When my space is cluttered, I have a harder time thinking and, thus, writing. I need a clear physical space before I can clear my mind and focus. If I am surrounded by stuff, my mind jumps back and forth between what I want to write and a deep need to put things away and “line up my pencils.”

“Once Just the Girls was printed and delivered, the cover was what captivated people. The woman depicted is strong, resilient, confident, and sassy. In her eyes you can see that she has “been around the block”—but experiences have not broken her. Rather, they have made her even more capable of tackling whatever life throws her direction. She perfectly represents the poems I wrote for the book.” (author Pam Anderson).

In the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic, CVNP trails have been a lifeline to people who are weary from social distancing and who long for closer interactions with others. With most travel curtailed; dining inside with friends and family restricted; shopping indoors at crowded malls limited; and attending people-packed concerts, sporting events, and theatrical performances minimized, we are anxious to stretch our legs, our minds, and our hearts.

Too often, Ohio is disparaged for its less-than-perfect weather, rust-belt identity, pot-holed streets, and depressed cities and towns. People who do not live here may fail to see the many positive aspects of Ohio. In particular, I speak of Northeast Ohio, where I was born, raised, and have spent most of my life.

Have you noticed that the world is in the midst of a pandemic? Holy cow! It’s tough to stay home—jettison vacations, avoid indoor dining at restaurants, eschew family visits and hugs—but getting the Coronavirus would be even more of a challenge. So…hiking, reading, writing, and gardening have taken bigger roles in my life. And, honestly, it’s a welcome change from the busyness that always seemed to occupy my days.

I met author Jennifer Ann Shore when she was a senior at Kent State University and editor-in-chief of the University’s student-produced magazine The Burr. It was 2011, and I was fulfilling my MFA internship requirement by working with Jennifer on the magazine.

I do not remember when Last Exit Books initially opened its doors in Kent (turns out, it was 2004). Before that happy day, I had been perfectly satisfied with Heartland Books and Archer’s Used and Rare Books; however, both bookstores closed. Replacing them were Last Exit in the Heartland space, and an ever-changing bunch of stores in the Archer’s spot.

Why am I drawn to the artwork created by San Francisco artist Darren Sears? What is so compelling in his fractured, surreal landscapes? Am I calmed by the green and blue colors that often dominate his canvases? Do I drop into his strange environments or do I feel like a bystander trying to understand something that is strangely familiar?

When I was young, I benefited from having older, wiser, more experienced (and talented) women who mentored me. No matter where I landed, there always seemed to be another woman who “took me under her wing.” I learned so much from these generous, smart women! How to dress professionally…How to tip…How to greet strangers and make them feel welcome…How to work with boards (initially, boards were populated by white men in suits! No diversity to be found…)…How to travel…the list goes on and on.

When looking for a press where I felt comfortable submitting my manuscript, “Just the Girls: A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies; A Drift of Honeybees,” I specifically researched female-directed presses where I believed my poems would be read and considered with the most thoughtful care.

I am wildly excited that The Poetry Box Press has published my poetry chapbook: Just the Girls: A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies; A Drift of Honeybees. Scheduled for release in mid-August 2020, this book is a culmination of many years of writing and thinking about the ways in which various women in my life have influenced, helped, and supported me.

An Appreciation for the Talents of a Young Poet
Poet Dom Fonce’s poetry chapbook—Here, We Bury the Hearts (2019; Finishing LinePress)—captivated me as much for the razor-sharp poems as the fact that Fonce’s youth (in hismid 20s) belies the maturity of his writing.

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I love works of fiction. And, so, even though I typically focus on poetry in this blog, I find myself thinking about one of my favorite books: The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern (published in 2011 by Doubleday).

Laugh out loud. Go ahead. Take a deep breath—pause—and laugh.

Moroccan Holiday by Lauren Tivey (published in 2020 by The Poetry Box Press) is no holiday, but this poetry chapbook is gorgeous and heart wrenching. In brief, it tells the “story” of a married couple journeying to a far-away land as the husband relapses into alcoholism.

The original fairy tales written by The Brothers Grimm were not all sunshine and lollipops; rather, there are many brutal scenes and cautionary tales told in gruesome detail. Today, gory details have been sanitized to make stories more palatable to parents whose small children consume them with eager delight.

If I died tomorrow, I would want someone to read “The Wild Iris” at my funeral (from Louise Gluck’s The Wild Iris, published in 1992 by HarperCollins). “At the end of my suffering/there was a door./Hear me out, that which you call death/I remember.”

Is it an unforgivable gap in my education that I did not realize there were many Trails of Tears? When I recently read Joy Harjo’s thought-provoking poetry book—An American Sunrise…

Maggie Anderson’s wonderful poetry book, Dear All, (published in 2017 by Four Way Books) is a book to which I often return when I want to find a bit of solace.