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Sunblock
If I ever were to bake a cake it would be for you, and I’d color in the icing like spreading sunblock on your face. I like to get you while you sleep— the best is in a car— so I can butter every toe...
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Núcleo familiar
On this, the eleventh night of the countdown to the end of my book’s pre-sale period, I am offering up a poem about the pressure of family. To order mid-life please click here. All proceeds go to...
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Domingo 20 / Sunday 20
This poem is from my book “Entre domingo y domingo” published in 2014. My new book of poems mid-life is currently in its pre-sale period, which ends in just five days. Tick, tick, tick. To order,...
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The Sun Coast
“The Sun Coast,” a poem from my forthcoming book of poems entitled mid-life, now available for purchase via Finishing Line Press. The pre-sale period ends in just three days, so grab your copy soon,...
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El viaje de Borja
Tomorrow is May 20th. A day I’ve been dreading because it is the last day to pre-order my book mid-life. Since pre-sales determine how many books will be published, tomorrow matters. If any of you out...
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Dora, the Dictadora
About to hop on a flight with this read on the women who loved the world’s worst men, written by Spanish uber journalist Rosa Montero, whom I saw speak at the Cartagena Hay Festival a few years back....
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Mid-Year Resolution
It’s almost impossible for me not to finish a book once I start it. No matter how dull, poorly written, unecessary it is. But I am making a mid-year resolution to ditch bad books. Reading hours are...
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For My Birthday, Synchronicity
Today, 35 years ago, I was born. To celebrate my birthday, I wanted to discover someplace random, easy-to-get-to, young, intriguing and fun. Someplace like Austin, Texas. For weeks and without much...
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The Book of/from the Sky
Oh my goodness, the written word. But what if it is made to mean nothing? In China, a person is literate if she can read 4,000 characters. So artist Xu Bing invented 4,000 “fake” characters to render...
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Difficult by Design
Geoffrey Hill, renowned British poet, died last week and was memorialized by today’s “New York Times.” Although I’ve never read a single poem written by Hill and do not support intentionally obscure...
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White Teeth Don’t Bite
After going through some 250 pages of its 500 total, the only passage I’ve highlighted in Zadie Smith’s “White Teeth” is pictured above. And I only highlighted it because it is a spiritual fun fact,...
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Semi “mid-life” Crisis
I wanted to thank all those who pre-ordered my book mid-life, published by Finishing Line Press. For those who are wondering where their book is, I wanted to offer assurance that, no, I am not running...
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Home Poem
I came home tonight from a long trip and, once in bed, picked up the first book I found to land my mind. It turned out to be Philip Larkin’s “Collected Poems,” which I’ve barely rustled. The stunning...
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Jour/nal
I came across The Journal Gallery while walking around Williamsburg earlier today and have thought about this name eight times since. “Journal” is such a good word, such a good name. Good things...
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Again
Almost now, immediately, I feel certain I must read Joyce’s “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” once again. Just saying.
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Olympic Medal Grounds
Along with over 60% of the world’s population, I watched the Olympics last summer. For me, lonely athletic greatness is the ultimate tear-jerker. And I am a sucker for painless ways to cry. But, I just...
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Yellow Tomatoes
I once thought I could know anything The death knowledge of the Buddha The clarifying call of Gabriel Former lives and abetting suns That enthrall worlds more able than mine I too never doubted...
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On Female Punctuation (!!!!!)
Ed Ruscha’s unpunctuated “OOF” For several weeks, I’ve been thinking about the exclamation mark and its odd relationship to gender. Why is it that intra-female communication is so lavishly punctuated...
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