Thanks

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Publication!

http://www.yellowmedicinereview.com/id13.html

Sadly, my actual poem is not printed here. But you can see my name and order the issue! And I posted the poem here, along with my other fall publication from The Kelsey Review.

http://devotesherlife.com/Poems.html

I had a strange moment this morning when I learned that some of my past and current students found and read my blog! I'm not sure why this surprises me because I read a blog written by one of my former graduate professors. Sometimes I think no one reads this because I get so few comments, but apparently, there are anonoymous readers out there somewhere! I try to keep some this private, or blocked to friends only, like my Facebook account. But this website and blog is meant to be both personal and professional. So naturally, students may stumble across it. I think one of the advantages about teaching at a college level rather than elementary and high school is that it's ok for students to see me as a "real person." While I certainly try to maintain a tone of professionalism in the classroom, I enjoy the mutual respect that a professor/student relationship offers.

I went off on a bit of a tangent here, and I'm really not sure I'm being very clear in my thoughts. Early class today. I really just wanted to say - hello students! Say hi once in awhile; I always enjoy hearing what former students are up to. :)

You and I

Let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the South of France
Let's get rich and buy everybody nice sweaters
and teach them how to dance
Let's get rich and build our house on a mountain
making everybody look like ants
from way up there, you and I
You and I

(Ingrid Michaelson)

New Tunes

It's been awhile since I got some great, new music. I think the last album I bought (which was also the only one I've gotten in maybe 6 months) was Regina Spektor's new album, Far, this summer. But this week I downloaded two new albums from eMusic and I think I'm in love...

Away We Go soundtrack, which is almost exclusively Alexi Murdoch
and
Ingrid Michaelson's Be OK

I highly recommend both. I know Ingrid Michaelson in particular has been around for awhile now. Her music has been in hot TV shows, like Grey's Anatomy, and on Old Navy commercials. But for some reason, I haven't bothered to really listen to her until now. I've been missing out. You might be missing out too.

It's surprisingly difficult to find a good autumn poem...

Autumn

by Grace Paley

1

What is sometimes called a

tongue of flame

or an arm extended burning

is only the long

red and orange branch of

a green maple

in early September reaching

into the greenest field

out of the green woods at the

edge of which the birch trees

appear a little tattered tired

of sustaining delicacy

all through the hot summer re-

minding everyone (in

our family) of a Russian

song a story

by Chekhov or my father

2

What is sometimes called a

tongue of flame

or an arm extended burning

is only the long

red and orange branch of

a green maple

in early September reaching

into the greenest field

out of the green woods at the

edge of which the birch trees

appear a little tattered tired

of sustaining delicacy

all through the hot summer re-

minding everyone (in

our family) of a Russian

song a story by

Chekhov or my father on

his own lawn standing

beside his own wood in

the United States of

America saying (in Russian)

this birch is a lovely

tree but among the others

somehow superficial

Grace Paley, “Autumn” from Long Walks and Intimate Talks by Grace Paley and Vera B. Williams. Copyright © 1991 by Grace Paley. Reprinted with the permission of The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, www.feministpress.org.

Source: Begin Again: The Collected Poems of Grace Paley (1999)