My first blog post of 2019– and it’s already nearly 1/2 way through January!  I have re-committed to posting on this blog on most Sundays again this year (I think I made at least 45 Sundays in 2018), in tandem with the Poetry Blog Network, which has a new badge, thanks to Kelli Agodon, and continues to be digested and disseminated by Dave Bonta. I want to thank and acknowledge everyone in this network who faithfully blogged in 2018, and made me feel like I belong to a poetry family.

If I were the type to make resolutions for self-improvement, I would resolve to start doing yoga again, schedule a mammogram, get outdoors more, and lose some weight.  But I’m more the type to break, rather than keep, promises to myself. So I’ll just say I have some goals for the next 12 months or so, which are some of my commitments to poetry.

1. Publish at least 12 reviews of books of poetry.
2. Start a new website devoted to reviews of poetry chapbooks. (BTW, if anyone wants to join me in this endeavor, just email me at risaden@gmail.com)
3. Accrue at least 50 rejections of poetry submissions to journals, and 10 rejections of my current manuscript. (I’m not quite ready for the 100 club!)
4. Read, read, read. Write, write, write.

Also planning to attend the Palm Beach Poetry Festival this month; share a booth for Headmistress Press with Lana Ayers of MoonPath Press at AWP in Portland in March; do a workshop with Carl Phillips at the Port Townsend Writers Conference in July and meet monthly with the Upper Room Poets for workshopping poems.

Most notably, I plan to retire in 2020 (which probably won’t mean leaving healthcare entirely, but a big workload reduction) to clear up time for more poetry-related activity. And, after I retire, I hope to plan a road trip across the US to visit with poets that I’ve only so far met in cyberspace.

We never know how much time there will be to accomplish all that we hope to accomplish. Be alert while you are alive. Do what you can. Always remember that the most important thing is to be kind.

Take care of your health and get plenty of rest.