Thankful Thursday: Bok Choy

Why wait 'til November? 

Because gratitude begets appreciation, which creates joy, I'm making every Thursday a day of thanks. Let the gratitude begin! 

On this Thursday, I give thanks for: 

Bok Choy and Beets
I've always wondered what to do with these dark, colorful jewels of nature. Thanks to an abundance of veggies from Gathering Together Farm, I am sauteing up a storm of fresh food. A weekly share of farm-fresh goods saves me from my usual routine of taste-less, nutrition-less plastic bag salad.

June Gloom
I'm not really thankful for this oppressive Juneary weather we're having on the Oregon Coast but the static gray skies have coaxed me to write (too many) pages bemoaning our summer-less weather. While the poems may be dreadful, the act of writing is good exercise. Surely some 'good' stuff will emerge from this muck.   

This Emotional Life
This fascinating PBS series explores our brains and how we handle love, fear, attachment and more. And I am thankful to Netflix, which continually connects me to fresh films and ideas. 

The Ten Year Nap
How did I miss this novel when it was published in 2008? I fell upon the book last week and can't put it down. I read it in the bathtub, while waiting for my car's oil change, and late into the night. The Ten Year Nap, by Meg Wolitzer, is a rich, observant and layered examination of four women as they struggle through mid-life marriage, family and choices. 

Please join me in Thankful Thursday. For what do you give thanks today? 

And the winner is . . .

 . . . Nancy Carol Moody 

Congratulations Nancy, you are the lucky recipient of Pacific by Ce Rosenow.

Many thanks to all the readers and writers and poet appreciators who entered the drawing (via email and blog). Your participation is much appreciated.  

Pacific — my newest favorite book of poems —  can be purchased at Mountains & River Press. 

I'm an old writer

"Older writers use too many dashes (both en and em), structure a piece in longer paragraphs, put “the end” or a dingbat after the last line, submit work that has been meticulously proofed, sometimes set up their email cover notes to look like traditional business letters, and are often extremely well-mannered."

Guilty. I do it all.  And, until now, I thought these were marks of a professional.  Turns out, it can "backfire with a much younger editor who is used to abbreviated quick-fire notes, interprets politesse as unnecessary blather, and sees a long missive as nothing more than a time suck."

Writer Lisa Romeo offers some (painful) insight on her blog, Lisa Romeo Writes. 

Read it and let me know: Are you weeping or cheering? 

A for accomplishment

Maybe every graduation is tinted with transformation.

From preschool to college we are eager to mark transitions. Mothers cry with pride — My baby! — and with incredulity — All grown!

I’ve been to a handful of graduation ceremonies and I’ve purchased dozens of graduation gifts. Sometimes I search out the perfect token but too often it’s been an obligatory offering. I’ve felt some emotion, sure, but from a distance. A sort of good-for-you lukewarm applause.

I never felt the awe of accomplishment. Until the other night. 

There were no gowns. No gifts. No long-winded speeches.

Just four adults waving certificates and sharing a sheet cake.

Just four graduates — circled by two parents, two children, a boyfriend, and the volunteers who helped them achieve their GEDs.  

Seashore Family Literacy's first GED graduates“This is the first goal I accomplished in my life,” said the 40-year-old mother of two.

“I feel amazing!” said the 19-year-old who had dropped out of high school, refocused, and now held a diploma.

“I wanted to do better for my kids,” said the 43-year-old single mother, choking back tears.” I didn’t have time. I didn’t have money. There were so many obstacles. I waited a long time. If it wasn’t for this program, I could have never have done this.”

There was no theme music. No celebratory toasts. Just an infectious joy that made everyone — from the tutors to the new students just starting to study — feel a jolt of hope.

For an hour, in a small room of an old school, we were collectively lifted in a transformation. As if, at the same time, and with fierce pride, we each held a new truth:  If Angie, Ashley, Heather and Kristi can soar over life’s many obstacles, maybe I can, too!

Fast Five with Ce Rosenow

gratitude

a bit of sea foam

in my open hands

Because a few direct questions can lead to endless insight, I'm happy to present Fast Five — short interviews with my favorite writers.  Sure, life is short but who doesn't have time for five questions — and a chance to win a great book? (To win, simply post your name and contact info in the comments section below. Your name will be entered in a random drawing to win Pacific by Ce Rosenow). 

Our first Fast Five is with Ce Rosenow, president of the Haiku Society of America and the publisher of Mountains and Rivers Press. She lives in Eugene, Oregon where she teaches writing and literature at Lane Community College and the University of Oregon. Pacific is her fifth poetry collection.  

In the introduction to Pacific, Michael Dylan Welch says, “The greatness of the ocean is at once calming and frightening, repelling and attractive, and these poems dwell in such tensions.” What influences or inspirations led you to poetry?

I think the primary reason I was drawn to poetry was a combined love of language and realization that some kinds of knowledge and understanding are beyond the scope of language. Poetry not only accommodates those two responses to language but embraces them.

Why haiku?  What is it about this form that interests you?

Reading and writing haiku has the potential to become a life philosophy or a life practice. Haiku focus on a single moment and draw our attention to very specific happenings within that moment. So much of my work outside of haiku involves analysis. Recognizing haiku moments and writing haiku to convey them offer a balance to my analytical work by encouraging me to stay present and attentive to the individual moments I experience. 

so many stars

so much I don't know —

winter night

When we met at the Poets’ Concord in Newport, Oregon, we briefly discussed the haiku. Modern haiku is not constrained to the traditional 5-7-5 syllable format. Would you share more about what makes a poem a haiku?

There are so many different approaches to writing haiku in English. Personally, I am drawn to haiku that use images of two simultaneously-occurring events and suggest the interconnectedness of things. At least one of the images is of nature. The internal comparison, or the relationship between the two events, is also central for me in haiku. The poems can either follow a fixed syllable count or, more commonly, no syllable count at all, and I appreciate haiku that effectively utilize a pivot line so that there is some sense of surprise at the end of the poem. There are several books that explain in varying degrees of detail the different approaches to haiku, but I’ll just mention two: The Haiku Handbook by William J. Higginson (now available in the 20th anniversary edition) and Haiku: A Poet’s Guide by Lee Gurga.

What poets and writers would you like to emulate? 

I’m afraid I could produce an endless list of writers whose work includes things I admire. I do know that I am particularly drawn to writers who combine their interests in writing, editing, and translating, as well as in publishing the work of other poets. Cid Corman is a wonderful example of someone who dedicated his life to poetry. He wrote poems on a daily basis and engaged for decades in editing, translating, and publishing, as well.

arguing 

on the windy beach . . .

sand in my teeth

You are an accomplished poet, teacher and publisher, and have taken part in numerous readings and interviews. What question hasn’t been asked that you’d like to answer?

What a great question! My answer relates to my previous comments about writers I would like to emulate. I think it would be interesting to be asked about the relationship between writing, researching, teaching, editing, translating, and publishing. All of these things are in conversation with one another. They allow me to come at ideas and the expression of ideas through language from so many different perspectives, and those perspectives inform the ways in which I make poems.

To win Pacific, poems by Ce Rosenow, add your name and contact info in the comments section below. Feeling shy? Email me!:  dcm@drewmyron.com

Your name will be entered in a random drawing. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 23rd.  

Update on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 10:15AM by Drew

And the winner is . . . . 

Nancy Carol Moody 

Congratulations Nancy, you are the lucky recipient of Pacific by Ce Rosenow.

Many thanks to all the readers and writers and poet appreciators who entered the drawing (via email and blog). Your participation is much appreciated.  

Pacific — my newest favorite poetry book —  can be purchased at Mountains & River Press.