Category: Uncategorized
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A Found Poem About the Power of Writing
I was lucky enough to get to work with 14 amazing creative writers at Community College of Denver this semester. For their final portfolio, they have to respond to this question: Considering what you know about poetry and prose, explain the value of human expression. Why do we–humans–create literary art?…
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Write with me in 2024
I have two classes coming up! Lighthouse Writers Workshop: Poetic Forms. January 11-February 29, 2024, 1 to 3 PM each week. Register here. We’ll explore one poetic form each week, and wrap up the class by creating a brand new poetic form. This is great way to explore the building blocks of…
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Poem of the Week: Days by Phillip Larkin
What are days for? Days are where we live. They come, they wake ustime and time over.They are to be happy in;where can we live but days? Ah, solving that questionbrings the priest and the doctorin their long coatsrunning over the fields. What are days for? Days are where we…
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Stuff I’m Into: Three Terrific Audiobooks
I’ve discovered the secret to reading more, and it’s this: not reading. Kinda. It’s audiobooks. As a child and teen, I read constantly, as much as I could, during meals, in the bathtub, for entire weekends. But as an adult, I rarely sink down into a good book. I wish…
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Poem of the Week: r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r by e.e. cummings
Check out this poem here. Now that you’ve seen it, notice your emotions. I have taught this poem to poets of all ages. The most common emotional response to this poem seems to be rage, followed by determination, followed by delight. Check it out again. What words can you find?…
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Poem of the Week: We Lived Happily During the War by Ilya Kaminsky
Read the poem here. There is much to unpack in this poem, but I am a day late and a dollar short with this post. So just a few thoughts: first, this poem makes me think of the concept that guilt is a choice. It makes me think of how…
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Poem of the Week: The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?Who made the swan, and the black bear?Who made the grasshopper?This grasshopper, I mean-the one who has flung herself out of the grass,the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-who is gazing around…
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Poem of the Week: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
Welcome to “Poem of the Week!” In my new(ish) job as an adjunct instructor at CO School of Mines, I am teaching a course called Nature and Human Values. It’s a interesting mix of about one million topics–ethical frameworks, writing skills, environmental and engineering dilemmas galore–and this semester, I’ve decided…
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Stuff I’m Into: Nonprofit AF
Hello! I’m starting a new and occasional feature of this website called “Stuff I’m Into.” Pretty self-explanatory, yes? Today I’d like to highly recommend Nonprofit AF. Written by Vu Le, this blog comes out Monday mornings and points out inequities in the world of nonprofits and ways to fix them,…
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White Lung featured on Verse and Image
I’m honored that NC poet Bill Griffin featured White Lung on “Verse and Image” earlier this month. He captures my hope for this book so well when he says: “But here is our best chance for hope, for a world where we dig out the pain, find its roots, put…
Kimberly O'Connor 