All things related to Karen Kohler’s writing, journaling, autobiography, as well as her use of writing as a tool of self-discovery and artistic preparation.
DURING A SNOWSTORM Time moves in from all sides and vanishes, The Then, the When in motion from here to there. Like shards of Light that penetrate The Darkness and give it breadth, Time punctuates the middle ground into which The All condenses as snowflakes dancing Directionless yet still directed. ~ Karen Kohler
GAIA BREATHING We are at war. We must fight. We must win. A human tactic. To make an "other" of it. Of anything mysterious and therefore threatening. Of anything that is not I, not us. Can we not see with curiosity and ask: What have we done to her? What has she sent us in return? Can we not approach [...]
I SING YOU A SONG OF WINTER I sing you a song of winter. Of withdrawal and retreat. The seeds that we planted in the fall are frozen in the earth. Safe from the winds that would scatter and destroy them. The path is deepening. What stays, what goes. What falls off in decay of the old, tired way. [...]
LUCKY GRAIL Oh mended bone Oh key, oh throne Oh sprawling land of in-betweens Of yeses and of might-have-beens At decade's end I raise my glass You were a kicker in the ass I wipe the curses from my brow You know I loved you anyhow And from the threshold of regret I say, screw you, I'm not through [...]
Every year around this time, I glance from my Brooklyn rooftop at night to see the blue spears of light emanating from lower Manhattan. Today, on the 18th anniversary of 9-11, I locate the journal entry I wrote the day after the attacks. This bit of prose was later published in a collaborative book project benefitting the 9-11 Fund. [...]
Karen's debut poetry collection, Petrichor: Selected Poems, is released. Published by her own Sumya Press, the volume is available for purchase on-line at Blurb.com.
Karen Kohler self-publishes her writing! The Corpses, Karen's first novella, is published in December of 2017 through her own publishing company, Sumya Press. Her debut poetry collection, Petrichor, is released in March of 2019.
Words! Words! I'm so sick of words! I get words all day through; First from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do? Don't talk of stars burning above; If you're in love, show me! ~ from My Fair Lady (lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner) Think about the last time you played with a baby. How [...]
I've never been good at practicing. I like to be good at something quickly, and if I'm not good at something quickly, I don't like doing it. So I put it away, for awhile. Or forever. Such has been the fate of tennis, baking, sewing and tap-dancing, to name a few. The blame seems to fall squarely on the shoulders [...]
Performers are revealers; we lay a thing bare. To cultivate as broad a landscape of potential revelation as possible, we venture from the center of familiarity and recognition to the edge of mystery and uncertainty. Just as there are edges to the stage space, there are edges to us performers too. I consider the edge that place where there's nothing to hide [...]
