Taking a walk with Ross Gay Early this year, I took writing class with Jeannine Ouellette. We wrote a weekly short essay inspired by Ross Gay’s Book of Delights. We were encouraged to find and write about a delight every day, as Gay had done i...

Out of the Gate Many years ago, my life coach had encouraged me to celebrate the completion of my memoir, The Stage Is On Fire. I had been working on the manuscript for well over three years in supportive writing classes, with patient editors...

I like their lady horse swagger,/ after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!/ But mainly, let’s be honest, I like/ that they’re ladies. As if this big/ dangerous animal is also a part of me,/ that somewhere inside the/ delicate/ skin of my body, the...

Taking a walk with Mary Oliver This structure is similar to the one Mary Oliver uses in her famous poem “The Summer Day,” in which she opens with speculation about the world, the black bear, the grasshopper, and, only after bringing our atten...