She’s just the best

Cooking meals ahead; ordering the pizza; writing poems about surviving (even enjoying) storms together—doing it all, all, all for my baby.

Thinking about something my great grandmother said. She was an Okie sharecropper and Pentecostal evangelist, and she once told us, “Whatever happens, stay sweet in your soul.” That seemed weak to me once. Now, knowing how ravenous the world is, it seems very strong.

Hi. I’m in Iowa. (For like 15 more min.)

[Bruce Springsteen post-9/11 voice] "Come on up for the Rapture"

Last night @aarikdanielsen.bsky.social and @hollypelesky.bsky.social hosted a writers karaoke at Cafe Berlin, and it was so much fun. This is probably my favorite-ever photo of me and Aarik. Although we aren't siblings by blood, we are set of denim-clad wondertwins.

Oil paintings of x-rated picnics

Really grateful to have "Prelude to Living," a poem I wrote for H, in this new edition of @inkinthirds.bsky.social. Check it out!

showing Holly the November Rain video for the first time. that’s it, you can shut down Boyfriend of the Year voting now.

“I like to play in C and I like there to be 4 (beats per measure)” - my gf, the budding pianist

Lying beneath this, lying next to my favorite

do you ever think driving across the Midwest might be the closest we get to a heaven?

Saturday-morning caravan on the interstate: alerting each other to cloud arrangements, sending each other songs, pointing out the houses we should buy together

the clouds are so close today that if you have a sunroof, you can reach out and grab one, drag it into your car and rest your head on it, smell the air, understand what it feels like to be hung in the sky

“This could be a poem or a wallpaper” @hollypelesky.bsky.social

My baby is reading me Tiana Clark and Toni Morrison and Li-Young Lee over the candlelit meal I made. And maybe it gets better than this, but if it doesn’t, who cares …

Agreed! I think we’re freed to show how much we care by winnowing away all the bullshit worth uncaring about

Only 44, but this rings so very true

yeah, i know what the history books say. but, in my personal history, it's fucking awesome to be an artist in love with another artist.

Somehow the new Wednesday album is *better* than I thought it would be, and I came in with pretty big expectations

i love setting the table for her—quite literally. prepping the steak and the onions, spreading out a puzzle for us for later, curating the music that welcomes her home.

it feels absolutely wild to be co-founding an arts collective with everything going on right now, but I truly believe art is liberation! we need spaces where we can express ourselves, where we can learn, grow, and create as a community. please help spread the word 🙏 www.nightjarartscollective.com

Writing up intros for the reading I'm co-hosting w/H Sunday and sifting through her poems as I'm going to cover one live. I feel myself choking up (not choking on) in response to all the beauty. I really do love the writers I know and the writers who want to know me.

Every time I visit her at work I’m so proud of all she does

Sitting, waiting for her to come home. One of her babies across the room from me, the other gaming. Zach Bryan on the radio, a new to me novel in my lap. Here, the waiting is sublime b/c we all know all that will make it better is her key in the door, her voice ascending the stairs.

This is the thing

this year, I've memorized each mile from Columbia to Omaha, driving to see my partner nearly every week. It felt criminal that I had yet to construct a true road-tripping playlist, so I did in the car last night (not recommended). I thought I'd share it with you: open.spotify.com/playlist/63E...

I’m not sure I’m much like my old man, but if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have known the Beatles or Roy Orbison so early and so passionately and that’s not nothing

Doing what we do

Have your kids read James Baldwin, please (your grownups too)

If someone’s not mourning the death of Robert Redford in a manner that’s consistent with your views, make sure you set up a database, call their employer, and get them fired.

"How's that working out for you ... being clever?" — Brad Pitt to Ed Norton in "Fight Club" and also my brain to itself some days www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_5z...

"I don't want the life of a lonely volcano, puking magma on myself while the villagers flee." — @raxkingisdead.bsky.social with a candidate for Sentence of the Year

Just got interviewed for an article by a 20-yo version of myself

Such a great choice

this evening was lovely

I’m telling you there’s nothing hotter than my girlfriend (who has a hall of fame timbre) leaving me a voice memo about the state of Quik Trip rotisseries. Midwest romance y’all.

I know it’s probably because I grew up here, but I’ll be damned if I don’t love a mid-sized Midwestern city.

"The rock of my salvation Was the girl who took my hand You’ve never been loved the way I have You wouldn’t understand" — Josh Ritter

"I'm like your prostate exam, baby. I want to see inside of you," my gf, making what's actually a very emotional point

Trans rights are human rights. I just say that whenever I reach a new follower plateau so you can fuck right off if you wandered into the wrong room.

“Did you know Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged? It’s pretty wild!” My 12-yo, the astute if not late-blooming cultural commentator

I think I’m in the world’s smallest Barnes and Noble (Blue Springs, MO) AMA.

Just over a week till @hollypelesky.bsky.social and I host Writers Karaoke in Columbia, MO. Lineup includes: @ljensenlampe.bsky.social @carolinedohack.bsky.social @baileygaylinmoore.bsky.social @donaldquist.bsky.social and more! Get hip.

Among the laws of the universe: The child you encouraged to sleep all along your 90-minute drive will not fall asleep until 5 minutes before you pull off the highway

Every now and then my favorite living painter likes one of my insta posts and I remember we’re mutuals and that’s about as giddy insufferable fanboy as I get

I saw dozens of majestic trees on my morning drive; each made me think of you, made me want to read you a poem

Justice for Studio 60

two snippets by Lindy Hough