Started to order my lit magazine subscriptions for 2026. I usually subscribe to four and rotate annually between the familiar and new.

A little heartbreak to start the day. The sparrow we rescued from the NYC street and brought to the Wild Bird Fund didn’t survive. Poor little guy.

My GF rescued an injured sparrow on 1st Ave in NYC, and I played avian EMT and transported him/her crosstown to Wild Bird Fund on Columbus. Gave them a nice donation for taking care of the little guy/girl. #animalrescue #birdrescue

I'm excited to have work appearing imminently in The Louisville Review. It will be my first published three-page poem for which -- as anyone who writes longer poems knows -- acceptances come even harder given the journal space they require.

Usually, I can talk about my dad's recent death w/ little problem, even a sense of humor about certain memories. Then other times, like at my MD appt today when she asked if any stress could be contributing to my symptoms, I just simply lost it, like a wave crashing out of nowhere. So embarrassing.

My girlfriend and her workmates as Edna and The Incredibles. #Halloween #costumes #TheIncredibles

I've drastically reduced my Amazon shopping.

The Uses of Sorrow (in my sleep I dreamed this poem) Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift. —Mary Oliver #SmallPoemSunday #poetry

Out with my GF on the Upper West Side for a friend’s birthday.

My only poem on a spiritual subject was just accepted by one of the nation's oldest poetry journals. I'm absolutely thrilled! Deets soon.

And the rejection parade continues with 10 top journals piling on in the past 14 days. But five invited me to send more work, and one editor said my poems had been "definitely in the mix." So, that's a bit of sparkle on an otherwise disappointing two weeks. #poetry #poems #writingcommunity #writers

It took me 10 years to write poems about my mom’s death. The first was just published by Midwest Quarterly.

I love August, when so many lit journals open for submissions! Brings excitement and hope to my heart!

Commercial by Dutch alternative-energy company Vattenfall. Brilliant!

My poem is featured in promotions for Midwest Quarterly's July issue! I'm very excited to have work appear again in this wonderful journal!

If you’re in New York, do not miss the Sargent exhibit at The Met! Photos do it no justice! The light, OMG, the light!!

I overheard a guy in a coffee shop say he was a 19XX graduate of NYU, which was my class. We struck up a convo about school during that era, and I learned he's a prof. of literature in Italy. We spent the afternoon discussing Ovid, Dante, Milton, Spenser and Whitman. What a rare & pleasant surprise!

First acceptance of 2025! It took awhile, but I'm thrilled and grateful! Details to come...

An early birthday gift from my GF’s mom. The best Florida oranges ever! 😋😃🍊

Second Avenue street fair in NYC, you know, a family event. 😆

My daughter’s rescue cat, Squeak! #catsofbluesky #cats

My only Covid poem was just published by the marvelous poetry annual Rhino.

And so it begins… 🌱

After eight days in Florida, back to the damp March chill of NYC. Looking forward to AWP in sunny (I hope) Los Angeles!!

Just booked my flight for AWP! Haven’t been to the meeting since DC in 2017! I’m really excited to see my writer friends! I will also get to spend time with my daughter who lives in LA!

Alone late in the day in the Met’s large contemporary gallery #915.

I just got permission from a famous writer’s surviving family to use a quote as an epigraph for a poem. I’m on a cloud! It’s the perfect quote for crystallizing the poem’s theme!

I love these lines from today’s selected poem at “Poetry Daily” — “In the Village” by James Longenbach: “A book is the future./ You dream/ Of reading it, and once you’ve finished, it’s a miracle, you know the past.”

Late night tiramisu and cappuccino with a rock candy sweetener. I’m gonna pay for this.

My daughter was in traffic on 101 when the Hollywood Hills fire broke out. She got home ok. I’m just happy I didn’t know this while it was happening.

Not a day goes by that I'm not grateful for deleting my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Zero regrets!

And the 2025 rejection procession begins!

Drinking coffee outside in NYC where it’s nearly 60 degrees at the end of December.

Wind chill was close to 0 degrees in NYC this morning. I went out to the supermarket one block away dressed as though I was competing in the Iditarod. 🐕🛷

Pet sitting my son’s chihuahua, Ninja!

I wrote what I consider my best and most relevant sociopolitical poem ever and sent it exclusively to one journal that I've long dreamed would publish me. They accept simultaneous submissions but, hey, once in a while you have to bet all your chips on a single hand.

My two poems in the Fall 2024 issue of North American Review.