Meg Fisher: I am a retired early-childhood teacher living in Franklin County in the Mount Toby foothills with my younger son. This poem came into being in a weekly writing group, 6-9 of us currently Zooming with our leader, poet and author Christian McEwen. Read More
Pandemic Poetry & Prose Project
Changes by Anna Bozena Bowen
Anna Bozena Bowen: As a poet, author of the awards winning novel HATTIE, and a retired nurse, my writing focuses on the multidimensional aspects of our human and spiritual lives. I live in Hampshire County, enjoy cooking, food and wine, and love travelling to Napa and Maui. annabozenabowen.com Changes Some mornings I don’t recognize my Read More
The Dailies by James Cervantes
James Cervantes, poet and editor, is definitely a straw dog when in residence on Hog Mountain. At other times, he is an expat living in San Miguel de Allende (Guanajuato, MX), though the pandemic has temporarily driven him, his wife, two dogs, and a cat to shelter in Arizona. The Dailies White masks, red and Read More
HOW VIRULENT by Jane McPhetres Johnson
Jane McPhetres Johnson commuted from Wyoming to complete Goddard’s MFA, later created Humanities programs, and now is picking up where she left off when motherhood interrupted post-MFA plans. An Amherst resident and Straw Dog member, she has published poems in journals, anthologies, and e-mags, including “What Rough Beast” and “Not My President.” HOW VIRULENT the Read More
COVID-19 Conundrums (5/12/2020) by Herbert T. Abelson
Herbert T. Abelson is a retired academic physician living in Hampshire County, Granby, MA where he serves on the Board of Health, gardens, writes prose and poetry for which he is always looking for the right words to communicate with his wife, kids, and grandkids. COVID-19 Conundrums (5/12/2020) Has Covid-19 down time worked for you? Read More
Woods in the time by Janet MacFadyen
Shutesbury resident and Straw Dog member Janet MacFadyen is author of two poetry collections and three chapbooks. Recent work appears or is forthcoming in Scientific American, CALYX, Q/A Poetry, The Blue Nib, and Sweet. She held a Fine Arts Work Center fellowship, and is managing editor of Slate Roof Press. Woods in the time What Read More
“It’s Not About Me” by Alexis Johnson
Alexis Johnson is co-founder and former Executive Director of International Language Institute in Northampton, a non-profit school that teaches English, world languages and teacher training. She has a B.S. in Languages & Linguistics and an M.A. in Teaching English and Spanish. She’s written a book called “Playing with a Full Deck.” “It’s Not About Me” Read More
“If I Could” by Tara Dasso
Tara Dasso is a poet and recent straw dog member who resides in Western Massachusetts. She is co-founder of Write-up Springfield!, a creative writing group that promotes and brings together Springfield area writers to write and share work. Her work has appeared in various journals including Trestle Ties, Dark Ink Magazine, and Silkworm. “If I Read More
THE JOURNEY NOW REQUIRING by Janet E. Aalfs
Janet E. Aalfs, a Hampshire County resident and member of Straw Dog Writers Guild, is founder/director of Lotus Peace Arts (www.heronsbridge.org), a founding member of Valley Women’s Martial Arts, and was the 2nd poet laureate of Northampton. Her writing is widely published, and her most recent book of poems is Bird of a Thousand Eyes. Read More
Promise, Walking On A Woodland Trail by Rema Boscov
Rema Boscov is an artist, teacher, musician, poet and journalist who has written for The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and numerous magazines and newspapers. She has been an artist-in-residence in three national parks. She lives in Franklin County, Massachusetts. Promise, Walking On A Woodland Trail 1. A brisk wind whiffles through the pines. It Read More