“I am here to write and to teach, and it is the writing I mull over…while I look out toward the still, blue lake, while I feel the warmth of the sunlight and the cool of the tree shadow on my face, on my shoulders. I wind through the woods and the marshes and watch for deer, for their horizontal movement amidst this vertical landscape. I can feel their presence, even when I can’t see them, these deer. They are like an idea in the making: There. Close. There.”
~ And These Are the Good Times by Patricia Ann McNair
July 19, Wednesday, up north. It’s late; I am off my game. As summer goes, the writing wanes. But then, what is life if I’m not living it? and I am. Bathing in still waters, basking in sunlight, gathering story.
Jessica: This piece was a eulogy for my mother. I had collected emails and stories from family members in the days leading up to the funeral. I then took all the memories people have shared with me and l used them to put the eulogy together the night before the funeral. Since then, I have done some revision and shaping of the piece, but the majority remains true to the original.
A few months ago, James Roberts made an early morning drive from Madison, Wisconsin to spend an hour with the writers at Harwood Place. He had been there before as a visiting poet but returned this time as interviewer and Radio Host of A Space for Poetry. His radio show airs every other Friday on WWMV (95.5) in Madison, and you can listen to the archives on Soundcloud.com (just search “A Space for Poetry”).