Wendyrw619

LATEST ARTICLES ( 72 )

• Are You Listening?

  

  I’ve been fighting with my friends a lot lately.  And my family members.  And, well, my husband, too.  The subject of the fights is the surveillance of American... Read more

  Posted on 18 June 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• A Poetry Pep Talk – On Writing and Subversion

  This post is a little longer than usual. Actually maybe a lot longer. But, last weekend, I had the great good fortune to give the opening talk for the Atheneum... Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• On Being a Coward in the Face of Courage

  

  The Honorable Tammy DuckworthYesterday, I flew across the country for the first time in—what for me has been—a long time.  The last three years have been a... Read more

  Posted on 22 May 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Artist. (There, I Said It.)

  

  Picasso, now he’s an artist.While I was waiting for my daughter to finish softball practice the other night, I ran into two dear friends strolling around the... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Citizenship Begins at Home

  

  B StrongIn my line of work, we talk ceaselessly about how to get people off of their couches and into the public square.  We talk about the scourge of electroni... Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Hands

  

  are funny things, really. They are the parts of our own body that we see the most.  Or at least I do—I see them as I write, as I chop potatoes, as I scrub out... Read more

  Posted on 13 April 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Citizen Lynn

  

  There is a particular and fierce attachment in unexpected friendships.  And my friendship with Lynn Lundquist was both of those things–unexpected and fierce.  W... Read more

  Posted on 10 April 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• On Failure & Cake

  

  the notorious cakeAs sometimes happens over here at our house, Easter got a little—ummm– complicated.   This year, we had the great good luck of Easter falling... Read more

  Posted on 02 April 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• The “D Word”

  

  Yesterday, I spent the day immersed in the life of Thomas Jefferson.  I skimmed his Garden Book, read the first and second inaugural addresses, pored over his... Read more

  Posted on 24 March 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• A Bookworm Call to Arms

  

  Yesterday, the above-the-fold headline of the front page of the state’s major daily newspaper read “Liberal arts majors and the Portland tax base. Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• “Such Was the House They Inhabited for Life”

  There are days, weeks, and—if we are very, very lucky—sometimes years that we spend just going on about our business.  We go to work and the grocery store.  We... Read more

  Posted on 15 March 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Sweetness

  

  Ruby CoyToday, this.  A poem I wrote seven or eight years ago for my beautiful daughter.  So beautiful she is.  Yes, and so sweet. Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• On the Solace of Crepes

  

  Today—and often—I am of divided mind and body, and probably divided soul as well.  Last week I was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Tempe, Arizona.  Next week, I... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY

• Turning to Poetry, A Uniform Hieroglyphic *

  

  For the last few months I have been studying state legislatures.  So far, I have met with legislators and former legislators from six states.  I have four state... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Simple

  

  Truth is—as my 13 year old says—I am not a simple woman.  If given a choice between simple and complicated, I’ll go with complicated every time.  It’s not even... Read more

  Posted on 22 February 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Government by the People

  

  I love the State of the Union address.  I love the kabuki dance dictating who claps, who stands up and when, who scowls at the floor. Read more

  Posted on 13 February 2013 SOCIETY

• On Trembling, On Parenting

  

  Ruby RomeoThirteen years ago, I had been in labor for twenty-three hours, and though I didn’t know it then, I still had eight hours to go. Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Cupcakes for Congress?

  

  Cupcake MojoI am here to tell you that there is a lot of Christian  radio in this country.  Despite the fact that I am a marginal driver—on a good day—I seem... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Gratitude and Prayers

  

  Today, I am spending the day at Oregon Health Sciences University.  My darling aunt, Twyla, is having a long and tricky surgery to remove many, many cancerous... Read more

  Posted on 30 January 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION

• Ask Not.

  

  My husband, who is a certified wise guy, posted on his Facebook page this morning: “Ask not what poetry can do for you, ask what you can do for poetry.” Now, I... Read more

  Posted on 24 January 2013 CREATIVITY, SELF EXPRESSION