The Curlew, out of Wales, is a non-profit journal that supports conservation projects and offers “art, photographs, essays, poems, and short stories with a connection to the natural world.”  My thanks to the editor, Dr. Lynn Parr, for selecting “Pulling Weeds” for the latest issue. www.the-curelew.com

In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Academy for American Poets is sponsoring a poster contest for grades 9 through 12.  Opening September 1st, the contest will be judged by award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye and designer Debbie Millman.  The winner will receive $500, and the winning poster will be distributed to approximately 100,000 schools, bookstores, and libraries across the U.S.  www.academyforamericanpoets.org

I’ll be taking a hiatus from the blog for the rest of the year, returning in early 2019 with a new direction.  This should give me time to finish up a couple of projects. I hope you’ll rejoin me then. Meanwhile, let me leave you with the last stanza from Martin Espada’s wonderful poem, “The Republic of Poetry”:

“In the republic of poetry,

the guard at the airport

will not allow you to leave the country

until you declaim a poem for her

and she says, Ah! Beautiful.”