Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

Is the Pandemic messing with your teeth?

By

Clenching, grinding and pushing: I bet you didn't see this coming: an increase in dental injuries attributed to the pandemic. Dentists report a big uptick in patients grinding their teeth and broken or chipped teeth. Nearly 60% of Dentists say they are seeing more patients who grind their teeth, usually an indicator of stress. My friend's dentist told her, "It's all the stress with Covid-19 … [Read more...]

Had enough of These Unprecedented Times?

By

Please stop saying that: Every year since the mid seventies, Lake Superior State University in Michigan's UP takes nominations for overused, misused and useless words to dump. The goal is to "uphold, protect and support excellence in language by encouraging avoidance of words and terms that are overworked, redundant, oxymoronic, cliched, illogical, nonsensical and other wise ineffective, … [Read more...]

Blizzard: a poem

By

Blizzard by Linda Pastan the snowhas forgottenhow to stopit fallsstutteringat the glassa silk windsockof snowblowingunder the porch lighttangling treeswhich bendlike old womensnarledin their ownknittingsnow driftsup to the stepover the doorsilla pointillist’s blurthe weddingof form and motionshaping itselfto the wish ofany object it toucheschairs becomelaps of snowthe moon could bebreaking … [Read more...]

Let’s hear it for screaming

By

Not feeling it This year my husband and I won't be hosting our annual neighborhood Christmas party, which involves weeks of decorating, planning, hand-wringing, fears that no one will actually show up, not to mention dusting the baseboards. We won't be driving to Ohio with thousands of other highway travelers in a possible snowstorm to see relatives for a traditional Polish meatless Christmas … [Read more...]

What, Why, How: Patricia Clark

By

What? I write poetry. Well, I've also written a few short stories and published them. But poetry is my main genre. Why? I'm really compelled by two things with poetry: its emotional undercurrents and its musical qualities. Both keep me interested, and I just published my sixth book. There is always something new to do with sentences and with sensory details. Why do I keep writing? … [Read more...]