"We are what we do, what we experience, what we learn. We humans build stories and theories about it all, and we live within those stories, those interpretations of all of these constantly impinging experiences. That is what we are and that is how it works. Full stop." —Michael Gazzaniga, cognitive neuroscientist Rebel with a Cause If I may begin with a brag (that’s kind of the point, right?) I had my best poet day on the planet last month. On March 5 I had a new poem appear

What problem in your life does writing temporarily solve?  What to do with all of the crazy, inspiring, philosophical, angry, weird, and romantic things going on in my head. You know how some folks describe their mind like a web browser with 42 tabs open at once, three of them randomly playing music? Yeah, that's me. What did writing give you that people didn’t?  Time to polish my words with care before offering them. When did you first realize you needed to write, not just w

" Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. " ~ Carl Sagan    Well, Carl, I'm feeling you, as I did get help, and it did come from within that lonely speck called Earth, because I couldn't get it done without other humans right here.  ~ Timothy Gager With my grandfather There’s a story many writers tell. They tell it at readings, usual

For better or worse, I am a born writer. My mind is a word fountain, and I have always derived pleasure from channeling the words toward creative goals. When I was eight and had the opportunity to enter works in my elementary school’s literary magazine for students, I was grateful for the opportunity to do what I already knew  I wished to do. I am also a visual artist, so I submitted drawings as well as a poem, and more than one were accepted. This was very important to me. M