A Villanelle for May

 

This is Just to Say

 

It is with relief that this NPM comes to a close. I've learned lots about writing poetry this month. There is power in working the same form day after day. You go deep and learn it well. You start to feel it in your bones, or in my case, start to speak in three syllable chunks. Similarly, there is power in trying to put big ideas into small containers. Synonyms were my friend, I learned to work the titles, and every now and then I got a rush of joy when I stuck a landing. Brevity was both a bane and a joy. I'm definitely ready to use more words and write more actual POETRY.

I also learned lots from reading the news every day. First of all, journalists are amazing. The number and variety of stories is endless. Bad news is way more relentless than my previous glances at headlines revealed. But there is also always good news to be found. It pays to be patient because things change with about the same frequency as they erupt. When all else fails, looking out the window or walking in the garden is the perfect antidote. Even just the act of making something every day and showing up with it in public helped put the news into perspective. 

Art matters.

King Charles Speaks Truth to Power

 

"...even though the royals may only have soft power, hearing Charles advocate for NATO like that is striking..." via NPR's Up First newsletter

Look Away From the Screen

 

“There’s a New Phishing Scam: Fake Invitations”

 “The trick with this phishing scam — and why it works so well — is that the email address belongs to someone you know. The invite originates in their inbox. Because they themselves have been hacked.” Read more in the NYT article.

Ineffective Ways to Negotiate

 

Trump Cancels Aides’ Trip for Iran Talks: ‘We Have All the Cards’ 

“The president said he pulled his team from the flight shortly before takeoff,

and he told the Iranians they could negotiate by telephone instead.”

via the NYT

Science vs. Wonder

 

Norway’s Century-Long Watch on the Northern Lights by Alexa Robles-Gil in the NYT

Less of a Poem, More of a TED Talk

 

Sometimes it's impossible to find poetry in the news...

A World Apart

 

Today's News is Outside Your Front Door

 

A River Runs Through It

 

Upon the 50th anniversary of the publication of Norman Mclean’s novella,

A River Runs Through It. NYT article here.

Shooting Spree

 

NYT article “Haunted by ‘Dark Thoughts,’ Louisiana Father Kills 8 Children,”

by Eduardo Medina, Christina Morales, and Johnny Diaz.

Primatology

 

Making Good

 

The Good List: A weekly inventory of ideas, rituals and cultural artifacts to add joy to your days. Hosted by Melissa Kirsch, via the NYT.

Panel Advances Trump’s Triumphal Arch, Even as Key Member Suggests Changes

 

Read the article here.

Al Jazeera's Europe News Today

 

War in the Middle East

 

President vs. Pope

 

Orban Concedes Defeat

 

You Are a Crew

 

“Jeremy Hansen said that if people liked how the Artemis II astronauts worked together, that joy was something everyone can share.” Via Kenneth Chang’s NYT article “Artemis II Crew Reunites With Families and Fellow NASA Astronauts.”

National Poetry Month

 

Jane Hirschfield on poetry’s enduring potency:

“Stone did not become apple. War did not become peace. / Yet joy still stays joy. Sequins stay sequins. Words still bespangle, bewilder.”

News Fatigue

 

My heart needed protection in order to read Evan Gorelick’s lead article

(“A.I. Lockdown”) in today’s NYT newsletter “The Morning.”

Sam Sifton calls them “...some frightening

developments in the world of artificial intelligence.”

Frightening, indeed.

July 5, 1978

 

Breaking News From Paleontology

 

From an NPR article about the discovery that a half-billion year old

spider fossil has pincers, which means “the ancestors of spiders

actually existed 20 million years earlier than previously thought.”

Bright Spot

 

Paying Attention, Then Looking Away

After reading as much of the 4/6 NYT article “Trump Revels in Threats to Commit War Crimes in Iran” as I could stand, following a lovely day with the niblings.

Nostalgia

 

Based on the 4/5/26 NYT Magazine article “They Grew Up With Smartphones, This is How They Live Without Them” (interviews by Amy X. Wang)

Perspective

 

I just couldn't bring myself to write a poem about a $1.5 trillion budget ask that will slash "domestic programs such as disaster relief and teacher training."

Finally, Some Good News

 

From a 4/2 NYT article “Hershey’s Promises to Use Only Real Chocolate After Backlash” by Alice Callahan

Making a Difference in a Distracted and Divided World

 

From the 3/31/26 NYT article “They’re Going to the Moon and They Know Not Everyone Is With Them: Can the four astronauts of the NASA mission Artemis II make a difference in a distracted and divided world?”

Supreme Court Birthright Citizenship Case

 

“As the justices prepared to hear this landmark case today, reporters for The Times took a close look at their family histories. In each, the reporters found newcomers to America — colonists, enslaved people and immigrants alike — who paved the way for a descendant to ascend to the highest court in the land.” NYT, 4/1/26

Unlocked link to an in-depth look at the immigration ancestry of the nine Supreme Court justices who will decide this case.

"That's a Bridge Too Far"

 

“That’s a bridge too far” is a borrowed line from the summary of the situation in Cuba as it struggles with fuel blockades, found in the 3/31/26 NYT newsletter “The Morning” by Sam Sifton.