Or perhaps the last laugh… I’m having great fun with my 2024 NPM project. I’m writing daily (mostly privately), and…audiencing. After ten years of public projects, when I never managed to both write AND appreciate the writing of others, it feels good to spend time each day reading, appreciating, and being inspired by all you’ve been up to! (If I’ve missed yours, leave a link in the comments!) This poem was inspired by the villanelle Tanita wrote this week. She compared the experience of writing a villanelle to the Poetry Sisters’ recent writing of another form with repeating lines — the panto ..read more

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share. Slices of life — onionskin thin just as fragrant — redolent tantalizing back porch eclipse watch astronomical magic transformed our world reading Jane Hirschfield before my own pencil moves — aspirational Louder Than Hunger* Jake silences The Voice claims self-worth *If you haven’t read this book yet, move it to the top of your TBR ..read more

I gave the Inklings their challenge this month. I asked them to “Write a haiku sequence that talks about poetry without mentioning it by name. Here is your mentor text.” I initially approached the challenge in an entirely left-brained way. Not surprisingly, my attempt fell flat. Once I got that out of my system, I was able to write poetically about writing poetry. Here’s how the rest of the Inklings met my challenge: Catherine @Reading to the Core Heidi @my juicy little universe Linda @A Word Edgewise Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone Margaret @Reflections on the Teche Irene has this week’s Poetry ..read more

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share. Too. Much. Rain. We had probably 1.5″ yesterday, and so far this morning 1.75″ with more forecast for today, tomorrow…all the way through to Friday, with a brief respite before it clouds up again on Monday for the eclipse. “Lake Easement” has engulfed both back beds… …but our neighbor has it worse. Here’s my haiku for today: aftermath robin song signals respite it won’t last ⓒMary Lee Hahn, 2024 ..read more

photo by David Lei, via Associated Press I was as mesmerized by the story of this unlikely hero as many New Yorkers were. And I was as devastated by his death. The necropsy report was recently released, showing that he had high levels of rat poison in his system, along with a severe pigeon virus. Both of which likely contributed to his demise. Is the vandal who slashed open Flaco’s enclosure at the zoo responsible for his death, or for his incredible final year of life? Would as many people have pondered the importance of The Wild if Flaco had remained in his cage? How can we refocus this att ..read more

Yesterday, Maggie Smith (the poet) wrote a column entitled “Cross-Pollination.” In it she said, “It often feels magical to me, the way our work is constantly in conversation — with the work of others, and with the work we’ve done before, with the world we live in. Everything touches.” Maggie Smith I read this quote after everything else happened. It gave me goosebumps. Here’s what happened. First thing yesterday morning, I read this poem by Jane Hirschfield in THE ASKING. Next, I wrote this cherita in response: After I added the cherita to my IG stories and the Stafford Challenge 2024 colle ..read more

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share. It’s Election Day in Ohio. My third election serving as a roster judge. I woke up before my 4:00am alarm, dreaming strange dreams about my first apartment. I have to be on site at 5:30am. My tea is brewing as I write. I will spend the day greeting folks from my neighborhood/area — the ones who didn’t vote early and who will bother to come and voice their preference for presidential candidate (even though that’s already been settled) and for judges and other o ..read more

Christmas Hellebore in December Christmas Hellebore in January (and she’s STILL blooming in March!) Under the oak. Such a beauty! A daily cherita… Before I planted helleboresI never noticed them.NowI see them everywhere.What else have I been missing?(c) Mary Lee Hahn, 2024 I’m going to feast my eyes on all the early bloomers in the next couple of days: forsythia, dogwood, magnolias, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, and of course, all the hellebores. Because Sunday through Thursday next week the nighttime temperatures will be in the twenties. Before we get there, though, we’ve got to live thro ..read more

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share. Ten days ago, I moved an item from my bucket list to my treasured memory list. In a cold rain in the pitch-dark of nearly-bedtime on a boardwalk over a tiny patch of bald cypress swamp with a red light flashlight I met my very first in-the-wild spotted salamanders. These were salamanders returning, as all salamanders do, to the vernal pool where they were born. As adults, they live in burrows in the nearby woods. Salamanders respond to soil temperature to let them know ..read more

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share. It’s like riding your bike up the street past the high school towards the swimming pool and seeing the parking lot full of cars. Which is odd, because there’s usually like three cars — just the high school lifeguards who get there early to check the chemicals and maybe vacuum some of the gravel out of the bottom of the pool after last night’s thunderstorm. Rescue a few critters and skim a bunch of crickets before the summer swim team practices. It’s like walking up to ..read more