Write Where You Are? June 20, 2007: Except I can’t. The problem is technical: hands. The baby must be held. In the sling he falls asleep and I eat and try to sleep make food for my older boys and aim for 15 minutes of attention to each one a day (can’t say that I make my goal very often). So the problem is also logistical: time. Somehow there is more of it now that day and [...] by Rachel Zucker

Post-Partum Poetry Thought June 11, 2007: I think I will not write poems about the birth of my third son. I might be wrong, but I’d bet not. The birth itself was so real, present, calm, loving, right. What poem “needs” to be written about it or of/out of it or in it? Does that mean that I write poems in order to fix experiences? I have always found it annoying when people tell [...] by Rachel Zucker

My New Work May 31, 2007: My son, Judah Darwin Zucker Goren, was born at home (in the water) yesterday morning. We were gently and lovingly attended to by a midwife and a doula. My husband and our older two sons (and Lindsey, our poet/babysiter) witnessed Judah's arrival. It was everything I could have hoped for. It was, in the most profound sense of the word, awesome. by Rachel Zucker

You’re WHAT?! (Poet + Homebirth = FREAK) May 22, 2007: Some of you reading this blog must have had this experience: someone asks you what you do and you say “I’m a poet” and they laugh uncomfortably, or say, “what?!” or “I don’t like poetry,” or they step away from you, or say, “you’re kidding, right?” Of course there are times when a person says, “me too!” or, “I’m a [...] by Rachel Zucker

Proofs May 18, 2007: This morning I begged the beautiful and brilliant poet Catherine Barnett (author of Into Spheres Such Perfect Holes Are Pierced) to meet me in the lobby of the elementary school (our kids go to the same school) and help me with some commas. As usual, she came through for me. I had a short list of questions, and it didn’t take much time. [...] by Rachel Zucker

My Mother May 13, 2007: I’ve been thinking a lot about my mom recently. Maybe it’s all the Mother’s Day hoopla or maybe it’s because I cannot consider the question of why I enjoy poetry readings or why (thanks Jeffrey) I might not suck as a reader without thinking about and acknowledging my mother, Diane Wolkstein. My mother is a famous storyteller. I grew up [...] by Rachel Zucker

Kenneth Goldsmith Ain’t No High-Paid Publicist May 9, 2007: Wow Kenneth, you make your readings sound really unpleasant. I love readings. Although maybe I wouldn't love yours? But I think I would. Sometimes, during a reading, I just sit and write. All that swirling language inspires me or perhaps, more accurately, occupies one part of my brain and allows another to be open to making poems. I’ve [...] by Rachel Zucker

The Real Life May 2, 2007: I’ve been wanting to finish a post I started writing months ago about description in poetry and writing about real life and Mark Doty and my students and observation and the difference between writing about real life and Confessional poetry, but I couldn’t because I’ve been too busy living my real life. This is not an excuse. This is a [...] by Rachel Zucker

View of My Desk with Encroaching Crib May 1, 2007: by Rachel Zucker

Everything I know about teaching I learned from West Side Soccer April 24, 2007: Yesterday my husband attended the certification training for assistant coaches for the U8 (under eight) division of West Side Soccer League (a division of the American Youth Soccer Organization). I was a U6 referee last Fall but I’m too damn big to fit into the yellow and black striped shirt let alone waddle up and down the field, so hubby has [...] by Rachel Zucker