62, I wake to a zit… At about 4:30 this morning, I woke the first time to the rain. I considered that there was a cleansing of the past year around the sun, preparing me for the solar-year journey ahead. 62 years I have made this move into another year of my life. I have … Read more
Today is the day that I officially launch my newest book, Psalter: The Agnostic’s Book of Common Curiosities,” published by Tiger Bark Press (www.tigerbarkpress.com) at the Downtown Writers Center of the Syracuse YMCA, 340 Montgomery Street, at 7 p.m. After the reading and signing, we will join at Flame, 713 E. Fayette Street, to continue … Read more
As I introduced myself to a self-contained class of special needs children awhile ago, one child looked at me with a big smile and asked, “Can I call you Muffin?” I could not figure out why she would want to call me “Muffin,” but I responded, “Well, my name is Ms. Popoff so I prefer … Read more
Good morning to all those who honor and bless my life in innumerable ways…and thank you for making this a life of rewards and bounty. It is my custom to send a note, an update, a message of gratitude to colleagues, acquaintances, friends, and family, all those I admire as the first act of the … Read more
So it has been a rough few years, as I have bemoaned in my last few, sparse postings. It was a time of deep digging to my own truth and often it was not pretty. There was a darkness that was as thick as tar, as persistent as eczema, as stark as the tundra. … Read more
Dear readers…I have been on a rocky little journey but it is time to get busy with my blog once again and share the marvelous discoveries I encounter as I teach and clarify what I believe about poetry…and life. This summer I have been teaching two short courses at the Downtown Writers Center that have … Read more
This school year, I have been rocked to my very core by a small number of 4th graders. I already mentioned in my previous post the kinds of concerns I was grappling with and the questions I have. I hoped that I would erode the barriers and we would start to have fun, as well … Read more
It is already December. I am feeling out of connection with so much of the swirl around me. This was the year I was going to create, witness, experience a turnaround. This was the year that the doors would swing open and opportunity would be prevalent. This was the year I was going to settle … Read more
October 16, 2012 Here it is again, my birthday. As has been my habit for some years now, I write to you, my dear ones, before I head out into the world of commitments, busy-ness, distractions. This solar return marks 59 years on this earth, in this body. As my dear friend Cathy Gibbons would … Read more
It feels like the darkness is lifting. I cannot explain it but I am optimistic in small ways. The past year has been like a fire walk. The economy is a part of it. Bureaucracy has been another part. Then there is the fact that I am moving very quickly through my 50s and next … Read more