This is a black oystercatcher. We hear them south and see a mated pair to the north on walks. This photo was taken at a distance using a zoom.

During April, I gave my students poems. Poetry was one of the fatalities of the misguided school reforms of a couple decades ago which insisted English teachers toss most of our curriculum in for a focus on nonfiction. Don’t get me wrong, I had always included nonfiction in my curriculum, but we all deserve poetry in our lives. We all deserve stories, and we should have respect for fiction, since all the ancient texts, all of scripture everywhere in the world involves the supernatural.

“Actress Amber Tamblyn is a passionate poet, and the above quote ‘eat poetry so that your body is made of it’ reminds me of something she said in an interview. When asked ‘why do we need poetry?’ she said, ‘Because we are the poem. Poetry is the thing you don’t write, it’s the thing you feel, it’s what you kiss, it’s what you sleep in, it’s what you smell, the way in which we need each other, the way in which we understand death without having experienced it.’ ” Continue reading →