A couple of months ago, I drove my husband, Joe, to Abington, Virginia, where he was presenting a workshop on Mindfulness. I drove, so that he would be free to prepare his presentation and then have time to rest before giving it. Now it was his turn to drive me – to the Franklin County […]
If you don’t understand yourself you don’t understand anybody else. ~ Nikki Giovanni Years ago, I audited a creative writing class at Virginia Tech, taught by renowned poet Nikki Giovanni. I remember my excitement when I learned the word “audit” and what it meant, apart from its IRS context: that you could sit in […]
Many of the best moments in my life have happened spontaneously. Last weekend at Floyd Fest was no different. Julie Hauserman, a Florida-based journalist and radio personality (pictured here), happened to be camping across the path from the Floyd Fest Poet Tree, a volunteer soap box stage for spoken word readings, located under an apple […]
My brother Jim, who was a lover of storms, was more at home with the elements than he was with people. As the stories progressed, his essence began to emerge as the mysterious changing qualities of the moon. Dan was compassionate and generous. His bright light was personified by the sun. A silver and gold […]
“I heard your Mother’s Day essay on the radio! Good job!” Rob, the owner of Oddfella’s Cantina said to me as I was coming through the Cantina door on my way to meet my husband for lunch. “It all started with you, Rob,” I surprised him by saying. He looked confused, so I explained. Two […]
I was in the Café Del Sol posting flyers for our Spoken Word Open Mic this Saturday night when I witnessed an actual impromptu purchase of Fred’s new book, Slow Road Home,” at the Café counter. As a friend of Fred’s, an author with a book myself, and a roving blogger who likes to record […]
I’m a weekend writer because a writer’s work is never done. While my husband’s off to a work-day, helping a neighbor put a roof on his house, I’m at home trying to decide the difference between the word “fathom” and “summon.” While he’s at the golf course driving and putting with buddies, I’m trying to […]
When I first moved to Floyd, 21 years ago, it didn’t take me long to look around and say to myself, “I have to learn to make something.” Here in Floyd, what one can make with their hands becomes a currency, whether it be wooden bowls, clothes, flutes, pots, or stained glass. Back then, it […]
AKA: Come to Spout or Hear Others Out. Our monthly spoken word open mic, hosted at the Café del Sol, is spearheaded by the Writers’ Circle I belong to. The idea is to promote the spoken word and create a local forum for all voices. Kathleen, a founding member of our Writers’ Circle, makes up […]
The steep switch-backed descent from Bent Mountain into Roanoke is enough to make a person queasy. I could hear the watch on my wrist ticking as I drove down it on my way to the WVTF Public Radio station to record my latest essay. Resisting the urge to distract myself, I did not turn on […]
My book, “The Jim and Dan Stories,” started with a poem I wrote about being with my brother Danny in the hospital when he was taken off life supports – like taking Jesus off the cross he was nailed to… He died 3 hours later. After the poem, I wrote a tribute about the deaths […]
April is National Poetry Month. With that in mind, I decided to attempt to answer the following questions posed by Carol at A Revision. 1. Where do your poems start? What causes you to sit down and write a poem? Is it a certain emotion? Poetry is a constant in my life. I seem […]
