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This week I'm wrapping up my online class and then it's off to Portland and Seattle, but don't worry, I'll be back before you can say Burlesque Poetry Hour.

My copy of Ekphrasis came in the mail today and I'm really excited to read all of these poems about art---I don't even really remember how I got so into that---I think a friend said, you have to see this statue and then it seemed like I was always in the National Gallery, wandering around and writing. As I was talking to one of my students the other day, I was explaining how at some point, her writing will shift away from herself---what I like about writing about art, is that it takes you away from the self--and lets you jump in the minds and bodies of other selves. When I was younger, it seemed like I had to write about me (I still do, after all, this is my blog) but I find myself, now, not appearing in my own poems. What can I say, I'm boring :). Today I graded, did laundry, went to the drug store and the grocery store and will be baking my raspberry chocolate brownies---who really wants to read about that!

I think that's why I like the voice of the persona, you get to be someone else, or at least take your attention away from your own life.