It’s been scarcely three weeks since I sent you an update, but with the holidays nipping at our ankles like a rabid Chihuahua, I thought I would send it a bit early this month. I really haven’t added that much since last month, I’ve spent a lot of the last few weeks grading papers and trying to finish up the semester for my students. Yet, I did manage to add a couple of items.

There is only one new poem this month, Pain Affirming Life. It’s a short poem that came about around the time of my birthday. With that fateful day being in December I sort of get ambushed by the trio of the impending end of the calendar year, the end of a semester at work, and the end of another year of life. Endings usually make me reflect, needless to say, I was in a reflective mood a couple of weeks ago when the muse struck.

A new addition to the Writing Life blog is a short story page. Between grading essays on the US involvement on World War I and preparing final exams, I found time and inspiration to write Hello won’t kill you. It’s my first attempt at short fiction. Please read it and let me know what you think.

I was pretty excited about writing the short story, and was even more pumped when I found a new friend on the internet. We met while admiring each other’s poetry on Myspace.com. Jaime Jeffries is an outstanding poet and writer. I urge you to take a look at Jaime's blog, she writes with a depth of emotion and honesty that I admire. She’s never met me, yet she took the time to act as editor and help me put the story in readable form. I told her that so long as she’s willing, she’s my official editor. Her help was invaluable and any shortcomings that remain are all mine.

Remember, I always appreciate comments, so don’t hesitate to tell me what you like or what you don’t like. Just click on “comments” at the bottom of every item on the blog. I've added a few of the comments I've received at The Poets Workshop, perhaps you might be inspired to leave a few comments yourselves. So, take a break from holiday shopping and bring a cup of coffee and read a bit.

Enjoy the holidays...stay sane.

Technorati Tags: age, friendship, love, poem, writing

Tags: age, friendship, love, poem, writing

As I mentioned last time I’m shooting for a monthly update and here it is. The holidays are upon and I know everybody’s busy. So I’ll hit the highlights. As many of you know last month I sort of widened the “audience” if you will. Even some of my closest friends had no clue that I was writing something other than a money management book or high school lesson plans. The response has been very encouraging from many of you and I truly appreciate that. I did have to field my share of emails from friends asking if I was all right. I guess some of the poetry was a little “heavy” on the sad and melancholy. All I can say to that is, when that’s what the muse gives you…you just have to go with it.

So, in order to show that I do have a fun side, I wrote a little ode to my Morning Cup of Joe. I played with it a bit and although most of my poetry doesn’t rhyme much, this one is my own little ode to Dr. Seuss. Believe me, I fall way short of the good Doctor, but if you put your tongue firmly in cheek, I think you’ll find it funny. The other two new poems, go back to my usual M.O. One poem, The lonely girl was inspired by this student I happen to see almost every day that I walk to my classroom. The other is called Walk Away. I’ll let that one speak for itself. The only curious thing about this one is that it sat in the depths of my laptop for 6 months under a different title. When I rediscovered it, it took 10 minutes to rework and finish it. The muse spoke loudly.

The essay this month, In this season of happiness and joy, is all about happiness…well, not really…more the lack of it and our constant search for it. But I think in it’s own way it’s an affirmation of the human condition. Either that or it’s just me venting on the downside from caffeine high.

One last thing, if you want to expose your kids to poetry, why not make it fun. Check out my Literary website of the month on the main page of the blog. Just scroll down a bit. Or just point your browser to Giggle Poetry. Oh, and if you don’t have kids, check it out anyway; you’ll be smiling in no time.

See? I’m not a downer. I just write that way. ☺

Technorati Tags: determination, friendship, love, poetry, writing

Tags: determination, friendship, love, poetry, writing