I can’t say why, but I am sleeping for nine or ten hours each night here. Perhaps it is the total silence or the nearly-total darkness (I leave the night light on in my bathroom, so I don’t become disoriented too badly should I have to get up in the night). Whatever the reason, I am getting ahead for at least two of my personal Three R’s (Writing, Rest, Rejuvenation)—rest and rejuvenation. I am writing, however. Read More
Unmarked Crossings: a poet and her journeys
Day 3, Orcas Island Residency
February 27, 2011
I spent yesterday afternoon at my window in the library, getting into some writing. Although my project ECHO is mostly completed, there are a couple of poems that have eluded me. One in particular has haunted me since I began this project. The Our Lady of the Angels fire occurred in December 1958. Read More
Orcas Island Residency: Spring 2011
February 26, 2011
I’m not sure how it happens, but it seems that I often find myself away from home at this time of year. Last spring I was in North Carolina as the inaugural writer-in-residence at Connemara, the North Carolina estate of my fellow Illinois poet, Carl Sandburg. I lived in the Farm Manager’s Cottage, visiting the goats daily and enjoying the spirit of Sandburg to inspire me. Today I am sitting at a large window in the library of Kangaroo House on Orcas Island in Puget Sound, Washington, awaiting whatever delicious-smelling baked goods will be served momentarily and sipping a cup of excellent coffee (it is Washington State, after all!). Read More