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Antonia Lewandowski

@antoniakk20

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I’ve been experimenting again with rhyme, thinking how satisfying this kind of verbal closure at the end of lines can be. The ear, as well as the eye responds to such patterns, as I did to the array of fall apples set out to dry.

There are drawbacks to rhyming – it’s easy to fall into superficial, repetitive sound; rhyme also limits what can be said naturally, an important feature of contemporary poetry. Besides full rhyme, however, slant rhyme brings more flexibility. I’ll post some of my experiments soon by @antoniakk20

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8 days ago

The Towers Fell

I was fifteen. From algebra to history
Disaster rolled across the classroom
screen. I raised my hand. Is this now?
Yes, two buildings hit by planes.
People holding hands flew through
Burning air. When busses came,
We pushed past TV doom, past
Broken shafts that shone on
empty desks in every silent room.

I stayed in school, after those who drowned in dust and smoke
not knowing how we crashed
from the old world into
runaway history. by @antoniakk20

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a month ago

The workshop ended. Emily looked at the faces of the group seated around the oblong table. Some college students, several middle aged women, a few men, scruffy beards, denim work shirts, deep intelligent eyes, and even a few youngsters, probably recently graduated high school students. They had worked well together over the last few days, committed to the impulse that brought them together. She shuffled her final notes into a tight square on the small the podium before her. It was time
As it always did, the question came up early. In bookstore signings, at public readings, when teaching a workshop as she was doing today, the same curious grasping for detail emerged to lend strength to their own ambitions.
“How did you know you were going to be a writer?”
“Well,” she said, “ I couldn’t draw, and I hated arithmetic. “ But perhaps even more important, I went to a Catholic school.” She looked at their faces and realized they wanted a story. by @antoniakk20

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3 months ago

She drank iced Perrier and looked at the slice of birthday cake. How elegant, she thought, like designer fashion. The creamy center, the undercoat of raspberry, a latticework crown of marzipan. She took up her fork. A cloud of memories circled above. A fifth birthday, the organdy dress; her mother serving the children whipped green Jello in glass dishes. At ten, the girls in her sleepaway camp singing. And now, the grandchildren grown and far away, the silly cards, the effort to dress well and meet the occasion with sparkle. Who was the pastry chef, she wondered, who’d shown up at work early enough to build this perfect confection. She took a pen from her handbag and wrote a note on the side of the bill. “What are you doing?” her friend asked. “I’m giving thanks, she replied – for everything.” by @antoniakk20

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4 months ago

Start of a new poem:

The green mind of the cucumber vines goes it own way

In early light before brightness
bleeds too much sun, I see progress
in design. by @antoniakk20

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5 months ago

I'll be giving a poetry reading at this event on the 21st -- from my two books and some new work, along with time for a conversation about writing. The venue is a former public school building built in the early 19th century -- with all the charm of early school architecture. And at the entrance a large school bell on a pull chain thatreminds me of the call to order in the morning and the welcome ring of the bell for recess. by @antoniakk20

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7 months ago

I'm half way through the Poetry and Mindfulness four week course that I'm teaching on Wednesday evenings. Tracy K. Smith's new book, Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times, is a valuable resource, as is the anthology How to Love the world. by @antoniakk20

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7 months ago

After a good day of writing, the best thing to do next is cook. Here's Chicken Marengo -- one of Napoleon's favorite dishes. The trick is at the end add a jigger of brandy to the sauce. by @antoniakk20

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8 months ago

This winter issue of Persimmon Tree is online today!

While Persimmon Tree issues don’t usually have an overall theme, this edition happens to be filled with tributes to resilience, the eventual triumph of light over dark—and not only in our special “Resilience” section and the Forum. Diane Apter’s “You Just Never Know” and Antonia Lewandowski’s “The Art Lesson” are just two of the essays that reflect our power to recover from pain and disappointment. by @antoniakk20

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10 months ago

by @antoniakk20

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10 months ago

Green on green; the view from my writing desk. by @antoniakk20

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a year ago

This is what a manuscript feels like when it's time to revise. by @antoniakk20

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a year ago