WE’RE BACK WITH ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF FOOD YOU (STILL) DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH, IN WHICH YOU SEND ME YOUR CULINARY CONUNDRUMS AND MY SON, RUDY, AND I HANG OUT TOGETHER IN THE KITCHEN, TALK ABOUT STUFF AND TRY TO MAKE SOME SENSE OF THEM FOR YOU. Oh, Okra. We are all a little scared … Continue reading Okra!
WE'RE BACK WITH ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF FOOD YOU (STILL) DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH, IN WHICH YOU SEND ME YOUR CULINARY CONUNDRUMS AND MY SON, RUDY, AND I HANG OUT TOGETHER IN THE KITCHEN, TALK ABOUT STUFF AND TRY TO MAKE SOME SENSE OF THEM FOR YOU. This time, the conundrum comes from Rudy's pal, … Continue reading Condensed Milk
In just over two months from now, this website will be fifteen years old. My first post, on August 5, 2008, entitled "Sustenance," introduced myself this way: I am a poet and essayist and have been working on a memoir about food and my father, who died sixteen years ago, for almost four years, plus … Continue reading Sustenance, Redux
Painting, that is. Writing, too, variously, though let's be honest, it's mostly tweaking, revising, entering contests, submitting to journals, opening up documents...and then closing them. I'm weary, y'all. Burnt. Out. I've been a university professor for 23 years, an administrator for 10. All of this without one of those magical, coveted things called a sabbatical … Continue reading Still at It
In the fifth grade, I decided I was bad at art. I couldn't draw a vacuum cleaner well enough for my teacher, who pointed out all the problems with it at every turn. Why is the hose so long, Sheila? What's with the weird cross-hatch thing over here? Is that supposed to be metal? Didn't … Continue reading No More Vacuums!
The giant box arrived yesterday with the return label of Johns Island, SC. I don’t have x-ray vision, but I know without opening it exactly what I’ll find inside: Christmas presents—probably twenty or twenty-five of them, mostly small packages wrapped in wrinkly holiday paper and too much Scotch tape. Each will have the name of … Continue reading Sister Santa
Sometimes you write something and you know it's good. You suspect it might be among the best things you ever wrote. That you'll ever write. Sometimes, you write it four years before a global pandemic and, upon re-reading, are surprised at how prescient some of it seems. Here is my long poem, "Winter, Break" which … Continue reading It’s been months since we ventured anywhere/ and we resent the brightest days the most.
My friend Dave Housley of Barrelhouse Magazine interviewed me about the process of writing MOSTLY HUMAN. Gotta say, if you can find one of your dearest friends--those people who really know you and really get you to ask questions about your work, the result will be smart and thoughtful and so much fun. 10/10 would … Continue reading Two Gen-Xers Talk Aliens & the 80s
I used to keep a photo of my father displayed in my campus office. I liked being able to look up from my work, which was sometimes the work of teaching and sometimes my own writing work, and see his face and think of him, as his life and death have been such an engine … Continue reading Wellspring
I'm delighted to announce that my second full-length poetry collection, MOSTLY HUMAN, has won the Wicked Woman Book Prize and will be published by BrickHouse Books in October of 2020! There are no words to express exactly how much I love this book and the weird girl character, Round Baby, who stars in it. It's … Continue reading Round Baby Lives!
Sheila squillante 