Entering an American high school can be a bit disconcerting, especially when one has to pass through security guards and closed gates at the entrance of the school property, and then through the gamut of cops patrolling the foyer. The specter of Columbine lurks in the back of my mind…

New Mexico is America’s 5^th poorest state and it’s certainly evident when one walks Taos High School’s institutional yellow-hued corridors. But the kids in my poetry class belie my expectations. Their parents may be among the poorest in the Union, but their energy and engagement - and pure joy – is so awesome.

Trophy case at THS

There’s also another pretty amazing difference that sets THS apart from any other high school I’ve been in. In the entrance hall, where most schools proudly display showcases of athletic awards, THS has a trophy case full of POETRY achievements! How refreshing to be in a school where art trumps sports!

THS has a long history full of teachers who know the difference poetry can make to a kid’s life, and they’ve found creative ways to engage their students with it. Not only have they cultivated a vibrant and robust slam team who travel the state giving performances, but poetry makes it firmly into the curriculum with two intensive lessons a week. And these kids think poetry is totally cool.

What a joy it is to walk into a classroom of teenagers who are at-the-edge-of-their-seats thrilled to have a real live poet in their midst! No attention flagging here! Nowhere else, even at professional readings, have I experienced the beat-ish reception of finger-snapping to lines and images they appreciate.

What’s it like to be a poet? They ask. How do you structure your day? What do you do about writers’ block? (I asked them the same question back to see if there’s some answer to loosen up mine)

Then, when the kids enthusiastically shared their poems, there was a quiet reverence from the whole class. Respectful listening, careful comments and pure appreciation. These kid-poets are stars! Oh yeah, this is a draft I just had to write last night at one o’clock… They say. I wrote this about my brother who went to Afghanistan… This is a poem for my friends who have committed suicide… Again, I am blown away by young peoples’ talent. What bloody great poems!!

And then I’m back out on the heat-seared street, feeling refreshed by delight, pleasure and a little easing of my own ennui. Onwards, with the gem of poetry in my heart.

Ah! Nuevo México, hace mi corazón bueno!

I’ve returned to the place where many of my projects have been written. Dark Star Requiem found its beginnings here, as did many of the poems for Gratitude Songs. I've created praise poems here for the strangers I met living on the weird frontier who became good friends. Manuscripts have been honed, solo shows created, and the magic of language has become visible.

Bill Arms and me on the edge on the Rio Grande Gorge

Whether it’s in the shadow of the sentinel Taos Mountain – purple hued in the gloaming, or beside the tectonic rift of the awe-inspiring Rio Grande. Up among groves of alders and stands of stunted pinons – where I speak my poem-prayers into the evening - the natural beauty of this special place never fails to inspires me. How can one not find solace in the bone-warming heat of the desert, or up to one's neck in Ojo Caliente’s pools bubbling up from the earth’s core? To rub sage between fingers, or to listen to the whispering flap of migrating cranes’ wings - just pinpoints in the high, impossibly blue sky - provides the space for reflection.

Did I mention the nightly parade of kick-ass sunsets? I’m sure I will…

Well, my magical friends, has it really been SIX months??! It HAS, and I am back in Toronto! From Serignac to Caunnes-Minervois to the UK to Ireland (for a couple of readings and a workshop) and back for a stunning month in Paris. Plus side trips to Barcelona and a reading and university gig in London (courtesy of Todd Swift), it's been a hectic whirlwind with more visual art than the average person sees in a lifetime!

Now my attentions turn to the finishing touches on my spoken word CD - Gratitude Songs - which I've been working on with the multi-talented Graham Powell. Stand by for news of that, and news of whether I'll ever start writing again!

A book arrived for me in the mail last week - a lovely anthology about creating a garden - in which I have a small poem. The launch, for those of you in New Mexico, is on the 21st April, 3pm at the Harwood Art Centre. I can't be there, but I urge you to drop by if you have the chance!

Well, my lovely followers, I have been in France now for two months! I'm in a tiny village called Sérignac in the Midi-Pyrenees. I'm a third of the way through a self-directed writing retreat with a few projects, not least of which is the rewrite for Sleeptalker.

Mostly I find myself distracted by the beautiful countryside, quaint medieval villages and the amazing markets. If some of you have been following along on FaceBook, you'll see I'm quite obsessed with the purchasing of weird and wonderful foods and the cooking of them! In fact, my friend Ingrid suggested some poems about food which I thought was a rather good idea and which did kickstart me into writing a few poems, albeit nothing on the projects I'm supposed to be writing! But there you are, if nothing else we writers are very good at 1. procrastination and 2. beating ourselves up about our practice.

So, it's a couple of weeks before the holiday season - mercifully I am spared, to a great extent, the onslaught of TV advertising and the gross commercalization of the season - and I figure I'd better get something done. And, with that in mind, this week I will embark on rewrites for the play.

As an aside, I don't know how many of you know about the project I was wrapping up before I left Canada. I spent a bit of the summer working with Graham Powell on a collection of musical poems, tentatively entitled "Gratitude Songs" - Yes there is a theme there! Some of the poems from my latest book have been set to music that Graham composed especially for them. Check out his site - he's also a great photographer! When I get back to Canada we're planning a bit of a launch for the CD, so I'm also working on my Lady Gaga-ish costume - an homage to Leigh Bowery.

But don't think I've been completely idle. I was in London doing a reading for fellow-canuk, Todd Swift - who is now more English than the English! - at the Oxfam Bookstore and then the following day doing a guest lecture at Kingston University.

So friends - onward and upward!

Hey Folks!

My New book, The Ecstatic Torture of Gratitude, launches tomorrow Sunday October 2nd at Supermarket in Toronto's Kensington market - 3.30 - 6.00pm. I'm reading with 5 other lovely writers, so I hope to see you all there.

It's also my 'farewell for 6 months reading' as I'm off on Wednesday for the sunny climes of the Languedoc region of France with my trusty animal companion Ansel Fancy Pants Battson. More about that when I get settled.

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Hello Folks!

Draft 6 of Sleeptalker is complete and with Andrea. Andrea is also in the process of casting the reading. There's a blog you can check out for skimpy news of Sleeptalker - cool photos from the period there also! Make sure you pencil in the 28th July for the workshop reading - they'll be drinks and poisoned eclairs for you to imbibe while you give us your feedback!

As for the CD - well, today is the day when Graham, holed up in his studio, is starting to make the music! Using the trusty Snowball mic, I laid down the vocal guides for 13 tracks! It's great fun and I get to hear some of it on Wednesday!

Apart from that, I have a reading coming up in Cobourg on July 12th at Palisades Garden at 6 pm - hope to see you there!

The 5th draft of Sleeptalker is done and dusted! You can keep an eye on its progress through my other blog: Sleeptalker. Now I've turned my attention to the CD that Graham Powell and I am doing. And there's nothing better than a meeting in the garden of Graham's new house with Ansel stretched out in the sun! Tonight I get to figure out the order and even record a few of the poems (draft versions of course) on my Garage Band application (thank you Mac!) Can you believe this little mic is all I need??

Put Saturday June 18th in your calendars - I'm the poet guest at Array Music Session 8. A few poems, I think, from the Dust Bowl series I'm working on with Rick Sacks.