Rain and rain, a troubled child, and a small new kitten, peony blossoms shattering into the tall grass, rain and rain, and tiny corn plants raising tiny hands away from the sodden earth, a handful of scarlet petals, rivulets among stones and roots, and a mother grouse with her frightened chicks, the smell of wet dog, and a troubled child, a small new kitten, squirrel-small and sharp-tailed, and rain, and rain, and rain.


And oh, yes, before I forget: tomorrow morning (Thursday, June 13 at 10 a.m.) I'll be a featured writer on WERU's The Writers' Forum. Other guests will be Valerie Lawson and Penny Guisinger, and we'll be reading from our work and talking about our favorite writers' conferences, including my own particular baby, the Frost Place Conference on Poetry & Teaching. You can listen to a live stream at www.weru.org, and I believe the program will also be archived