B. Daniels, my professor in Creative Writing last year, offered several suggestions for writing poetry; one was "lower your standards". She stated that many people don't write down their ideas because they think that their poems have to be perfect (same problem with writing other things too). Published writers just write, and they write a lot, as do professional photographers take many photographs.

So here's a place for placing sketches of your poetry - letting them breathe - simple things that come on out while you are starting your day, letting your mind wander, writing on paper napkins, whatever.

Here's one:



Memory: a smoke ring
dancing up unraveling

rising from some flicker of light
contained in a jar or some wide expanse in the windowed night

faint heat escaping here
your fingers might
untangle one smoke ring caught in my curls.