Letter from Uncle Dean
Over the past 16 years, I’ve carried on a letter exchange with my uncle Dean. In these letters, Dean introduced me to the life of a poet–to the challenges, and …
Seth’s Yogurt Mask
Regular readers might remember my post: What This Hideous Rash on my Face Taught Me. I talked about a rash–what I had thought was seborrheic dermatitis. Taking steroids to treat …
Tu Fu’s “By the Winding River”
This is from Kenneth Rexroth’s wonderful book of translations, One Hundred Poems From the Chinese. I keep the book around like a talisman, and take it out when I feel …
What This Hideous Rash on my Face Taught Me
This October I developed seborrheic dermatitis on my face. I’ve had it before, to varying degrees, and each time it returns I feel a renewed sense of dejection. It’s angry …
Be Still, My Shark-Filled Heart
Heading out of the beach town, Stone Harbor, the Stone Harbor Boulevard cuts a thin strip of road through a salt marsh. It’s a beautiful, mystical strip, dotted with marinas, …
Sweat, Muscles, and Starbucks: My Local YMCA
About two years ago, a tall, serious-looking Asian man walked into the gym at my local YMCA. He was wearing a full-length red sweatsuit and drinking a Starbucks coffee. He …
Great Writing Speaks from the Heart
Last January, after I came home from winter residency at my MFA program, I fell ill with bronchitis. My doctor prescribed antibiotics. I suffered a gripping moral dilemma. I called …
Letters to my Wife
I looked over some of my letters today (Karen’s kept them all, a hundred or more, bundled neatly in a shoe box).
In Defense of Self-Portraits
“Having never met you before but already hating your guts. It must be your picture.” ~A recent anonymous blog comment on this blog. I’ve been taking self-portraits for a few …