Condor Wings

This is a poem for my "National Park" project from a trip taken in May, 2003








C ircling around the stone balconies
O n updrafts from the Grand Canyon,
N ot concerned with human onlookers,
D ark birds with giant wingspans glide
O ver the deep canyon cliffs while
R angers sing their praises.

W e stand in the North Rim lodge
I nterested, but preoccupied,
N ot knowing how rare the sightings.
G athering the wind gusts under their feathers,
S himmering condor wings move through bright blue skies.

From the corner of my eye as I stand in the lobby,
through the bank of windows overlooking the Grand Canyon,
I see huge black shapes soaring over the cliffs
and groups of people gathered on the stone balconies.

“Oh,” says the woman at the desk,
“those are condors, there’s a ranger out there talking about them.”
I stoop down to get a better look, to see the huge birds,
with their enormous wings, their bald, scabby-looking heads.

“How nice,” I thought. “We will have to catch this talk tomorrow.”
Now we need to check in, unpack the car, grab some lunch.
Not thinking logically, that there would be no lecture to attend.
Condors do not fly on a schedule or by command.

A Prayer and a Plan

Photo by Sloan Tackett

I’ve been thinking for a while now about what kind of writing I want to accomplish this year and, as usual, it’s a pretty ambitious list. I’m only planning for January through August because I’m hoping to head into graduate school in September and have a whole lot of other assignments to do. Here’s what I’m thinking:

National Park Project – I’ve been working on this project for two years. It is a collection of essays and poetry about the 9 national parks and 2 reservations we have traveled to in the last 20 years. It’s the kind of thing that could go on forever, since we certainly plan to continue travelling, but I’ve decided to cut it off and have it cover only 1989 – 2009. I plan to publish this collection in time for my birthday in May.

For the Birds – My writing Quartet meets once a month and this year we are writing to the theme of birds. We started this project last July, so I have 6 pieces to write this year for a complete set of 12.

NightWriter Assignments – I lead a writing group and we meet two times a month. The first meeting of the month has an assignment. We take a break over summer, so I have to write 5 pieces to complete this season, including a piece for the chapbook we produce every spring.

Travel Writing – When we go on a vacation I try to do some piece of writing for each day we are gone (poetry, essay or creative journal entry). Last year was so hectic I did not have time or “brain space” to revisit the notes I took about our trip to Santa Fe. I have 6 pieces I want to complete for that this winter.

The end of May we are heading out to the Tetons and Yellowstone and I will produce a new piece for each day we’re gone – about 8 – I’ll try to get those done as close to that trip as possible to capture my impressions while they are still fresh.

Even Day Poems – each year I pick a month and write a poem every even day. This year I picked May, which is my birthday month, but also pretty busy. I can use some of my travel writing work for this – they don’t necessarily have to be completely separate work.

“Beloved” Essays – with the finish of my National Park Project and the one year anniversary of my Mother’s death, I would like to tackle a project I’ve been thinking about for a while – essays about the women in my family – which would include her of course, but also my grandmothers, aunts, and my own beloved daughter. I think there will be about 12 pieces to this collection and I want to do one a month starting in June.

Novel – and last, but not least, I want to take time this summer, June – August, to do a push and finish the first draft of the novel “Copper” I’ve been working on. It’s about half done and I think some dedicated time would get me through to the point where I have something finished I could revise. I would like to work on fiction again since that’s what I hope to study in graduate school.

So, all this should certainly keep me busy and productive and doesn’t even take into consideration my job, which I will be doing through April, and a large literary project I’m coordinating for the Box Factory in St. Joseph.

I like to be busy. I love to write. Life is good!

Nolan's Milestone

Yesterday our grandson, Nolan, turned one. Last year I wrote a poem about the day he was born and it was 17-degrees and we had 18-inches of snow. Much different this year - 30-degrees and not a speck of snow.

He has been a God send to me this year - a bright and soft place to go when everything else seemed so difficult. Life goes on, and it's never more evident than with a grandchild. He brings a hope and excitement about our future - that's a lot of responsibility for one little guy - but I think he's up to it!