As a high school English and composition teacher, my master's degree coursework at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has helped me in many ways. First and foremost, it has made me a better teacher: by combining the experience of the Nebraska Writer's Workshop with literature courses and courses on the practice of teaching composition and literature, I have been able to have discussions about teaching and literature that (ironically) don't take place during my busy regular day. It has also helped me better understand my own work writing poetry. The tutelage of teachers like Ted Kooser has been invaluable, and I am a better writer-who-teaches because of it.
Recent Publications
Oscar C. Macellaio Prize for Poetry-Creighton University
"Ishmael" (poem) The Oakland Review
"Pilot" (poem) The Hiram Review
"Advent In Nebraska" (poem) Christianity and Literature
"First Homesteader" (poem) Nebraska Life Magazine
"Winter Funeral In Nebraska" (poem-February) Nebraska Poet's Calendar
"Tiresias is Blinded When He Sees Athena Bathing" (poem) The Examined Life
Official
My father was one. In my favorite story
he was working a game in a frozen rain in York
and after one play found a finger by the ball,
but no one claimed it.So, he would say
I lined them up, told them to hold out their hands.
He found the kid, the center, in shock, trembling,
staring straight ahead.
So—who do we need
When we hang ourselves up in the tangle, lost
in the furious speed of our goings? Someone
infinitely practical, a clear thinker to keep us safe.
My father was one. Stripes suited him.