Sadly, a giant in American Poetry passed away this morning. John Ashbery died at age 90. 

Right now there is an underlying roll of thunder that continues to repeat itself accompanied by a steady downpour. Meaning no disrespect to those struggling in the flood waters from Hurricane Harvey, what is happening here is rather tranquil.  

I am dog sitting for my son and when I do this for any extended period of time, I generally utilize it as though it were a mini writing residence. I read and I write and do some research (writing related) talking out loud to myself (often referred in the mental health field as responding to internal stimuli) as I read drafts, poems by other people or just think aloud. The dogs have not called the crisis line to have me picked up so all is good. 

Another thing that I am doing is reading  poems written as part of a workshop group of some alumni of the Spring 2017 Writer to Writer mentoring program sponsored by AWP.  This is not a function of the program specifically but rather something one of the mentees from our program put together for fellow mentees who wished to participate. Once a W2W person, always a W2W person. 

So, no TV, no (or minimal distractions) as I still have social media and sell phone. My wife has called upon me to do an errand or two,  but for the most part, take care of the dogs and focus writing/related matters.  Probably will work in a couple of submissions. This means I am somewhat less informed on the news.  I have looked at a few news popups on my  laptop or phone. I mean if President Trump were to resign or impeachment proceedings begin, I would have to know so I could go get a bottle of win and celebrate. Until them, you know what I'm doing...

​These are 6 poets who are presently rocking my world with their work:

• Maggie Smith
• Heather Derr-Smith
• Kaveh Akbar
• Marie Howe
• Katheryn Nuernberger 
• Kate Marvin

You can see the complete announcement along with brief comments on each poet by clicking here.