway
that makes the venue so cozy, I converted, sipping a very fine, dark, foaming 8 Wired I-stout, admiring the miniature tree limbs advancing up the wall above us with evenly balanced tendrils.
I was further spoiled each day of my visit--omelets by my sister-in-law, Italian dinner out, and girl-time curing toes of their
winter pall. Finally, by night, in the slightly freaky and deafening silence of putting only myself to bed, I succumbed to the pleasure of losing time between the
covers of The Book of Symbols:Reflections on Archetypal Images, (Taschen), table of contents pulling me
in with incantatory list: Egg, Breath,
Star, Sun, Moon, Crescent, Eclipse, Comet….
The vibrant reds and golds of the changing leaves and sprawling oaks still linger in my mind’s eyes as do the heartprints of the friends and writers circling the workshop table and back room at Coffee Catz, and again, in Berkeley at Moe’s Books, where I had the honor of reading with Ruth Thompson (Woman with Crows) and Michelle Wing (Body on the Wall) to a full house at the invitation of Poetry Flash (which meant lovely introductions for all three of us poets by the generous and thoughtful Richard Silberg and venue set-up and arrangements thanks to Joyce Jenkins).
I
also had the privilege of meeting Don Mitchell (A Red Woman Was Crying) for the first time in
person (after months of email correspondence). Don is the other half of Saddle Road Press (located in Hilo, Hawaii) and the man responsible for the book cover magic and logistics of poems
on the page plus all the hand-holding during the thousand invisible decisions that signal final stages of book-making. Ruth Thompson, pictured here, is
the other half of Saddle Road Press, and the woman responsible for editing November Butterfly and
seeing it through to completion.
I
am in the process of mapping out new book tour events and will announce dates as we confirm them; I am overwhelmingly grateful for the love and support of my family and friends.
Additional Links:
January Blogging Class:
Additional Links:
January Blogging Class:
I’ll
be offering a four part blogging series of classes (from Beginning Blogging to
Advanced Blogging) in person through San Diego Writers, Ink, starting in
January, 2015. Here is the link to the first series of classes for Beginning Bloggers. I welcome bloggers at any point on their blogging trajectory, and
former students are always welcome to join us again for blog support. I tailor
my courses to fit the needs of each forming class.
November Butterfly Prompts:
As promised to workshop participants, I am still writing poetry prompts for the iconics in section 1 of November Butterfly--I will have one up for Nefertiti in the next couple of days. Visit this link to see all ten prompts up so far (from Marilyn to Jeanne d'Arc).
November Butterfly Prompts:
As promised to workshop participants, I am still writing poetry prompts for the iconics in section 1 of November Butterfly--I will have one up for Nefertiti in the next couple of days. Visit this link to see all ten prompts up so far (from Marilyn to Jeanne d'Arc).
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