The only paintingsI’ve ever purchasedare paintings paintedby my painter friend. Aqua Convergencewasn’t the first or the last pieceof his I bought, but it sitsmost prominentlyin my consciousness. I see it every dayand almost every day I will linger in front of itand admire its underwater beauty. His crazy world and mineseem to collide; his art,Continue reading “#549: Living With Aqua Convergence”
Category Archives: Poetry
#548: Why I Am Not A Carpenter
It is not the poem I wanted to write today, but the prompt at NaPoWriMo was irresistible. Why I Am Not A Carpenter –after Frank O’Hara I am not a carpenter, I am a poetand a musician and a teacher. Why? I think I would ratherbe a carpenter, but I am not. Well, for instance,Continue reading “#548: Why I Am Not A Carpenter”
#547: The Art of the Lie
The Art of the Lie I am in full agreementthat John Grant is no namefor a rock star, and yet, he is, nevertheless, a rock star to me,and his most recent album, The Art of the Lie,has been in consistent, heavyrotation. I listened to it todayin the car as I drove to Pure LifeClinic forContinue reading “#547: The Art of the Lie”
#546: Étude for Not Writing a Poem
I don’t know what to say. I have never before, in the eleven previous years of participation in National Poetry Writing Month, experienced such intense internal resistance to writing a poem–ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH! I can’t explain it. Usually I am fired up and I jump out of the starting gate withContinue reading “#546: Étude for Not Writing a Poem”
Two Days Until National Poetry Writing Month: Ekphrastic Fest?
On this 30th day of March, we find ourselves only two days away from National Poetry Writing Month, during which we creative types are encouraged to compose a poem a day every day for the entire month of April. I can safely (but humbly) brag about the fact that I have completed this task ofContinue reading “Two Days Until National Poetry Writing Month: Ekphrastic Fest?”
On the Eighteenth Day of 2025…
…I have broken the record from January 2024 by writing eighteen days in a row toward the goal of blogging every day during the first month of the new year, attempting each day to string together a few hundred to a thousand words that form coherent sentences and ideas. I’ve tried to vary the shoeContinue reading “On the Eighteenth Day of 2025…”
#545: How to Move Forward
Today I spent several hours moving the leaves around the yard.Our house is surrounded by gigantic oaks and every year we get absolutely buried. Because I can only afford to hiresomeone a few times a year, every November I begin the workof prepping for leaf removal by a great and laborious shifting. I blow leavesContinue reading “#545: How to Move Forward”
#544: Dear America, Happy 4th of July
I have startedto despise Bill Maher, but when he sayshe’d rather vote for Biden’s head in a jar than seeTrump in the White House, I’m with himagain. I hate this place, where we are, with this choice, but I know at leastthat Biden is agood man and I am confident he’ssurrounded by menand women whoareContinue reading “#544: Dear America, Happy 4th of July”
#543: On Being Turned Away from the Doctor’s Office for My Blood Pressure Checkup and How That Ultimately Raised My Blood Pressure
I was 15 minutes late. Actually, the truth of the matteris that I was not 15 minutes early. So they turned me away. I knew the expectation. They only sent me three or four reminders, but when your appointmentis for 7:30 a.m.,and you’re supposed to show up at 7:15,when you’re retired, and you want toContinue reading “#543: On Being Turned Away from the Doctor’s Office for My Blood Pressure Checkup and How That Ultimately Raised My Blood Pressure”
#542: On the Note Wendell Hawken Wrote to Me, the One I’ve Been Using as a Bookmark in Her Book of Poems
The note she wrote to me almost a year ago, the one I’ve been using as a bookmark as I’m reading her poems, says: “Michael – thought I was out, but I found one.” Even though it doesn’t take me long to remember what she was trying to say, I love the ambiguity of itContinue reading “#542: On the Note Wendell Hawken Wrote to Me, the One I’ve Been Using as a Bookmark in Her Book of Poems”
michael jarmer 