back to plath

This month at One Clover & A Bee Pokey wrote about Sylvia Plath’s, The Bed Book.  Yes, reader, the Queen of Darkness also wrote four kid’s books! The Bed Book has some of Plath’s signature skill and style, and Pokey wishes she’d discovered it during those aeons when her babies didn’t sleep. I don’t know … Continue reading back to plath

30 poems in november, the uncooked bird

Pokey had the brilliant idea that she would do her 30 Poems in November (a fundraiser for the Center for New Americans) differently this year. Instead of writing a poem a day, which in the past has resulted in many not-so-good poems, I'm trying to write one long poem from "found" text that represents some … Continue reading 30 poems in november, the uncooked bird

and they went to sea in a sieve

My latest One Clover & a Bee column is live over at Hilltown Families, in which I celebrate nonsense and bad behavior via Edward Lear and Maurice Sendak's, "The Jumblies" (which Pokey believes is actually a poem about being an artist) as well as other poems for families to learn & love in the collection, … Continue reading and they went to sea in a sieve

a list & an extremely large umbrella

A smart Mom-friend posted a link on Facebook to a post, Things I Want My 10 Year Old Daughter to Know. I followed the link to Huff Post and from there to Lindsey Mead's blog: A Design So Vast. Pokey thinks the list is so spot on she had to share it with you. Follow … Continue reading a list & an extremely large umbrella

honey, let’s have rilke put them to bed tonight

My second One Clover & A Bee column at Hilltown Families is up: Poems to (Possibly) Sleep On, in which I argue for reading poetry aloud as a way to put your kids to sleep. No, not because poetry is BORING, but because a) not everybody loves to hear themselves sing, and b) it means … Continue reading honey, let’s have rilke put them to bed tonight

moms like to party: arts night out!

Just in case your Sunday doesn't include time for you, the Mother, to relax and have fun the way you like to have fun instead of the way you're supposed to have fun on the holiday that is purported to celebrate motherhood but often somehow includes extra chores and/or commitments for the aforementioned honoree—and if you … Continue reading moms like to party: arts night out!

Detachment Parenting

This morning as I drove along the river that winds through our little town I was noticing how, six months after Tropical Storm Irene swept through, the river’s path is dramatically altered. Shallow, sleepy meanders with the occasional spot deep enough to submerge your body on a hot summer day have been replaced with steep … Continue reading Detachment Parenting

Sour & Sweet

In honor of my daughter, who’s 13, and despises Valentine’s Day (for what should be obvious reasons, if you remember anything at all about being 13) I’m posting an anti-Valentine poem Pokey wrote long ago (before she was even Pokey). This is for you, Maddy! X’s & O’s You can keep your four-leaf clover road … Continue reading Sour & Sweet

hence the detour, ma’am

A couple of months ago I was in the car with my two children. It was late afternoon, one of those days where Pokey had already circumnavigated several points on our globe—school, home, work, school, home, soccer—and she was getting a tad frayed around the edges. Not crabby, mind you, just a bit unraveled. As … Continue reading hence the detour, ma’am

Zoe Deschanel & the Narrative Arc

If this were a movie and someone slyly beautiful were playing me, say Zooey Deschanel (with thick glasses to make her look a little less Deschanel), we’d be approaching some kind of zenith, we’d be belaying up a sheer rock face to the tippy top of the narrative arc where we might temporarily mistake denouement … Continue reading Zoe Deschanel & the Narrative Arc