To survive, we often have to build walls around ourselves, we have to armor our hearts, but the cost of survival can be great. Alone behind our thick walls, we can’t feel a breeze, smell the pine forest, hear the leaves. We can’t feel the touch of another person’s hand, see their smile, hear any of their jokes, or laugh with them. I know what this is like because I’ve lived it. As a child growing up in a violent home, I had to wall myself off or die. As I enter the final act of this wild play called my life, I seek to use poetry, essays, and performance to tease open our walls, so we can all feel a little less alone.
My heart first opened on the shore of Lake Huron, and these days I spend as much time as possible on the great unsalted sea of Lake Superior. However, I live in Lawrence, Kansas, the brightest blue dot in a deep red state, and I continue to marvel at the amazing man my son has become.
My essays have been published in Ms. Magazine and The Progressive. My poetry has been published in MockingHeart Review, The Lavender Review, The Coop, the anthology Kansas Speaks Out: Poems in an Age of Me Too, and other places. My books include the Daily Shot of Hope meditation series. My poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Before turning to poetry, I made my living as a nonfiction writer. I’ve published four books and hundreds of articles and essays and have been employed by a newspaper, a wire service, a foundation, and two universities. My journalism and essays have appeared in Salon.com, and many other publications. I’ve worked in fundraising, helping to raise $700 million for non-profits. At various times, I’ve dabbled in politics, working on progressive campaigns. I’ve even committed activism, working to expand equality for LGBTQ+ people.
My bachelor’s degree (1975) and master’s degree (1985) in journalism were earned at Michigan State University. I graduated from the Clarion Science Fiction Writer’s Workshop in 1978—an experience that actually made me a better poet. I’ve earned honors for various bits of nonfiction writing.
What matters now is connecting with other people through poetry. Are you with me?