“Drexler’s collection Before There Was Before collects memory, winds it into words and brings its readers back to before and still before where they will continue to recognize themselves in the narratives no matter the century. Whether it is a comment on Victorian jewelry, the death of a mother elephant, a bothersome insect, or the fragility of Earth’s very existence, Drexler’s words ask us to examine these atoms and to treasure them for however long we may have.” To read more:

https://solsticelitmag.org/content/before-there-was-before-by-wendy-drexler/

I’m perched on the edge of the new year, and grateful for the journey.

Happy New Year 2018!

Here’s a poem for the waning days of 2017. “Closing the Loop on the Year” first appeared in The Hudson Review. At this time of year, I buy a new desk calendar, even though I now keep a digital calendar as well, and I transfer with colored markers all the birthdays of family members and friends from last year’s calendar to the new one, adding notes for concerts, doctor’s appointments, poetry readings, the dates taxes are due.

Thanks to everyone who’s visited my website in 2017, and I hope you’ll come back in 2018. Happy New Year to all!

Closing the Loop on the Year

Snow clings to shingles. I riffle December

pages of my calendar—coffee-stained days,

bills paid, to-dos and past dues,

the late tracery of time spent, nearly

forgotten. I peel

the cellophane from the new calendar, turn

the blank pages. I want another year, oh yes.

And another after that. I want

tenacity like the dogwood outside my window,

preparing to stay, bare branches huddled hard

against the side of the house—

the one shoot that races straight up

from the middle of the crown—

brown umbel with its parasol of stalks,

each stalk capped with a pink bud

ready to be struck into white stars,

on whose account, by May,

the whole branch will tremble.

 

With thanks to Doug Holder

I’ll be reading tomorrow with Susan Edwards Richmond at the Concord Free Public Library, 129 Main St., Concord, as part of the library’s Thoreau Bicentennial. I’d be delighted to see you there! Easy parking and refreshments. More details on this link and by clicking the site link at the top of the page.