Oh dears. Please bear with me.

At the end of January, I ran into some difficulty with my internet connection, which prevented me from posting. Then, my service provider decided to block my computer from accessing any connection, telling me that I needed to get online in order to fix this problem. Hmm. I couldn't quite figure out how that one worked, so I finally just lugged the computer in to work with me, where I have done virus scans and chatted with the bored folks over at my provider all day in an effort to have internet access by this weekend. I will tell you this: it's looking bleak.

So, I'm doing something I'm not 100% sure is legal, and I'm posting from work. Hello.

Despite this sad, little internet setback, I've been good about keeping up with my work. I wrote an ode for January. It was called, "An Evening Ode," and it's not half bad. With some work, it could be half good. If any of you wrote odes and would like to trade them for some virtual workshopping, I'd be way into that. Just e-mail me at the address listed on this page.

For February, I wanted to try my hand at an idea I've been kicking around for a while. My friend WM and I traded some work a while ago, and he included this intriguing little piece that was set up in haiku-like blocks of text that stretched across for four "stanzas," then looped back to the left and moved across another four "stanzas." The result on the page was a perfect square of text, composed of sixteen separate "blocks." When I first sat down with the piece, I wasn't sure how to read it: standard left to right and then down; down the leftmost row, then moving right as I read; left to right down the first row, then right to left down the second. I had no idea.

Turns out, the standard reading was the "correct" one, but I became fascinated with the idea of writing a poem that was composed of haiku-like blocks arranged in a square that could be read in any order. At about the same time, I became interested in learning how to quilt, which similarly works with smaller blocks of fabric patchworked together in order to make a cohesive whole.

So, for February, I'm writing a quilt poem. I really enjoy working in very tiny structures, and I think this will be a fun way to do a little something different with them. In addition, it'll give me some work to do in blending detail and abstraction, as it'll have to make sense no matter what order you read the blocks. I'm very excited.

So, there's a short update while I try to get my home computer up and running. I haven't meant to neglect you all. If I can get the company to let me use the internet this weekend, I'll post some examples of my favorite linked haikus and some other sources of inspiration for the February project.