in which we pick up the thread of Pokey Mama's struggle with post-partum writer's block and her year as an Associate at the Five College Women's Studies Research Center looking at the impact of motherhood on the work of women poets... Are you old enough to remember the Wayback machine on the Rocky & Bullwinkle … Continue reading One Way In, One Way Out
Tag: Poet
birthdays, snoring & the wrong moon
It’s Pokey’s Birthday! Not MY birthday, but the birth-day of this here blog, and that notorious character I’ve come to love, who’s me and not me, which of course is total narcissism, but hey, it’s MOTHERS DAY, so cut me some slack, willya? Yes, a year ago I made my first post, and here I … Continue reading birthdays, snoring & the wrong moon
the guiddesses
…but who can tolerate the power of a woman close to a child, riding our tides into the sand dunes of the public spaces. --Alicia Suskin Ostriker, from “Propaganda Poem: Maybe for Some Young Mamas" When last we left Pokey she was doodling her way towards enlightenment, having at least identified the shape of what might … Continue reading the guiddesses
pokey finds the labyrinth
Part the Second of Pokey's adventures studying motherhood and poetry (aka herself) as an Associate at the Five College Women's Studies Research Center So there was Pokey, box of books and laptop in hand, settling into her office at The Center. Through the high plaster walls she could hear other women getting their nests in … Continue reading pokey finds the labyrinth
pokey leaves purgatory
Time to pick up the thread of the last Birth of Pokey post—no, not those red pants again! The thread of how Pokey wriggled her way out of the little box she was in, not-so-affectionately known as writer’s block. If you’ve never had writer’s block, or its equivalent for your chosen work (bread that refuses to rise, … Continue reading pokey leaves purgatory
Pokey’s first interview: Katryna Nields
In honor of President’s Day Pokey is inaugurating her first Mama to Mama interview, featuring musician Katryna Nields. Katryna and her husband Dave, also an amazing musician, moved to our little road in 2000. I remember meeting her at one of our neighborhood parties: she was this beautiful, willowy column of a woman wearing a … Continue reading Pokey’s first interview: Katryna Nields
pie, publishing & swagger
When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing... Turns out, of the four-and-twenty blackbirds, 20 were men and only 4 were women! I know I promised to post the next installment of PM's journey, but an interesting conversation is bubbling up around a piece published by VIDA, Women in the Literary Arts, and I just … Continue reading pie, publishing & swagger
the birth of pokey, part II
In which Pokey becomes a Master of Regret and encounters Temporary Blindness. My friend Maya describes how she recently came across a photograph of herself at a party when her daughter was an infant. “I was wearing red pants! Red pants! What was I thinking? Who does that?” This, dear reader, is the question of … Continue reading the birth of pokey, part II
no place like home
click.click.click. In the poetry workshop I taught this fall we talked a lot about repetition and variation. We agreed that repetition can be a good thing in a poem, like an engine moving you forward when you think you might be stuck. It worked for Dorothy: there’s no place like home, there’s no place like … Continue reading no place like home
the pokey pledge
When I first imagined Pokey Mama, I didn’t see her as a blog, per se, at least in the sense of daily/frequent musings, updates, etc. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I had a clear vision of telling a kind of serialized story: my journey through pregnancy into motherhood followed by the chaos … Continue reading the pokey pledge
Amy Dryansky 