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  • Eddies 

    March 23, 2006, 15:12

    Over ice, the water lies almost turquoise Surprising: Is it captured from the sky This bluish stuff? Mechanically, I suppose it is. But that’s the…

    • Riverrun 

      March 23, 2006, 15:11

      Riverrun has always been one of my favourite words. Our summer cottage is on an island in the middle of the magestic (rivers are riddled with visual cliches)…

    • . . . past Eve and Adam’s . . . 

      March 23, 2006, 15:12

      James Joyce certainly wrote for true readers, people energized by words in their infinite combinations. I do not know if I am a true reader; I think that there…

  • Reviews 

    March 23, 2006, 15:13

    Reviews in this blog are reviews of plays I have seen. I subscribe to seasons of English theatre at Ottawa’s National Art Centre (NAC) in the Theatre and in…

    • Brief Theatre Resume 

      March 23, 2006, 15:13

      Member: Writers’ Unit, National Arts Centre Associate Member: Playwrights’ Guild of Canada Co-Author: Theatre Arts (OSSTF 1969) Principal, chief…

    • List of Reviews 

      May 22, 2008, 19:28

      %Reviews%

  • My Blogging Process 

    March 23, 2006, 15:24

    On wordcurrents, all my creative writing (particularly the poetry) is up for revision; consequently, you may notice that a particular poem changes from day to…

    • Privacy 

      March 23, 2006, 15:14

      There once was a farmer who, rejoicing in his bountiful harvest, decided to give a great feast to which he invited every one of his friends and neighbours. His…

    • Hmmmmm 

      March 23, 2006, 15:25

      Look upon him who tells you your faults as if he told you of hidden treasure, for he is the wise man who shows you the dangers of life. Follow him: who…

    • The job of a poem 

      April 10, 2006, 11:05

      One of the jobs of a poem, as I see it, is to disorient you so that your perceptions are shaken up so that you can become receptive to new perception. For that…

    • Making sense of all this 

      September 28, 2006, 11:44

      Frustration I notice that visitors to this site are starting to become frustrated by the growing volume of work; I notice that I am becoming frustrated by…

    • Copyright 

      March 23, 2006, 15:14

      As a discipline, I have set myself the task of composing each of the works (unless tagged “Archive”) here in the blog editor on the day posted. As a…

    • Riverwriter 

      March 23, 2006, 15:21

      Riverwriter is the blogging pseudonym of Doug Hill, the jovial barbershopper in the photo, but otherwise, a poet, playwright, editor, commentator, and critic…

  • Podcasts 

    February 16, 2009, 15:39

    riverwriter reads and comments on his poetry. At the bottom of each post is a podcast player with adjustable volume control. "The Allegory of the…

  • About riverwriter 

    October 3, 2009, 23:36

    wordcurrents is a torrent of poetry, theatre reviews and opinions emanating from the brain of Douglas Hill, who used to teach and now spends his time…

    • Contact riverwriter 

      June 11, 2009, 20:45

      Why you might want to contact riverwriter: 1. You are a fan, and you are too shy to write  a fan letter in public. 2. You want to know who could be…

  • Who's on line 

    October 21, 2009, 12:31

    No description found for this item.

  • Lists 

    March 21, 2009, 15:09

    These are lists of poems by subject

  • Misc. 

    March 21, 2009, 15:32

    The rest of the information

    • Blog Stats 

      January 16, 2009, 16:09

      user_count: post_count: page_count: comment_count: trackback_count: avg_comments_per_post: category_count: tag_count: link_count: pagerank:…

    • Subscribe to wordcurrents 

      October 14, 2006, 16:06

      I have disabled registration because I have had so many bot registrations. If you wish to subscribe, please contact me through the "Contact" Form (in the…

    • RSS Feeds 

      March 23, 2006, 15:15

      RSS is easy to use if you know how; it gives you ways to find out when new items have been posted on a site. The easiest way to use these feeds is to use an…

    • wordcurrents Guest Book 

      February 5, 2007, 15:18

      Please comment in the space below. This is a good place to make general comments or just to say hello.

    • The blog about this blog 

      October 15, 2006, 15:15

      Yeah, I'm writing a blog about wordcurrents. It's called platinum river, and it's on Blogger I decided to write it  because there is not relly a place here…

  • Site Map 

    June 18, 2010, 19:23

    This page contains the site table of contents. Use it to quickly find content on this website.


Blog Posts

(5 posts shown)
  • Category: Creative writing  (204)
    • Metastasis 

      September 17, 2008, 08:10

      On the morning of the fourth day, Joe Toadamundo awoke to find a large fleshy mass lying in bed with him. It was pink and stank of diesel oil. He shrank away…

    • Fountain (IBPC Honorable Mention) 

      June 14, 2008, 23:03

      I just received word that the most recent draft of "Fountain" (first posted in wordcurrents March 16, 2008) has received an Honorable Mention in the May…

    • bling 

      February 7, 2008, 07:43

      Candles gutter on greasy desk clutter of intentions quill pots and ink stacks and scrolls vermillion stick hot seal drips onto parchment edge his fist…

    • Tilting at snowfall (revised) 

      February 3, 2008, 07:04

      Snow soon howls down wind carved broken moon sky cowled Queen glares rise knight lash armour tight cinch throaty drains with wool gather lungs bellowed…

    • Nodding off to JamesT. 

      December 19, 2007, 11:30

      Christmas is upon us gobbling cheese logs fruitcake and wide-eyed villagers indiscriminately. The ravenous beast hovers drooling over the watchful…

    • Category: exercise  (7)
      • sexy 

        January 11, 2007, 23:33

        Oh his cigarette smoke was curling 'round his blonde hair like a halo as he leaned against the barberpole on the front of Louie's Barbershop and…

      • Deadline 

        November 12, 2006, 23:05

        As the brain taps out and the deadline looms body and soul are trapped and locked in a cage on a rail that circles this room circles this room like the…

      • digging 

        June 26, 2006, 07:38

        Warm sunlight raises steam from last night's dew the birds subsided from their dawn alarm a lazy turtle slowly trundles down amid the grassy hollows of the…

      • blocked 

        April 29, 2006, 23:27

        To sit and stare at a blank space where words are supposed to be is the enigma that I face today: should I write about nothing or should I pretend there…

      • Haiku: variations on 2 

        March 29, 2006, 23:16

        2: horizontal dawn painting golden verticals silent song for eyes 3: horizontal dawn splashes vertical gold sides onto the tree trunks 4: horiz…

    • Category: new version  (6)
      • Fountain (IBPC Honorable Mention) 

        June 14, 2008, 23:03

        I just received word that the most recent draft of "Fountain" (first posted in wordcurrents March 16, 2008) has received an Honorable Mention in the May…

      • Tilting at snowfall (revised) 

        February 3, 2008, 07:04

        Snow soon howls down wind carved broken moon sky cowled Queen glares rise knight lash armour tight cinch throaty drains with wool gather lungs bellowed…

      • Nodding off to JamesT. 

        December 19, 2007, 11:30

        Christmas is upon us gobbling cheese logs fruitcake and wide-eyed villagers indiscriminately. The ravenous beast hovers drooling over the watchful…

      • Soft diamonds 

        April 10, 2006, 21:26

        Driving down county road 34 no music, no radio just hoping for silence for peace and lucid driving late on a sharp cool night the darkness beyond…

      • Haiku: variations on 2 

        March 29, 2006, 23:16

        2: horizontal dawn painting golden verticals silent song for eyes 3: horizontal dawn splashes vertical gold sides onto the tree trunks 4: horiz…

    • Category: playscript  (1)
      • Old Wife’s Tale 

        February 15, 2006, 12:45

        Old Wife’s Tale A Dramatic Monologue Published in Monologues Selected from Playwrights Union of Canada 1996-1997 International Monologue Competition (PUC…

  • Category: Poetry  (1117)
    • Private Public Moments 

      February 24, 2012, 08:21

      A sudden unexpected snow flurry in a season of February thaws greeted me as I left the grocery store the other day. The result is a complex metaphor. (#1106)

    • Cold walking 

      February 4, 2012, 23:26

      A passing glimpse of a young man and young woman walking intently on a cold day leads to this observation. (#1105)

    • Watching somebody else 

      January 29, 2012, 10:43

      In 1967, I played Harold Hill in The Music Man. Soon after, I heard movie star Van Johnson (live in Montreal), who had just played it on the road, call Harold…

    • Days 

      January 5, 2012, 12:02

      Texting and those ubiquitous phones are training our brains to be autistic. Look up once in a while! (#1103)

    • Fine 

      November 29, 2011, 07:01

      Some people around me are mired in a stoical sadness that cannot speak. (#1102)

    • Category: philology  (19)
      • Philology XIX 

        June 29, 2006, 22:30

        baritone in barbershop four part harmony the bass creates the foundation the lead sings the melody the tenor is the icing on the cake and the baritone…

      • Philology XVIII 

        June 22, 2006, 22:14

        cheese say the word for a photographer anticipate it with a friendly wine and conversation in a woody room resplendent with joyous Monet dreamy Chagall…

      • Philology XVII 

        June 15, 2006, 23:27

        pasta vino in tumblers soft flickering candle light the click of dishes romantic music somewhere voices bantering chuckling swingy Italian accents hea…

      • Philology XVI 

        June 1, 2006, 13:20

        mime tiny precise control the mime creates his universe as we do ours his duality within duality he believes but knows he created it unlike ours po…

      • Philology XV 

        May 26, 2006, 15:15

        velour onstage backstage soft substantial heavy light absorbing a panel of black velour can be infinity backstage during a blackout run into a panel…

    • Category: concrete verse  (3)
      • To the gathering 

        January 1, 2010, 13:17

        One of the reasons I admire Oscar Wilde: we were proposing toasts last night a wonderful party. (#1021)

      • Nice voter, good boy 

        October 9, 2006, 15:02

        Elect Skeffington ********* your X here ********* produces ***** * joy * joy * joy * joy * ******* on election night And not much else until the…

      • noiseless patient cat watches water dripping 

        March 13, 2006, 18:12

        D r i i i i i i i i i i i i                   ! i            k i    …

    • Category: Haikus  (16)
      • Red 

        September 24, 2009, 23:51

        We went for a drive today: the leaves, oh, the leaves! (#922)

      • Haiku (14) Anticipation IV 

        September 20, 2006, 22:22

        Sunrise behind me: I see our island's shadow On other islands.

      • Haiku (13) 

        September 19, 2006, 11:08

        Far river weedbeds Vertical hatches in hor- -izontal patches

      • Haiku (12) Joy on being released 

        August 23, 2006, 15:32

        The doctor who signed My release is smiling The day is sunny Original: A very nice doctor Told me I can go home It's sunny today

      • Haiku (11) 

        August 10, 2006, 12:06

        Writing until light Draws insects out of the dark And into the ink

    • Category: serial  (346)

      poetry published in serial linked parts

      • Days 

        January 5, 2012, 12:02

        Texting and those ubiquitous phones are training our brains to be autistic. Look up once in a while! (#1103)

      • Doorways 

        November 13, 2011, 11:13

        Post-traumatic stress in context (#1101)

      • Sing a Song of Suspense 

        November 7, 2011, 12:42

        Meditation about love in the world. (#1100)

      • Splish-splash 

        June 25, 2011, 05:24

        A modest proposal regarding the universal male practice of I. P. Standing (#1097)

      • Don't Mumble 

        April 22, 2011, 11:09

        Watching wondering about the previous generation. Can we find out what we need to know before we know we need to know it? #1095

      • Category: lotus eaters  (159)

        about people who are not facing the here and now, but have to be there and then on cell phones and ipods

        • Days 

          January 5, 2012, 12:02

          Texting and those ubiquitous phones are training our brains to be autistic. Look up once in a while! (#1103)

        • Sing a Song of Suspense 

          November 7, 2011, 12:42

          Meditation about love in the world. (#1100)

        • The Silence of the Lotus Eaters 

          September 9, 2010, 10:39

          We entomb our lives in electronic fortresses. #1082

        • concupiscible 

          April 28, 2010, 22:55

          NaPoWriMo day 28: we went out after barbershop practice tonight, for a beer. (#1079)

        • Mirror 

          April 16, 2010, 23:58

          NaPoWriMo day 16: sometimes it is okay to hate mirrors, but does that make one a vampire? (#1067)

      • Category: thoughts below ground  (151)
        • Days 

          January 5, 2012, 12:02

          Texting and those ubiquitous phones are training our brains to be autistic. Look up once in a while! (#1103)

        • Doorways 

          November 13, 2011, 11:13

          Post-traumatic stress in context (#1101)

        • Sing a Song of Suspense 

          November 7, 2011, 12:42

          Meditation about love in the world. (#1100)

        • Splish-splash 

          June 25, 2011, 05:24

          A modest proposal regarding the universal male practice of I. P. Standing (#1097)

        • Don't Mumble 

          April 22, 2011, 11:09

          Watching wondering about the previous generation. Can we find out what we need to know before we know we need to know it? #1095

    • Category: Sapphic stanzas  (3)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphic_stanza

      • poet warrior 

        November 21, 2008, 00:12

        Seems obscene, the thought of a poet fighting: John McCrae, obscenely, in Flanders, writing caught in ink obscenity's final purpose writing in Flanders. …

      • illusion 

        November 2, 2006, 23:09

        Looking healthy, smelling like fruit or flowers — false intentions denigrate life unpowered; simple pleasures ought to be more respected: nature…

      • Remembrance at the War Museum 

        October 13, 2006, 15:33

        Autumn maples’ usual reds are muted. Even oaks’ baronial golds glow softer; leaden clouds deliver dim hints of winter: seasonal changes. Wartime…

    • Category: found poem  (5)
      • sometimes I wonder (revisited) 

        October 23, 2008, 14:04

        Sometimes I wonder if she ever existed. —found poem Sometimes I wonder if she ever existed. Only a smile now a gesture copper hair flashing she fades…

      • splashing around 

        June 11, 2008, 17:35

        Let's be concise: Living in hospitals is like diving in swimming pools— the exit can be problematic. Sign above urinal: "Please do not throw thi…

      • conversation 

        October 14, 2007, 10:46

        The only ones who knew were either dead or Disraeli —Alan at dinner I held this observation through dinner like a hobo filching bread from a soup…

      • thud—thoughts on a found poem 

        September 25, 2007, 22:20

        Cornwall Ontario Canada A city with a world of possibilities Un monde de possibilités <The city's newly minted motto The full open bellows…

      • eleven words 

        December 1, 2006, 11:07

        nutagaq: new fresh powder snow qiqsruqaq: glazed snow in thaw time sitliq: hard crusty snow auksalaq: melting snow aniu: packed snow aniuvak: snow…

    • Category: oral  (2)
      • Circling the Moon 

        March 28, 2009, 20:00

        I invoke the spirit of Jack Wright whose light was the heart of our theatre Rosamund Laberge who awoke the strings in our children Berenice Dickson who…

      • dot ca 

        June 19, 2008, 11:28

        dot ca I'm there I say bloggin' on the internet for all today puttin' out a message for the word gourmet lookin' for some creds on the dot ca dot…

    • Category: fragments  (1)
      • busy busy 

        November 16, 2008, 11:23

        things that sting: hornets and scorpions no regard for the skin they score upon wasps and nettles sting what they settle on everything out for its own…

    • Category: Guest poems  (1)
      • Guest poem by Katie Baker  

        October 12, 2009, 11:32

        This poem was submitted by family friend Katie Baker, whose cottage, near ours, is undergoing substantial renovations.

  • Category: Reviews  (70)
  • Category: Boppin'  (27)
    • cat-action 

      October 18, 2009, 23:08

      Okay, so I play with our cat; or maybe she plays with me—or she plays me . . . (#946)

    • dimension shift 

      November 20, 2008, 00:27

      when the whiskey jack sang he could be a chickadee or a finch or osprey his craft was stand-up heaven on a twig in the forest and the forest…

    • New 

      November 14, 2008, 19:54

      when a bright yellow crocus magics itself up through the old winter crud we crow with delight for spring has come old birds of fall that used to call…

    • Metastasis 

      September 17, 2008, 08:10

      On the morning of the fourth day, Joe Toadamundo awoke to find a large fleshy mass lying in bed with him. It was pink and stank of diesel oil. He shrank away…

    • Doctor Whizbang's Elixir! 

      September 11, 2008, 12:10

      Here's an idea I am playing with, in draft form. I'm going to revise it over the next few days. There's a story about The Great Carouso that someone once…

  • Category: Mild-mannered opinion  (82)
    • Days 

      January 5, 2012, 12:02

      Texting and those ubiquitous phones are training our brains to be autistic. Look up once in a while! (#1103)

    • Splish-splash 

      June 25, 2011, 05:24

      A modest proposal regarding the universal male practice of I. P. Standing (#1097)

    • Stompin' 

      April 29, 2010, 18:40

      NaPoWriMo day 29: A dance group in Toronto is again commemorating The Ministry of Silly Walks. (#1080)

    • After 

      April 24, 2010, 22:48

      NaPoWriMo day 24: After the concert, the moment has passed. (#1075)

    • stoneheads 

      April 14, 2010, 23:39

      Sitting in the roots of Hell on an excruciatingly hot ember is, I hope, the I.T. wiz kid who programmed the Western Union website. I expect this ember…

  • Category: on poetry  (19)
    • Poetry: j'accuse! 

      March 21, 2010, 14:43

      An essay in which I argue for the place of modern poetry in popular consciousness.

    • Impatient Page 

      January 27, 2010, 23:43

      Concerning the process of writing. Not easy. (#1043)

    • inevitable 

      October 10, 2009, 23:44

      Closing the cottage can be inspirational and surprising. (#938)

    • eggs 

      September 21, 2009, 23:02

      This is about writing a poem. (#919)

    • head space 

      September 13, 2009, 21:43

      Of the poet muses about the process. (#911)

  • Category: On the process of Writing  (47)
    • Comment: Thoughts on editing, managing a body of work  

      May 26, 2010, 08:05

      Some prose thoughts on managing a body of work.

    • Progress report 1 

      February 3, 2010, 09:28

      To my faithful readers: This business of not posting every day has its downside. I have this feeling of anxiety hanging around me, as if I had chopped up…

    • Killing the keyboard 

      January 28, 2010, 19:04

      I dictate virtually all of my poems to the computer. Some thoughts on that. (#1044)

    • Impatient Page 

      January 27, 2010, 23:43

      Concerning the process of writing. Not easy. (#1043)

    • Poet has entered the building 

      January 16, 2010, 15:41

      Still on the theme of returning to writing after a hiatus caused by illness. (#1032)

  • Category: explanatory  (4)
    • hiatus 

      January 15, 2010, 20:41

      For the last five days, I have been incapacitated by influenza. Some thoughts on that. (#1031)

    • New feature: View Count 

      January 3, 2009, 19:33

      Just beside the "Print the Post below" link above each post is a new piece of into: "views (ignores bots)". This feature starts taking stats today, so it shows…

    • New Look 

      December 24, 2008, 14:14

      The new theme is called "Inanis Glass". You can change the background by clicking on the little bubble at the left end of the bottom of the page, and selecting…

    • About “Symbols simples” 

      March 9, 2006, 12:09

      My intent yesterday, in writing this little poem — which appears in yesterday’s entry below — was to create a new symbol for “love”, in…

  • Category: Sonnets  (47)
    • The through 

      April 6, 2010, 23:31

      NaPoWriMo Day 6: Looking to avoid backing into a parking lot rear-ender. (#1057)

    • Impatient Page 

      January 27, 2010, 23:43

      Concerning the process of writing. Not easy. (#1043)

    • corner 

      January 22, 2010, 10:38

      It's that good old solstice polka, everybody! Let's all dance! (#1038)

    • ka-chunk, ka-chunk . . . 

      September 22, 2009, 06:41

      Yes, it's a Petrarchan sonnet and a bit dense in both senses of the word. (#920)

    • chipped paint 

      June 22, 2008, 21:29

      The cracking paint gives way in patterned flakes revealing dark bones of this weathered porch. The last coat I laid on I hoped would last, but again undress…

  • Category: photos  (7)
    • album 

      April 4, 2010, 22:05

      NaPoWriMo Day 4: I examine an old photograph album that my mother assembled before I was born. (#1055)

    • Snow and leaves 

      October 29, 2008, 10:57

      It is unusual to have leaves on the trees when we have snow. Here are a few results. Each time you click a photo, it will enlarge. To return here, click the…

    • The hole 

      October 23, 2008, 23:06

      With autumn rains coming, I wonder when Pitt Street or Fourth Street (or both) will slide into here. Work on the site seems to have stopped. That's Pitt Street…

    • Vagabond Theatre's Halloween Show  

      October 29, 2007, 11:43

      This was a lot of fun. I am not reviewing it because I was one of the assistant directors. Let's just say it was fun. The show, presented at Ste. Croix…

    • no photograph 

      May 25, 2007, 21:38

      The instant of goodbye was gone so fast that no one in the household took it down; nor should they have: like every leaving past, this one had haste, and…

  • Category: Screeds  (48)

    Angry? You won’t like me when I’m angry . . .

    • Comment: just a detail 

      June 13, 2010, 10:12

      I just wish we could have heard the major parts of The Threepenny Opera that were not belted out. But that's just a detail in a hockey town.

    • stoneheads 

      April 14, 2010, 23:39

      Sitting in the roots of Hell on an excruciatingly hot ember is, I hope, the I.T. wiz kid who programmed the Western Union website. I expect this ember…

    • hiatus 

      January 15, 2010, 20:41

      For the last five days, I have been incapacitated by influenza. Some thoughts on that. (#1031)

    • absurd 

      January 6, 2010, 23:02

      Name one good thing about car alarms. The poet writes a screed. (#1026)

    • Idyll 

      October 20, 2009, 18:59

      Avoiding goose poop isn't always a walk in the park. (#948)

  • Category: Archive  (5)
    • archive: in perpetual schottische 

      February 16, 2009, 15:10

      in perpetual schottishe Tune your pipes and honk ’em up lad and sup on the whiskey we gi’ you for tartan is flying and summer is glad and the…

    • Fountain (IBPC Honorable Mention) 

      June 14, 2008, 23:03

      I just received word that the most recent draft of "Fountain" (first posted in wordcurrents March 16, 2008) has received an Honorable Mention in the May…

    • From the Archive: "Green Christmas" 

      January 6, 2007, 15:28

      Green Christmas ******* — middle of the carol of devotion They felt warm air wash — snow ebb — and they shivered *******— and soon the crisp…

    • On/Kind/Ness 

      May 13, 2006, 12:32

      This article is reprinted from The 21 1982-3 #13 March 11 — this was the Newsletter of District 21, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation; I was the…

    • Old Wife’s Tale 

      February 15, 2006, 12:45

      Old Wife’s Tale A Dramatic Monologue Published in Monologues Selected from Playwrights Union of Canada 1996-1997 International Monologue Competition (PUC…

  • Category: Monologue  (2)
    • As soon as I put down my toad 

      February 15, 2006, 22:48

      I was Making peach pie — Making, The act that precedes Baking — Baking is a scene Between Making & Eating — So: I was making peach pie…

    • Old Wife’s Tale 

      February 15, 2006, 12:45

      Old Wife’s Tale A Dramatic Monologue Published in Monologues Selected from Playwrights Union of Canada 1996-1997 International Monologue Competition (PUC…

  • Category: variations  (5)
    • Pasture 

      April 21, 2010, 22:51

      1. Heat oozes off the spring grass sweet, musky like a lover's thigh. I want to be a spring colt, bury my face in lush turf, munch the hot green…

    • Nodding off to JamesT. 

      December 19, 2007, 11:30

      Christmas is upon us gobbling cheese logs fruitcake and wide-eyed villagers indiscriminately. The ravenous beast hovers drooling over the watchful…

    • Leaving (2) 

      October 25, 2007, 06:17

      They really didn’t shovel earth onto the gleaming wood and brass, but they might as well; they lowered it through plastic turf that’s supposed to pass…

    • Sh!! 

      May 6, 2006, 23:56

      This pit of fear is not like all the others The pre-battle pit where friends say goodbye wills are signed letters dispatched harmonicas played dear sara I…

    • Haiku: variations on 2 

      March 29, 2006, 23:16

      2: horizontal dawn painting golden verticals silent song for eyes 3: horizontal dawn splashes vertical gold sides onto the tree trunks 4: horiz…

  • Category: dramatic monologues  (16)

    single speaker, listener

    • one-up 

      November 7, 2009, 16:55

      Sometimes, maybe it's better to listen and nod sympathetically. (#966)

    • legal question 

      September 3, 2009, 18:35

      Another way of looking at the stupid weather we had this summer. (#895)

    • insidious 

      January 22, 2009, 08:15

      Just a minute, Charmaine: I see one over there—shit! That bitch beat me to it! I'll have to get back to you— No, I'm in the hardware section; you know,…

    • coffee stop 

      April 21, 2008, 07:09

      I prefer booths; these tables are too close together, but not enough like a Paris café: where's the arrogant waiter tyrannizing between the tables? These…

    • . . . than a sick husband 

      February 5, 2008, 10:20

      All wives know this for fact: There is no one sicker than a sick husband. I totally agree: and as you know, I am no wife. I tried to make a list of…

  • Category: snow  (89)
    • Green 

      March 11, 2011, 08:51

      People have been posting and sending pictures of gardens that seemed to me, here in my ice-bound habitat, to have been smuggled from Area 51. Stop the torture…

    • At a Window Looking Out 

      January 29, 2011, 12:26

      The snow on the tree this morning reminded me of a 41-year-old memory. #1087

    • Februaundry 

      January 5, 2011, 04:55

      I recall my mother hanging the wash on days so cold it froze as it hit the air.(1084)

    • whether 

      April 27, 2010, 23:41

      NaPoWriMo day 27: So we thought it was spring. What's with all the snow? (#1078)

    • winter rain 

      January 25, 2010, 23:27

      The January thaw has slipped in again. I'd rather it snowed. (#1041)

  • Category: trip west  (14)
    • Dinner for nine IV 

      December 24, 2006, 14:46

      As I savored the tender delicately spiced chicken in steamed rice onion gentle ginger the serving girl softly refilled my water glass and generous…

    • Champagne at Jasper 

      December 23, 2006, 17:22

      Misty snow shrouds the mountains as we sit in Jasper station champagne and hors d'oevres soften the afternoon in the dome car conversations skirt casual…

    • wagon train, the book 

      December 22, 2006, 15:50

      page after page of grey mist cross hatched by dark pale snow laden trees underscored by scrupulously designed bridges punctilious signage desultory…

    • Sleepless in Errington 

      December 19, 2006, 11:57

      Reviewing birthing injustices and strange family situations has left me gasping for sleep late in a strange dark bed The silence in this house in the…

    • Belly 

      December 18, 2006, 23:40

      My belly like my heart is crammed with goodness sausages pie scrambled eggs short juicy sticky ribs stick to your ribs rice and discussions of chocolate …

  • Category: alexandrine lines  (2)
    • Meeting of the writers' club 

      June 18, 2007, 23:46

      So used are we to writing in our solitudes that when we meet we sit around and wait for someone else to do that which will break this mood that makes us…

    • Italian Restaurent 

      February 9, 2007, 21:26

      A reservation is a must, and we have one; the owner sees us to our table, calm, polite; and even as we seat ourselves, the waitress comes: fresh water,…

  • Category: Essay  (3)
    • Poets: the new novelists 

      December 31, 2008, 13:03

      The Internet is rewiring our brains, according to Nicholas Carr's July/August 2008 Atlantic Monthly article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"—I agree with…

    • Doctor Whizbang's Elixir! 

      September 11, 2008, 12:10

      Here's an idea I am playing with, in draft form. I'm going to revise it over the next few days. There's a story about The Great Carouso that someone once…

    • Essay: Tic-Tock, Tick-Talk 

      February 13, 2007, 18:53

      As I meander into my dotage, I notice that life tends to mirror autumn, that season when the days get shorter and shorter; and I also notice that some of the…

  • Category: barbershop singing  (11)
    • Watching somebody else 

      January 29, 2012, 10:43

      In 1967, I played Harold Hill in The Music Man. Soon after, I heard movie star Van Johnson (live in Montreal), who had just played it on the road, call Harold…

    • concupiscible 

      April 28, 2010, 22:55

      NaPoWriMo day 28: we went out after barbershop practice tonight, for a beer. (#1079)

    • inside the music 

      October 16, 2009, 23:58

      Our quartet, Acapellics Anonymous performed in the show tonight, to great applause. (#944)

    • newbie 

      October 7, 2009, 23:31

      There are new members in our barbershop chorus. (#935)

    • Review: The Music Man by Meredith Wilson  

      March 7, 2009, 22:29

      A review of Hudson Musical Theatre's production of The Music Man by Meredith Wilson. Highlights are the voice of Marie-Claude L'écuyer as Marian Paroo and…

  • Category: scapes  (100)
    • Private Public Moments 

      February 24, 2012, 08:21

      A sudden unexpected snow flurry in a season of February thaws greeted me as I left the grocery store the other day. The result is a complex metaphor. (#1106)

    • Point of no 

      October 10, 2011, 12:14

      Are we too much in tune with the colour of the leaves? #1098

    • wait for it 

      May 6, 2011, 08:42

      How does the weather affect your mood? #1096

    • Green 

      March 11, 2011, 08:51

      People have been posting and sending pictures of gardens that seemed to me, here in my ice-bound habitat, to have been smuggled from Area 51. Stop the torture…

    • Februaundry 

      January 5, 2011, 04:55

      I recall my mother hanging the wash on days so cold it froze as it hit the air.(1084)

  • Category: cats  (30)

    poems about cats

    • Writing with a cat on my lap 

      February 27, 2011, 22:56

      This piece is the first on the current cat wars in our house. #1091

    • glass, silk, ebony, fur 

      January 23, 2010, 23:38

      Grief can catch you unaware. (#1039)

    • Cat dance 

      November 13, 2009, 09:59

      And sometimes, I watch Katisha (pronounced cat-i-shaw) our beautiful, long slim brown Abyssinian. (#972)

    • after 

      September 16, 2009, 22:28

      Elegy for Circe, my old kat. (#914)in one go for

    • Caregiver 

      September 1, 2009, 15:58

      In this prose-ish poem, I focus on Katisha, our Abyssinian cat, who actually nursed our old cat, Circe through her last days.

  • Category: political asides  (10)
    • indelible 

      December 16, 2008, 08:26

      From the tall Roman aquaduct that survives in the heart of Firenze, windows and doors peer casually like eyes from within the sockets of a polished ancient…

    • beige 

      June 23, 2008, 18:14

      Uncomfortable Listen to a joke in Czech or Serb and wonder if you should laugh at the end or ruin the mood Walk alone into a party…

    • dot ca 

      June 19, 2008, 11:28

      dot ca I'm there I say bloggin' on the internet for all today puttin' out a message for the word gourmet lookin' for some creds on the dot ca dot…

    • from Black Jack's basement 

      May 27, 2008, 11:33

      So now it's okay to be late by a day or a month or a week with assignments; and please don't admit that you copied a bit it's all right: copyright's a…

    • Horse 

      February 20, 2008, 11:02

      They want to build a box store in the northern end of town: if you ask the city council, they think manna's falling down; if you ask the local shoppers,…

  • Category: aging  (136)
    • Don't Mumble 

      April 22, 2011, 11:09

      Watching wondering about the previous generation. Can we find out what we need to know before we know we need to know it? #1095

    • these old poems 

      February 12, 2011, 07:56

      Poetry digs into old wounds or sows new seeds — you take your choice. #1088

    • Skin 

      January 24, 2011, 12:50

      Be careful what you wish for; it's like asking an Oracle for certainty (#1086)

    • Haunted 

      April 30, 2010, 22:55

      NaPoWriMo day 30: I scribbled the draft of this in the minute or two just before I fell asleep last night. (#1081)

    • Drone 

      April 18, 2010, 23:39

      NaPoWriMo day 18: I attended a superb concert by Chorus Novus. Some old bird in the audience did what they do sometimes. (#1069)

  • Category: river poems  (24)

    The St. Lawrence River is huge and complicated

    • Smokes 

      April 9, 2010, 23:47

      NaPoWriMo day 9: we have a little problem with certain organized boaters who smuggle cigarettes across the river here. (#1060)

    • concert 

      October 21, 2009, 23:33

      I took a run down the river to the marina to store the boat for the winter. (#949)

    • Idyll 

      October 20, 2009, 18:59

      Avoiding goose poop isn't always a walk in the park. (#948)

    • inevitable 

      October 10, 2009, 23:44

      Closing the cottage can be inspirational and surprising. (#938)

    • echoes 

      October 3, 2009, 23:10

      Beautiful memories can be terrifying. (#931)

  • Category: alphabet  (25)
    • Z 

      April 21, 2007, 07:31

      I dream of "Z" . . . . "Z" is a stable form of "S" but an unstable form of "N" and a half-assed "X" Zombie is the perfect "Z" word: living but partly…

    • Y 

      April 20, 2007, 11:35

      Y is male is that an affirmation or a question? Too many Ys create a problem Let's just look at some words: Youth Yellow York Yak Yule Yiddish …

    • X 

      April 19, 2007, 21:10

      "X" is the utility letter used by illiterates to sign documents and virtually everyone to vote. Aside from the faithful Xylophone and Xenophobe And…

    • W 

      April 18, 2007, 12:05

      Now, here's a solid letter, seemingly a case of two unstable "V"'s teaming up to help each other out. Sort of a letterhood thing: "W" Kinda makes…

    • V 

      April 17, 2007, 22:56

      "V" teeters on a point; spinning, it forms a substantial Vase. "V" is triumphant in Victory Valiant in the face of Vanquishment. "V" is nothing in a…

  • Category: language  (3)
    • ooth care 

      February 27, 2008, 13:33

      Pehaps Pearldrops was first to refer to a Doctor of Dental Surgery as a "denis", when the smiling girl with bright white teeth told me right on TV to…

    • C 

      March 29, 2007, 07:04

      Cat was always my "C" letter: when a cat sat, its back was a "C"; but like a cat "C" was ambiguous sometimes hard, sometimes soft: "cease" had the soft…

    • yer Gretzkys 

      February 20, 2007, 12:02

      Dagnabit! How many of them was they anyways? The was yer Wayne and yer Walter — but when we talk about yer Gretzkys we're talkin' about yer Wayne, fer…

  • Category: illness  (16)
    • Waiting for the woe 

      March 21, 2011, 11:56

      The worst part about waiting for health news is not the news, but the damn waiting. #1095

    • hiatus 

      January 15, 2010, 20:41

      For the last five days, I have been incapacitated by influenza. Some thoughts on that. (#1031)

    • the healer's hands 

      November 25, 2009, 23:50

      There is a healing that does not involve prescriptions. (#984)

    • prescription 

      November 20, 2009, 09:45

      I just discovered that one of my prescriptions was making me stupid. (#979)

    • Rockmallow 

      November 19, 2009, 06:56

      I remember this disconnect, once, when I had a fever. (#978)

  • Category: experiment  (8)
    • The new theme 

      November 14, 2008, 08:04

      The new theme is Vistered Little 1.6 by Nik Iliadis I like the totally different look of this theme, and the way the reader can manipulate it to determine…

    • Metastasis 

      September 17, 2008, 08:10

      On the morning of the fourth day, Joe Toadamundo awoke to find a large fleshy mass lying in bed with him. It was pink and stank of diesel oil. He shrank away…

    • Doctor Whizbang's Elixir! 

      September 11, 2008, 12:10

      Here's an idea I am playing with, in draft form. I'm going to revise it over the next few days. There's a story about The Great Carouso that someone once…

    • (Lone) bird on air (conditioner) 

      May 9, 2008, 17:34

      Bird on air con       -ditioner d'ya think it's ma       -ma's war      …

    • sno blo problo 

      March 2, 2008, 14:54

      Hey Jo my sno blo she no go gots problo Hi Cy call the guy he kno why 'sno go bye Hi guy blo no fly don' kno why yo gon try? Sno blo stix no…

  • Category: technology  (6)
    • Mercury Retrograde 

      April 20, 2010, 23:15

      NaPoWriMo day 20: I have gone through computer, technology and communications problems like I wouldn't believe, lately. Is mercury retrograde real? (#1071)

    • Poets: the new novelists 

      December 31, 2008, 13:03

      The Internet is rewiring our brains, according to Nicholas Carr's July/August 2008 Atlantic Monthly article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"—I agree with…

    • aria 

      November 17, 2008, 19:40

      brace legs on the gunwhale hike out against wind's cannons onto sail, mast, horizon wings slice blue above the clouds carve earth's pale hide up to…

    • does not compute 

      March 11, 2008, 21:37

      My wife had a pretty frustrating time today trying to use my computer to send an email. She is not used to my steam-driven machine, and dislikes having to…

    • conversation 

      January 14, 2008, 20:58

      Who else would sit here nodding, pretending to care about whatever comes into my head? I'd like a straw for my juice, please, dear. There was a time I…

  • Category: fun  (41)
    • The through 

      April 6, 2010, 23:31

      NaPoWriMo Day 6: Looking to avoid backing into a parking lot rear-ender. (#1057)

    • Podcasting poetry 

      January 21, 2010, 20:26

      I am adding new podcasts to wordcurrents, but I have forgotten how to resolve some of the technical issues. (#1037)

    • low gravity 

      December 14, 2009, 22:38

      Our recent snowfall, and the recent column about King of the Castle, the children's game, reminded me that what Northerners take for granted may surprise…

    • prescription 

      November 20, 2009, 09:45

      I just discovered that one of my prescriptions was making me stupid. (#979)

    • Idyll 

      October 20, 2009, 18:59

      Avoiding goose poop isn't always a walk in the park. (#948)

  • Category: blog mechanics  (4)
    • Popular posts 

      June 19, 2010, 08:31

      I was surprised to learn that some of my posts have been viewed much more often than I realized. I think I installed this feature in April of 2008; so that is…

    • New feature: View Count 

      January 3, 2009, 19:33

      Just beside the "Print the Post below" link above each post is a new piece of into: "views (ignores bots)". This feature starts taking stats today, so it shows…

    • New Look 

      December 24, 2008, 14:14

      The new theme is called "Inanis Glass". You can change the background by clicking on the little bubble at the left end of the bottom of the page, and selecting…

    • The new theme 

      November 14, 2008, 08:04

      The new theme is Vistered Little 1.6 by Nik Iliadis I like the totally different look of this theme, and the way the reader can manipulate it to determine…

  • Category: about podcast  (1)
  • Category: NaPoWriMo  (30)

    Written for national Poetry Writing Month

    • Haunted 

      April 30, 2010, 22:55

      NaPoWriMo day 30: I scribbled the draft of this in the minute or two just before I fell asleep last night. (#1081)

    • Stompin' 

      April 29, 2010, 18:40

      NaPoWriMo day 29: A dance group in Toronto is again commemorating The Ministry of Silly Walks. (#1080)

    • concupiscible 

      April 28, 2010, 22:55

      NaPoWriMo day 28: we went out after barbershop practice tonight, for a beer. (#1079)

    • whether 

      April 27, 2010, 23:41

      NaPoWriMo day 27: So we thought it was spring. What's with all the snow? (#1078)

    • tired 

      April 26, 2010, 23:15

      NaPoWriMo day 26 repost: I sat in the tie store that day, watching the huge gaggle of customers. (#1077)

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