November 16, 2021
Rainbow Colored Memories
A series of List Poems Orange A Halloween pumpkin. Clouds at sunset. A glass of carrot juice. Falling autumn leaves. A dry harvest field. Construction…
the writing desk
Poems, short stories, microfiction, and articles on writing.
November 16, 2021
A series of List Poems Orange A Halloween pumpkin. Clouds at sunset. A glass of carrot juice. Falling autumn leaves. A dry harvest field. Construction…
October 29, 2021
Halloween, a moment to be someone else A revelrous night of indulgence And laughter Of sticky fingers, silly faces, Fantastical frights. Like everything else we…
October 4, 2021
City in winter Snow like a powdery coat Cloaking everything Metallic green-blue, Wing beats faster than heartbeats, Dances with flowers. Bright orange fur glints Against…
September 23, 2021
These two pieces of writing were an experiment to push myself to write about the same subject in two different styles. I put them in…
September 13, 2021
I hold inside my palm an old bronze key Covered in dust. I am sitting inside my grandmother’s house The week after she died. I am missing her. I do not know what this key opens, I have never seen it before….
August 27, 2021
This week I worked with students on rhyming poems. Inspired by Shel Silverstein these silly poems should hopefully bring a little smile to your face!
August 17, 2021
Today I had something extra fun to share. I am writing a story with another one of my students. We both started with the same…
August 9, 2021
May I have a glass to drink? I wait patiently with my warm cookie Licking chocolate off my fingertips Knowing nothing’s better with a cookie…
August 2, 2021
Happy August everyone! Today was my first day with a wonderful group of students that I get to teach creative writing for the month of…
July 26, 2021
Today I have two pieces of writing that I’m very excited to share for Microfiction Monday. The first is a Concrete or Shape Poem that…
July 23, 2021
Every morning I check my navy blue sneakers for scorpions. I am afraid of being stung. When we got to camp on our first day,…
July 20, 2021
These small poems were written during the creative writing camp that I taught last week. The Haiku and the first acrostic poem were written collaboratively…
July 12, 2021
Every morning in the cabin, I check my shoes for scorpions because I am afraid of being stung. I don’t know it, but the little…
June 21, 2021
This Micro-fiction Monday we get to celebrate with a treasure trove of mixed media. I missed last Wednesday’s watercolor post because the project was a…
June 14, 2021
Today I thought I would share some long lost pieces of writing that I haven’t shared before. I spent a lot of today working on…
June 7, 2021
The bird themed poems this week were inspired by last Wednesday’s watercolor painting of feathers. The first is a Golden Shovel poem using lyrics from…
May 24, 2021
Acrostic Poem An acrostic poem is where you use the first letter of every line to spell a word or phrase. In this example the…
May 17, 2021
Another Name for Love Jam fresh pressed from warm red raspberries Only just picked this morning Under the radiant August sunlight the Rays warming your…
May 12, 2021
Sentence Stretches are an activity that I have been completing with students as a way to teach them how to write more descriptive sentences. When…
May 12, 2021
Haiku poems are one of my favorite ways to introduce students to poetry. They have a simple easy to understand pattern that kids seem to…
January 23, 2021
This Writing Lesson was originally exclusive to Patreon Supporters and was part of month theme: Unexpected Inspiration. This was the Week One Lesson. I’m going…
January 23, 2021
Writing Samples Ocean Vuong On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (Pages 79 – 81) Because I am your son, what I know of work I know…
November 13, 2020
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together…
November 3, 2020
Chapter One – Amy I am bored. My mom says I can’t leave my room because I didn’t turn in my assignment on the…
September 25, 2020
Writing Sample The Old Typewriter in the Basement by Brian Doyle (From One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder) Once again a student asks me how…
September 21, 2020
Hello Everyone, A few new things! First, I updated my website! It’s got a new URL, a fresh new coating of paint, and some updated…
September 21, 2020
Chapter One – Amy I am bored. My mom says I can’t leave my room because I didn’t turn in my assignment on the…
April 25, 2018
*Originally published in the September 2014 Freshwater News* It couldn’t have been a more perfect day on the Columbia River. The sun was shining and the
September 21, 2015
5/5 Stars The Plover by Brian Doyle is a unique kind of book. If you liked Mink River, this book is even better. Reading
April 10, 2015
They say that phoenixes are born from the ashes of their own death. That they start anew from the remains of what once was, are
January 14, 2014
Emily sat on the edge of the chair, picking at the frayed seams in the leather. She was thinking about the lake house, with its
October 18, 2013
No one is here but me and the summer thunderstorm raging outside my bedroom window. I touch the silver cross resting against my chest. When
September 30, 2013
Today is race day. The air is tense. You warm up your steed under the summer sun. Crisp, tight, controlled circles around the practice track.…
April 25, 2013
I’m sitting in a bar filled with an assortment of misfits. I am alone. I’m here because I have nowhere else to be. By that
April 24, 2013
During summer my favorite time of the day is when the sun is just slipping below the horizon and the sky is a deep royal…
April 21, 2013
I never before realized what a sad thing a bellybutton could be. What I mean by that is it is the one thing on the…
August 29, 2012
Lost was something she felt all the time. How do you know what that one choice was that snowballed you into this inevitable reality? This
August 22, 2012
Thomas pushed aside the midnight blue curtains. He liked the curtains because he could imagine he held a liquid sky between his fingers, rippling and
August 5, 2012
The whorls in the wood of the dock felt good underneath Alexa’s tracing fingers. The warmth from the sun soaked planks was soothing against her