Another Life As A Poet

I retired from my job as a elementary school art teacher in 2013 and suddenly, had time and energy to explore new creative directions. I use text in some of my artwork and I was interested in learning how to use language more creatively. I took my first poetry workshop at Poets House in NYC and I was hooked. My first publication appeared a few months later, and I've taken many more workshops and attended several writing conferences including BreadLoaf. I was fortunate to be invited to two writing residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Poetry is now a big part of my creative life. I've incorporated some of my poems into my artists books.

Here's one that was included in the anthology, "From Everywhere a Little" (published by Water's Edge Press) and I used this text in an 10 page artists accordion book of inkjet prints.

Advice for Travelers

When you leave your country, put your papers

in a plastic bag, then zip it shut.

When you leave your country, hide money

in your shoe or in your underpants.

When you leave, put crackers in your pocket

and an extra shoelace too.

And you better know how to swim and be ready

to walk all day.

Learn to say “when” and “why.” Learn how to move

your tongue. Learn how to shape your lips.

Remember a blanket when you leave,

for nowhere will be soft.

When you leave your country, your thoughts will

sift like flour through a sieve. And when

you leave your country, your name may curl

inside your ribs and tap like insects

on a windowpane at night.

Leave your country and you’ll find rooms and streets

of children, but they may not be your own.

When you leave, you may study your open palm

and wonder if any future’s hiding there.

When you leave, you may even lose your

body and then what becomes of you?

Leave, and you may find that no one tells the truth

and truth is sitting on a chair that wobbles on three legs.

And even after you leave, your country's hard

and stubborn, a tiny seed stuck

between your teeth

and you can’t tell if the taste is bitter or if

you’re tasting something sweet.