Peacock Feather Effie Lee Newsome Heav’n’s deepest blue, Earth’s richest green, Minted dust of stars, Molten sunset sheen, Are blent together On this lithe brown feather, In a disc of light— Lithe, light!
Word of the Week: verisimilitude (vĕr-ə-sĭ-MĬL-ĭ-tōōd) Definition (Noun) The fact or quality of being verisimilar; the appearance of being true or real; likeness or resemblance to truth, reality, or fact; probability. In Context "Today, of course, photographers no longer have such a struggle to achieve verisimilitude, since the camera and lens automatically produce perspectival images, the illusion of depth in photographs." David Bate, Photography: The Key Concepts, 2009.
Prompt for the Week “If we study what we are attracted to, tease out the correspondences, follow the connections, and find the parallels, we make something new—something that speaks to a shared past and idiosyncratic present,” writes Emily LaBarge in a Bookforum review of Moyra Davey’s new essay collection, Index Cards (New Directions, 2020). Write a poem that revolves around a selection of everyday objects that you feel inexplicably drawn to, perhaps a particular pencil or spoon, a favorite mug or lamp, a preferred toothbrush or view from a window. What connections or parallels can you draw between them? How do they exist in [...]
Word of the Week: dudgeon (DŬJ-ən) Definition (Noun) A feeling of anger, resentment, or offence; ill humor. Almost always in phrase in dudgeon, and especially with qualifying adjective, as high, great, deep. In Context "He would stop the music and in high dudgeon inform his musicians that their notes resembled the sounds produced by (to paraphrase his words) a dozen goats flatulating through an equal number of downspouts, a metaphorical description defying need of further exploration." Robert W. Topping, Just Call Me Orville: The Story of Orville Redenbacher, 2011.
Prompt for the Week “However it is encountered, beauty is always an exception, always in despite of. This is why it moves us,” writes John Berger in “The White Bird,” his 1985 essay on aesthetics. Write a personal essay that examines a moment or particular object that you found beautiful during a difficult time in your life. What was this beauty in despite of? Describe the physical and emotional environment that surrounded this object or incident. How did this beauty change your perspective on your situation or on what was going on in the wider world?" (from Poets & Writers)
Praise by Angelo Geter Today I will praise. I will praise the sun For showering its light On this darkened vessel. I will praise its shine. Praise the way it wraps My skin in ultraviolet ultimatums Demanding to be seen. I will lift my hands in adoration Of how something so bright Could be so heavy. I will praise the ground That did not make feast of these bones. Praise the casket That did not become a shelter for flesh. Praise the bullets That called in sick to work. Praise the trigger That went on vacation. Praise the chalk That did [...]
Prompt for the Week “If you’re like me, you may have a tendency to skim over historical passages,” writes Layli Long Soldier in a recent Literary Hub essay about instincts, memory, and the violent history of the United States. “I don’t know why I do this and I don’t like my habit. But I ask you, warmly, to return to accounts from our Lakota ancestors, quoted previously. Take your time. Because, in their words, you may sense an old, yet very present energy.” Begin with a bit of research into a historical event connected to your personal history, taking care to think [...]
This’ll Hurt Me More by Camille T. Dungy Don’t make me send you outside to find a switch, my grandmother used to say. It was years before I had the nerve to ask her why switch was the word her anger reached for when she needed me to act a different way. Still, when I see some branches— wispy ones, like willows, like lilacs, like the tan-yellow forsythia before the brighter yellow buds— I think, these would make perfect switches for a whipping. America, there is not a place I can wander inside you and not feel a little afraid. Did [...]
Word of the Week: rodomontade (rŏd-ə-mŏn-TĀD) Definition (Noun) Extravagant boasting or bragging; bravado; boastful or bombastic language. In Context "Their conversation was interspersed with oaths like minute guns, and every bombastic rodomontade was rounded off by a thundering execration, like a patriotic toast honored with a discharge of artillery." Diedrich Knickerbocker [Washington Irving], A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, 1809.
Word of the Week: garrulous (GĂR-ə-ləs) Definition (Adjective) Given to much talking; fond of indulging in talk or chatter; loquacious, talkative. In Context “This book is like a beloved, garrulous uncle who has no idea when to stop.” Dwight Garner, “Of Women, Politics and Laughs,” The New York Times, January 5, 2012.
