In the Beginning There Were Poems
This blog began as a place to workshop my poems, but over time it has evolved into a place to explore other poets, known and unknown. I still post my own work and would eventually like to turn it to a place to showcase other poets’ works. As the workshopping portion of my writing fades from this blog, those posts have been replaced with completed work, and essays on poetry I am reading, and hopefully this place will be a platform to showcase your work, too.
Chatoyant Fleck
The name came from a poem I wrote about a ring my mother gave me while I was in high school. I wrote the poem while a student at Portland State University.
Education
I received a B.A in Theatre Performance at CSU Chico in California. I also studied at the New Actors Studio in New York City. I received a second B.A. in English Literature with a minor in writing from PSU Portland in Oregon. In 2011, I received a certificate of Mastery in Writing from The Attic Antheneum. I also received a certificate for facilitating writing workshops through Write Around Portland. I volunteered as a booth coordinator for The Attic Institute, during the Wordstock festival now known as the Portland Book Festival. I was awarded a scholarship from the PNW Writers Workshop to attend the William Stafford Symposium, Millions of Intricate Moves: Artistic and Spiritual Responses to War and Peace, and lastly I was awarded a scholarship to attend writing workshops at Lewis & Clark through their continuing education program.
A Chatoyant Fleck, the Poem
My mother had given me a tiger’s eye quarts ring. It was too big for any of my fingers, but I loved it because I thought the stone was beautiful. I loved the way the light flickered in the stone. It was exactly how a cat’s eye looked when a light hit its eye. My mom died in 2014. She is gone, but I still have the ring.
What is A Chatoyant Fleck? It is a poem about an heirloom, it is a poem about something beautiful, and something flawed, and how quickly life can pass. It’s a poem about a ring my mother gave me. It’s about losing a mother.
It’s about being tenacious.
A Chatoyant Fleck
Mother’s Necklace
Lobster claw clasp
golden chain
Tiger’s eye in saw tooth bezel.
Dull, damaged, piece of glass
monolithic stone
convex curved stomach.
Mother’s Legacy
a chatoyant fleck, like light
in the blink of a cat’s eye.
This blog is collection my own poems, videos and readings from poets I like, and writings by and about poets and writers I admire. Perhaps, one day I will showcase poems from poets around the world. That is a the goal.
A Chatoyant Fleck 