Muster Point
Say less.
I look up from my desk just in time to see a heron fly overhead.
The blue jays are determined to outdo the sun, sky, and snow. Their blue and white feathers together just so, are blinding.
"So" is the first word of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, which I'm reading with strangers brought together by A Public Space, a literary magazine.
I'm usually impatient with ancient epics, but this one goes down easier than the Iliad and Odyssey did at nineteen. I still skim a bit, but I'm giving Heaney (and myself) a chance.
On a frigid Saturday afternoon, I show up to the parking lot behind Watchung Booksellers for a bike ride to remember those killed in Minneapolis, to protest the violent and unconstitutional arrests, and to celebrate love and neighbors and loving our neighbors.
I'm on foot, so I see the riders off – tulips tucked into their handlebars or in their teeth – and slip into the coffee shop to warm up, then hoof it home.
The long shadows of the trees on the snow give me a Hockney feeling. I freeze my fingers trying to photograph them, they do not capture.
Certain snowmen resemble shish kebab.
Discarded evergreen trees propped up vertically in snow banks, look more dignified than those lying on their sides. I can almost believe they will put down roots and resume growing.
I am always surprised when an epic walk takes a toll. And they do, even if, especially if, you do them daily, as I do.
So the foam roller and I meet again. Then I scramble eggs, throw in a generous helping of chopped scallion, and wolf them down while watching the best of Catherine O'Hara.
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I make Divinity School from scratch without AI. The writing and the photos here are all my work, always. Thank you for reading, please share near and far, and upgrade to a paid subscription if you can swing it!
This week I received proofs for my story, JUNCO AND WOLF, which will be published in the winter issue of A Public Space. Stay tuned for the pub date and order link!
Save the date – March 25 – for a launch party for SEARCH WORK: A Collective Inquiry into the Job Hunt, edited by Rachel Meade Smith (OR Books, 2026), available for pre-order now.
I'll be writing at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) February 9 through March 10. I'm considering pausing Divinity School during time, if I do so, I'll pause subscriptions. (Will she, won't she?)
Extra Credit
Maria Kozanecka, my sister, makes beautiful art. Please have a look (or look it! as the kids used to say) you won't regret it.
