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Today's poem is an imaginary exploration of that phenomenon by which we measure and organize our lives and aptly begins, "Once upon a time..."

It astounds me how many euphemisms and metaphorical references there are involving the word "time"…

I wrote "Raised in the Shadow" in 1997 and it sold out twice before I stopped reprinting it. At the time, I was single-mindedly focused on being a songwriter, so the successes of my work in poetry didn't impress me…

For most of human history, the old among us were venerated. Their learned wisdom was passed down to the youth. There were rites of initiation. There was mentoring. 

In today's world, the beauty of youth is celebrated above all and…

Long after I'd written "A Walk In The Woods", I found this story about the poet, Rainer Rilke:

"One very dark night, Rilke and two friends perceive the lighted casement of a distant hut, the hut that stands quite alone…

Robert Bly, a National Book Award winner, taught poetry by taking his students out into the fields of Minnesota so they could speak to stones. He is a  lovable and kind straight shooter, a man who doesn't abide fools, and…

Sometimes I think the poem, "This Is Not My Life," was mistitled because, like it or not, it was the life I was living at the time. After 2 years in Nashville, I was flat broke and my songwriting aspiration…

I'm continuing to post a poem every day in celebration of National Poetry Month. Today's poem is "The Way I Love You," the closing poem in "Raised in the Shadow" and perhaps the most hopeful poem in that 24 year…

There was someone in my life many years ago who was a magician, though I didn't realize it at the time. Occasionally, she comes to mind and this is my poem for her.

Have you ever been suddenly awakened from…

If you're anything like me, you keep adding things to the list of things you added yesterday to your list of things to do, even though a half-dozen things from last Tuesday's list of things remain incomplete, pushing the limit…

National Poetry Month continues with another poem from “Raised in the Shadow.” 

You’ve probably heard the old maxim: “What we resist, persists,” found in the I-Ching.

C.G. Jung expanded on this idea. He suggests that as long as we refuse…

Hello Friends. Here we are at day six of our celebration of National Poetry Month with a poem from "Raised in the Shadow."

Tonight is the new moon. It's easy to forget that although we can't see it in tonight's…

Hello friends. Here we are at Day 5 of our celebration of National Poetry Month!

Do you have a vision of yourself living a different life? Simpler, more peaceful, perhaps? Do you ever see that life in your mind’s eye…

Yesterday, I suggested that writing a poem can commemorate an experience such that you can return to it again and again. In fact, some deeply felt experiences are difficult, if not impossible, to describe in a language other than the…

Celebrating National Poetry Month.

William Carlos Williams said: 

                     “It is difficult 
                      to get the news from poems 
                      yet men die miserably every day 
                      for lack 
                      of what is found there.” 

What can be found in a poem? Mary Oliver’s poems…

Welcome to Day 2 of posting a poem a day from “Raised in the Shadow” in honor of National Poetry Month! As always, you can scroll to the bottom of this post to hear me read you today's poem.

 Thanks…

April is National Poetry Month!

Poetry has the power to open you up and suspend time, elevate you. It opens the door into the moment. It's too long a story to tell here, but suffice it to say that my…

Hello friends,

Last night I started reading Louise Glück's "Proofs and Theories -  Essays on Poetry." Of the many books we own of writers writing about writing, "Proofs and Theories," a collection of  her short…

I'm happy to announce that this week Amazon rates "Raised in the Shadow", my life in 25 poems, as #607,825 on their best-seller list. Last week it was rated #3,225,478. For those of you who don't have a pencil and…