day three: mfa

we are in day three of the mfa program.* upon strolling the campus the first day we happened upon two gravestones at the top of a rambling hill, not something expected in the middle of a college campus. when we drew closer to them, we discovered they were the gravestones of d.l. moody and his wife. in fact, there is a house with a bronzed placard hung on it out in front of the house.

i am enjoying my time here and all the quirky feelings that seem to be vying inside me for top dog positioning. suffice it to say, poets are people with a keen sensitivity to the world around them and it's an interesting dynamic to have a bunch of us together...so off i go to my first workshop, which means we have each read the poems of the others in our group and will be giving constructive criticism so as to make the poems better. but the thing is that sometimes a person can think they're open to criticism, only to find, in the face of it that the intended words to be slashed take on the quality of baby chicks and the poet steps into the role of mama hen. i'm hoping no clucking comes from my mouth in volatile tones... let the slashing begin.















(*all future blogs on my mfa experience will be posted on my wordpress blog, but at the moment am having difficulties accessing it.)