Poems:
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In prose rich in metaphor, Pringle masterfully and hauntingly narrates the interior lives of children and adults facing life’s greatest struggles. Pringle’s characters are inspiring and courageous as they encounter unthinkable catastrophes.
In these stories, we see from the eyes of children watching a parent die from cancer, witnessing a parent’s ongoing struggle with mental illness and the debilitating effects of medication, and experiencing a holocaust-like mass killing of residents in their town. We see adult characters who escaped horrific childhoods question the viability of their own happy lives to the point that everything begins to crumble.
Pringle’s stories deftly and unsentimentally address heartbreaking and sometimes taboo topics like the grief of miscarriage and the destructive force of homophobia. Often, the lines between reality and delusion blur, and the reader becomes unnervingly ensnared in the protagonist’s confusion.
Many of the stories are quintessentially Midwestern, infused with wide cornfields and an ethos of practicality and personal limitation that is brought into stark relief by Pringle’s uncritical presentation. Pringle’s many gifts as a writer are in full force here. Particularly striking is Pringle’s ability to powerfully and convincingly evoke a child’s point of view. As always, Pringle’s work will break you open and at the same time fortify you.
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Over the weekend, my son and I spent our days in the Umatilla National Forest, which was fantastic for all the reasons one might imagine--trees, ground squirrels, wildflowers, stars, mountain streams--and the added bonus of no internet access. So, like a holiday delaying garbage pick-up by one day, this week's session of Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee arrives at your doorstep on a Monday rather than our usual Sunday. I hope it finds you there, regardless, and that you'll find one of these poems to have the right words for your current moment.
Poems!
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I'd love to read a few good poems by other people to you. Here:
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Most every Sunday, I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee. Here are some good ones by wonderful women writers.
Poems read:
It's the last Sunday of August, and so here's the last batch of poems for August 2022. Thanks for dropping by again or for the first time.
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It's Sunday again and time for another good session of Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee, which is a casual weekly meeting wherein I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee. Happy Birthday to my mother a few days ago!
Poems read:
Here's today's session of Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee, wherein every Sunday I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee.
Cheers to a new year of Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee , a weekly Sunday series in which I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee (or orange juice or hot chocolate, etc.). Here's the first session of 2022.
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Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee is a weekly series in which I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee. Enjoy!
Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (July 18, 2021)
Poems read:
Poems read:
Every Sunday I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee. Thanks for joining!
Poems read:
(The microphone, while "working," did not cut the monitor hum. So. We'll just carry on and try again next Sunday.)