* Tomorrow I embark on my four-day visit to Star Island, New Hampshire. I'll be teaching poetry at the Writers in the Round Retreat, using prompts that arise from work by Whitman, Levertov, Sexton, and Rilke. There are also songwriting classes; and I'm told that someone is bringing a viola, which I'm anxious to get my hands on. It's been a long time since I've held a viola, and I've never played one with my good bow.  And my good bow is the cat's meow.

* Here's the press release for my September 23 reading with Howard Levy and Jeffrey Harrison at the Verdi Square Arts Festival. You should come: this may be your only chance to attend a poetry reading at a bank. I'm fairly sure it will be my only chance.

* I'm so proud that Weslea Sidon, one of my dearest friends in the world, has just released her first full-length poetry collection: The Fool Sings. 

* Want to see a funny selfie of Elder Son and the Poodle, photobombed by a Civil War-era ancestor? [Enjoy the boldface while you can because you will never again see those horrible words on this blog.]