Spark and Spitfire

Writing

  • On A Roll

    A couple of weeks ago, the head of marketing for my one client called me and asked, “Is this ‘Drive-Thru Creative’?” I laughed. “I’m serious,” she said, “I don’t know anyone who can come up with a creative idea as… Continue reading

    On A Roll

  • First Lines

    In April, I began an on-line writing course with Natalie Goldberg, whose intensive writing retreats have changed my life. I attended my first retreat with her in March 1996 and the second in 2006 and 2007. At the heart of… Continue reading

    First Lines

  • Ignite 6/7/19

    The 75th Anniversary of D-Day reminds all of us that war and subsequent plundering is hell. Is it possible to find humor in any uprising for liberty? Continue reading

    Ignite 6/7/19

  • On Turning 66

    Today I turn 66 which is meaningful for two reasons: one, I am now eligible for full Social Security benefits.  More significantly, I have now lived my life respecting my lesbianism for as long I as I lived my life fearing… Continue reading

    On Turning 66

  • Ignite 5/17/19

    “Politicians pay more attention to interest groups than to the public interest,” believed Alice Rivlin, an American economist and budget official who was considered an expert on the U.S. federal budget and macroeconomic policy. Rivlin died this past Tuesday at… Continue reading

    Ignite 5/17/19

  • Faces of the Tulips

    Good morning, good morning, good morning . . . and HAPPY EASTER! Last November I planted about 50 tulip bulbs in my front garden in honor of my mother and sister, Karen, believing they would never bloom because the ground… Continue reading

    Faces of the Tulips

  • The Cruelest Month — Part Two

    Stanley Plumly, a poet who served as the poet laureate of Maryland for nine years, died on April 11 from complications of multiple myeloma. He was 79 years old. According to his obituary in the Washington Post, Plumly’s poetry, “drew… Continue reading

    The Cruelest Month — Part Two

  • A Hush Now, Linda Gregg

    Within four days of each other two of my favorite poets have died: W.S. Merwin on March 15, and Linda Gregg two days ago. Gregg was first introduced to me by my late poet friend, Kathy Mitchell, and yesterday, I… Continue reading

    A Hush Now, Linda Gregg

  • Spit in His Face

    “In a rich man’s house, there is no place to spit but his face,” believed the Greek philosopher Diogenes. Dear Readers, I can no longer hold back — I must spit in the face of the current occupant of the… Continue reading

    Spit in His Face

  • Thanks, W.S. Merwin

    W.S. Merwin, whose poems about the fragility of the natural world and the horrors of the Vietnam War earned him two Pulitzer Prizes and made him one of the preeminent English-language poets of the past five decades, died March 15… Continue reading

    Thanks, W.S. Merwin