I feel years, if not decades, behind where I could have been as a writer had I only been paying attention. I feel as though thirty or forty years have gone by and, somehow, I missed them. For most of us, creating any type of art (writing, painting, music) requires being present in the world….
Category: Writing
Lacks Inner Resources
In the middle of reading some poems by one of my favorite poets, Stephen Dunn, I pause to think about the book as though I might have the skill or ambition to comment on it. I possess neither. I bought the book a few weeks ago when my father and I visited City Lights on…
Frivolous Pursuits?
It’s 8am. I woke up early. I’ve already finished reading a chapbook of poetry. I’ve already written three or four poems. This is a nice change of pace. Mentally, my wheels are spinning as I’m contemplating my tastes in and talent for poetry. What makes a poem good, or at least good to me? The…
Stop Following Me
Not long ago, I logged into my healthcare account to see what I needed to do to get a routine check up, an eye exam, and maybe start the process of getting my shoulder looked at. I’ve been putting these things off. Being the optimist that I am, I had expected to be employed by…
Making It Up As I Go
In my more writerly or creative moods, lots of different things serve as jumping off points for mental exploration. Among the things I’d like to get better at are: turning narrative into poetry, and allowing myself the freedom to play more frequently with words, stories, fact, and fiction. This morning I read the poem “At…
Sluggish Hearts and Swagger: A Breaking Through?
Sunday I wrote. Yesterday I wrote. I wrote a lot. The blog post about the sluggishness of the heart was one of the many attempts I’ve made to stare down the multi-headed and complicated beast of unrequited love, generosity, poetry, waiting, and urgency. It was an admission and a surrender; a breaking down and a…
Writing This Is Boring
This morning I woke up early-ish. Not when my alarm went off, but shortly after. Honestly, I’m not sure I set my alarm. I’m trying to re-establish routines and habits that will facilitate writing or reading or whatever. This is me trying to be a bit more serious about my “craft” and also trying not…
April Urges
Perhaps it was the springtime pagan fertility vibes of Easter. Perhaps it was the beginning of a new month. Perhaps it was because April is National Poetry Month. Perhaps it was the odd coincidence that on Sunday (3/31) I used up the very last page in my writing journal – which, when I looked back,…
Free-ish Association: A Different Type of Practice
Inspired by the prose poems I’ve been reading, I’ve decided to try my hand at free association writing – or something approaching that. This, for me, is yet another attempt at ceding control; another attempt at trying to tap into the raw material of the present moment; another attempt to break down the barriers between…
Reading Poetry (Again)
I’ve been reading poetry again. Reading poetry always sets my mind abuzz about words and purpose and human connection and stories. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but the last few books that I’ve leaned into (My Private Property by Mary Ruefle, Death Prefers the Minor Keys by Sean Thomas Dougherty, and Winter’s Journey…
Read This First: Caveats and Qualifiers
Hey there!
Welcome to TurtleSloth.
Before you come in, I’m going to ask that you take off your shoes and obey all posted signs and placards – by which I mean check your assumptions at the door, but more importantly…
Stymied
I’m stymied. I’ve been writing a lot and getting nowhere fast. As of this very moment (not including this blog post), I’ve written close to 4,000 words spread out across three different draft blog posts. One is about the mental anguish I feel over not being disciplined enough (or perhaps capable enough) to sustain long-form…