Portrait Poems with Jim Moore

This is the third time I've done it--come home from school, read myself into a nap, and stayed asleep for the rest of the night. The first time was just after we moved into this house. I left the sprinkler on all night. The second time was just before a Loft course on putting together a writing group that works. The third time, this time, was the night before a Loft course on portrait poems.


Today's workshop with Jim Moore was time well spent. I certainly needed the distraction from all the mailbox-watching, phone-watching, email refreshing, MFA scary-dance. This kind of anticipation and expectation can dry up your creativity.



A six hour marathon, a portrait poem boot camp. We wrote in spurts, worked our way through recreating ourselves, our family, strangers passing through our lives. There are seeds of poems in my notebooks, ideas I hope to rework.


Mmm, it was oh so good to be at the Loft today. Little book art, trapped beneath a glass case, exposed brick and letters branded into the floor, banisters to look like pages from a book. I love this place, the way it breathes creation, the way each sheet of paper has significance, potential. Where I feel a little hope in every glancing moment.