JULY 2014

July is so intensely devoted to poets and poetry this year. Urbana has practices at least twice a week for a couple of hours, and I actually look forward to them. I’ve been on several slam teams and practices can often be a drag, but every time I bike over to Jared or Olivia’s, or prepare my own apartment with snacks based on the very different tastes of Omar Holmon and Anthony Ragler, I feel like I really lucked out. The team bonding is real, and it’s obvious that the dynamic of our squad is fire by the laughing in practices but also the way we slay most of our scrimmages. 

The Poetry of New York Camp is also happening, and we meet every Saturday at places like Coney Island, The Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Prospect Park. It’s obvious that everyone really enjoys camp — and the poems that come out of the prompts floor me weekly. I make a mental note to do this as many summers as I can.

I also attend the Pink Door Writing Retreat for the second year at Rachel McKibben’s house, where I am blessed to be in the presence of so many smart, talented, generous women/gender-queer writers. We camp out in her backyard, do workshops in the day, and gorgeous readings at night. I know I am lucky to be a part of it.

It’s really hard to pick just one picture to encapsulate the month but I am going to go with this one. All my campers eating potato chip infused ice cream on the water, with no idea how brave their poems are about to get. 

Other Highlights:
-Great rooftop fourth of July party at Jared’s.
-Eating the best veggies and eggs from our local CSA share.
-Conversations with kind people who are much smarter than me, like, all of the time.