Poetry News:

1. — Detained poet in hospital with hernia —
2. — Haikuists are adept at juxtaposing vivid imagery during springtime —
3. — For the next four days, the area around U Street and Columbia Heights will be buzzing with the presence of poets —
4. — Stray Questions for: Ishmael Reed —
5. — Current Finalists for the 20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards —
6. — “I think poetry is a much larger part of our lives than popular culture indicates” —

I changed my bracket at the last possible minute before lock-down. Final 4 = Tennessee, Memphis, UCLA and Wisconsin. Still going with UT. (I don’t know what I’m doing.)

Some Split This Rock blogging here and here.

Poetry News:

1. — Economy in writing can put garrulous narration or evasive speechifying to shame (congrats c. dale)—
2. — The American College of Physicians, the nation’s largest medical specialty organization, has published a compilation of stories, essays, and poems by doctors and their patients —
3. — America’s newest, and foreign-born, poet laureate has traveled a long way —
4. — Married M’s: The Metropolitan Market’s Logo Questioned —
5. — Where Sheep Once Grazed, Now Poems Take Root —
6. — Taslima wants adequate security after death threat —
7. — Each week, Ed Shakespeare, the bard of Brooklyn baseball, will take a page from his ancient ancestor and add a bit of iambic pentameter to all our lives —

So for the last 11 days here in Nashville, it has been over 100 degrees F for 10 of them — including one day when it reached 106 degrees F. The hottest it has been here EVER (since they have been keeping records) is 107 degrees F. We are also in an “extreme drought.” I feel really bad for the farmers. We had a really hard freeze in April (?) and that messed things up and now this.

In more positive news, I got a new adult literacy student. That should help shake me out of my funk. My previous student graduated out of the program & got his CDL. Then I took a break because of the surgery. But I’m back & ready to share the wonderment of wordage. If you are in Nashville, the Nashville Adult Literacy Council needs YOU! They have a waiting list of folks who WANT to LEARN!!! It just takes a couple of hours every week and is fun! If you don’t live in Nashville, I’m sure your town has a similar organization with a long waiting list.