What advice would you give a person just starting to write poetry?
"Read all the poetry you can get your hands on. Also read about poetry; I highly recommend John Ciardi's How Does A Poem Mean? Be patient; your own voice will come, in time."
Do you compose your work at the computer? If not, where?
"I compose at the computer; also, in my mind while walking; on scraps of paper while driving; on scratch paper in bed. I do my major tinkering on the computer."
What poet do you read for pleasure?
"I especially enjoy Mary Oliver and Billy Collins. But my greatest love and influence is Gerard Manley Hopkins."
What do you do if you lack inspiration?
"Random word exercises are always good; draw words out of a hat and use them all in a poem. Or else I just wait for a better day."
Do you own a dog? If so, what kind.
"Yes! Three German Shepherds who are friends and family first, but also trained search-and-rescue dogs. They're a major inspiration."
Hiking Old Dog To The Alpine Lake
She takes the lead with unaccustomed
spryness, remembering this route
through sagebrush, bitterbrush,
mules-ears drying like so many summers
to a lake still blue,
sky filtered through runoff snow.
Her lungs pump noisy
on this once a year hike,
the only season
this water gathers enough sun
for an old dog's joints.
You'd never guess,
the way she chases sticks in the waves,
and we keep on throwing,
remembering her a young dog
ranging these mountains
for a hiker lost, for all the scents
of August gone.
Finally the old dog sourness
washes off
and her fetches turn
to good dog weariness.
And then we take it
a slow walk back,
holding in
so the old lady still
can take the lead. So slow,
by the time we reach the car,
she smells of nothing
but drying grasses, lupine
and sage.
My most recent book: Next Exit (Cedar Hill Publications, 1999)