Every day, sometimes several times a day, I go out with my dog into the forest just beyond the boundary of our yard. Home to all kinds of wildlife–turkeys, foxes, coyotes, deer, bears, and even fishers and moose–the woods have become an extension of my home. Although sometimes I begrudge the chore of early morningContinue reading “Ramblings in the Woods”
Tag Archives: poetry
I Am A Poet
I wrote my first poem, a song, when I was seven years old, “I’m higher than the mountaintops swinging on my swing…” I wrote poems off and on over the next forty plus years. I shared some and showed others how to write them. But poetry was mostly just a pastime. I took poetry coursesContinue reading “I Am A Poet”
Poetry Is Revision
Sometimes a poet effortlessly pens the perfect words to capture a moment, an image, or a feeling into a flawless poem. More often, if she’s like me, her first attempt is scrawled upon a page with imperfect rhythm, a clichéd phrase or two, clunky lines, and rhymes that feel a bit forced. Sometimes, if I’mContinue reading “Poetry Is Revision”
The Art of Receiving Criticism
Receiving criticism, no matter how constructive it’s meant to be, is difficult. Even when we know that something we wrote (or said or did) didn’t hit quite right, negative feedback can be tough to take, not necessarily because it hurts our egos or reminds us of our flaws, although that might be part of it,Continue reading “The Art of Receiving Criticism”
Denise T. Drapeau 