Saturday Good Reads

I follow a lot of writers’ blogs, so it’s no surprise that the thoughts of writers (and poets) show up here. Like why books matter. Or the power of a single word. Or writing for the simple joy of it. Or posting a poem by T.S. Eliot and then writing a cento poem based on Eliot’s poetry (like Chris Yokel did).

Sometimes I have trouble deciding which category to place something, like Nancy’s Rosback poem “Gift.” The poem is as good as the photograph.

Great stuff this week.

Prose

“Why Books Matter” by Miles at The Last Miles.

“Three Thoughts About Leadership from My Garden” by Robin Arnold.

“Dear Waiter” by Claire Burge.

“We Took His Rights Away” by Eric Swalberg at Journey of Words.

“The power of a single word” by Billy Coffey at What I Learned Today.

“Write, first and foremost, for the joy of it: Lessons from the life of John Owens” by Anita Mathias at Dreaming Beneath the Spires.

Poetry

“Four way, derecho” by Brian Miller at Way Station One.

“Three Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens, via Maggie’s Farm.

“Making poems from hate mail” by Megan Willome.

“Past Sunday” and “Separate is something we are” by B.K. McKenzie at Signed…BKM.

“James K. Baxter” by D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

“A Memory Sneaks Off” by Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

“Drifting Howls” by Chris Galford at The Waking Den.

“T.S. Eliot on the Frustrations of Writing (from East Coker)” and “The Unfamiliar Name: A T.S. Eliot Cento” by Chris Yokel.

“Gift” by Nancy Rosback at A Little Somethin’.

Paintings and Photographs

“An Outing” and “Sanctuary” by Susan Etole at Just…A Moment.

“Fire in the Forest,” watermedia on paper by Randall David Tipton at Painter’s Process.

“Low Tide at Constellation Park” by Kimberley Conway Ireton.

“The Summer Sky – One Beautiful Thing” by Jacque Watkins at Mercy Found Me.

“The Light” by Tim Good at Good Photography.

“Scenes from My Charleston Summer” by Kelly Sauer.

Videos

“Empty” by Ray LaMontagne.

Photograph: Midtown New York Skyline by Bobby Mikul via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.