Of Poems and Promises, Meatloaf, Memories, and the Pleasures of Failure

No one likes to fail. And yet everyone does, every once in awhile. Falling flat on your face is part of being human, though rarely is it anything but terribly embarrassing and painful. I have enough self-respect (well, enough left these days) to know that not trying — a nonattempt, so to speak — is… Continue reading Of Poems and Promises, Meatloaf, Memories, and the Pleasures of Failure

Fathers and Daughters, by the Book

Recently, I overheard my girls singing the words to “Daughters” by John Mayer. This pleased me, but perhaps not for the reason you’d think. Although I like it when my kids sing, I generally don’t like them singing songs like that written by a guy like this. Nonetheless, I am a big fan of any art… Continue reading Fathers and Daughters, by the Book

Commonplace and Essential: More Poems for People Who Don’t Like Poetry

This is the next installment in our “Janus Series,” in which we are glancing back at a few of our favorite things from 2011 in order to get you excited about what may lie ahead. As always, there’s no rhyme or reason to the order of things; it’s just a jumble of ideas and items,… Continue reading Commonplace and Essential: More Poems for People Who Don’t Like Poetry

‘It Happens Despite Me’: Learning the Lessons of Nearly Meeting Lucille Clifton

All too often, as I’ve come to discover, it takes the death of a writer before I finally take a serious interest in his or her books. Such was the case a few times in the past year or so. After hearing about the death of someone whose work I either knew in passing, such… Continue reading ‘It Happens Despite Me’: Learning the Lessons of Nearly Meeting Lucille Clifton

A Sackful of Ideas for Last-Minute Gift-Giving the Scribbleskiff Way

Dear Reader: How are things with you? We here at Scribbleskiff have been very busy lately, preparing for and trying to enjoy the holidays. We’ve been trimming trees, decking halls, lighting lights, as well as reading, listening, sipping, supping, and writing ourselves silly. We ought to change our name to “Scrabbleskiff” it’s been so frenetic… Continue reading A Sackful of Ideas for Last-Minute Gift-Giving the Scribbleskiff Way

April's New Poems Continue to Bloom, Even in June

Perhaps T. S. Eliot was right. April can be one of the cruelest months, especially if you are trying to keep up with the deluge of new poems and poetry books. You see, several years ago, I signed up to allow press releases, newsletters, news alerts, and suchlike other electronic detritus to rain down on… Continue reading April's New Poems Continue to Bloom, Even in June