Richard Hugo’s thoughts, musings, advice, rules, exercises, and encouragements in The Triggering Town are all about getting us to dare to seek and find, to mine and discover our individual paths into the—and our—language.  read more »

I was mostly “underwhelmed” by Elizabeth Alexander’s poem written for the occasion of Barack Obama’s inauguration. I’m sure this has something to do with her spot in the lineup on the program: directly after the Inaugural Address. For my money, the musical soundtrack of the day—from Aretha’s soulful freedom aria to Beyoncé’s heartfelt rendering of the Etta James classic,“At Last”—was where the real poetry was.  read more »

Is it me or does life’s decibel level seem to increase exponentially during the December holidays? It’s not only the music—“Frosty the Snowman” to a reggae beat or the Chipmunks’ version of “Jingle Bells.” Whenever I venture out and about in the world, I encounter more people, more cars, more honking and squealing, by far and away, more noise, noise, noise.
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