Happy Holidays -- How About A Free Book of Poems?

I can feel myself taking a deep breath and heading out to shop -- something I am not at all fond of doing.  I love the idea of shopping on line as long as we aren't talking fabric or shoes. I like to touch things before I take them home. I like things to be free.

So here is what my good friend, poet Kelli Agodon set-up on Thanksgiving Day -- a book giveaway. At Book of Kells, on Thanksgiving Day, Kelli offered a copy of The Alchemist's Kitchen (the book, not the blog) to one lucky person who leaves a comment.  And it isn't too late for you to swing by her blog and leave a comment. Even if you have a copy, why not? At the Miami Book Festival I had someone (you know who you are!) buy a copy of The Alchemist's Kitchen and then return a few minutes later to buy a copy for her mom for Christmas. I felt very supported and she was happy to have checked a gift off her list. If you want me to sign a book for you or for a loved one and send it out in time for the holidays, you can purchase one right here.

Kelli and I have known each other about eight years and during this time we've written together on cloudy afternoons, travelled to workshops, taken road trips, shared many chocolate bars and supported each other in too many ways to count. Here is my poem, "4 0'Clock News @ House of Sky,"  dedicated to my dear friend, Kelli. I firmly believe that women's friendships should be celebrated in poems. One of my favorite is Elizabeth Bishop's, "Invitation to Miss Marianne Moore." Why not try writing about a dear friend? Love poems come in all shapes and sizes. Or so I believe.

The 4 ‘0’ Clock News @ House of Sky

In the beginning we wanted

to cast ourselves
as opera stars, to break apart

like gorgeous women
palm reading at the piano bar ~

music stinging like salt from the sea.

We were spiraling ridges, dust-darlings
and dangerous.

We were peonies ~ cut
and arranged like astronauts

in flight. We soaked in syllables

not water; rode the Southern
drawl of the wind

over cobalt glass ~
backlit by a disc of sun.