I had my last drink of alcohol on October 30th before attempting a dry November and embarking on my second effort two years in a row at writing 50,000 words of fiction for National Novel Writing Month. As of this morning, exactly one half of the way through the month, I reached 30,000 words. IContinue reading “16 Days into a Dry November, 30,000 Words into NaNoWriMo”
Author Archives: michaeljarmer
Writing in a Zoom Room with Friends
If there is anything I miss about teaching during the pandemic school shutdown, it’s sitting virtually with a group of human beings I care about, in absolute silence, and in the comfort of my home, while every student in the Zoom Room writes. A silent classroom, no doubt, is better, because not only could youContinue reading “Writing in a Zoom Room with Friends”
It’s Been A Long Time . . .
. . .since we rock and rolled. So long, in fact, that my hair color has changed from purple to blue and then to silver. Apologies to anyone who might have missed me. It was April the last time I posted something new. I’m not including July’s essay “Reflections on 37 Years of Marriage” becauseContinue reading “It’s Been A Long Time . . .”
A Reflection on 37 Years of Marriage
Note: I wrote this little essay one year ago today on the occasion of our 36th year of marriage. At the time I thought it could probably use some revision, and thought that I would later think of other things to say. But I reread it today, on our 37th wedding anniversary, and I thinkContinue reading “A Reflection on 37 Years of Marriage”
#472: When I taught “The Red Wheelbarrow” . . .
Here we are on the last day of National Poetry Writing Month, or, in my neck of the woods, National Write A Sonnet Every Day Month. It has been a trip, to say the least, this project of committing oneself to a particular form over and over. I think I would recommend it. Outside ofContinue reading “#472: When I taught “The Red Wheelbarrow” . . .”
#471: What if May is the new January . . .
Twenty-nine (I) What if May is the new January? How would you move forward if that were true? Think of things you want and those things you don’tAnd make a list or chart to catalogYour life in this moment; don’t forget smallStuff: the dogs, deep breathing, the way it feelsTo put new records on the turntable,Sitting outsideContinue reading “#471: What if May is the new January . . .”
#470: I look up at the index of my life . . .
You would think I might be running out of steam, but after posting today’s poem I looked in at the NaPoWriMo website, out of curiosity, to see the prompt for today, and I could not help myself. The prompt was to write a poem inspired by, modeled after, or found in an index. I thoughtContinue reading “#470: I look up at the index of my life . . .”
#469: I can count on one hand my handy bones . . .
Twenty-eight I can count on one hand my handy bones.They number two or three and that is whyI find myself paying for all kinds of thingsthat other people, like my brother, can Do by themselves for a fraction of the cost.So, I’ll get into trouble, and I tryTo get right by all my deficiencies, Grateful for thoseContinue reading “#469: I can count on one hand my handy bones . . .”
#468: My first year out of a long steady job . . .
If my memory serves me on this lovely spring morning (finally!) I have prefaced almost every single one of my (so far) 27 sonnets for the month of April with a little bit of prose–some context, some notes about process, some observations about the craft of sonneteering. Today, I may have some notes on thisContinue reading “#468: My first year out of a long steady job . . .”
#467: Michael, the archangel, whose essential work . . .
Lo, for the third day in a row the NaPoWriMo prompt suggestion has yielded results for sonnetpalooza. Today’s prompt was to write a portrait poem that focuses on or plays with the meaning of the subject’s name. I decided on self-portrait for this little project–and for some crazy reason, perhaps in keeping with the additionalContinue reading “#467: Michael, the archangel, whose essential work . . .”
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