30 July

Today we had Peggy Shumaker on the show. Peggy read some of her own work from her "Greatest Hits 1974-2005" chapbook. She also shared "Blaze" a collaboration with the painter Kesler E. Woodward. Lastly, we got a sneak peek into her newest book "Just Breathe Normally." Peggy is charming and a brilliant conversationalist. She was a real joy to have on the program and I hope she visits us again soon. For those of you who just cant get enough of a good thing check out her website.

Strong Stars

Mottled grouse peck
up gizzard stones
before the first snow-

seasons move on
as if the human heart were not
infinitely fragile.

The sow bear's stained snout lifts,
sniffs the wind, then bows
to claws raking in

stems, berries, rasping leaves.
A twelve-year-old, pleased, tells her aunt
I kissed a boy four times and my tooth

grew back in.
Beside the barrow ditch, the bandy-legged fox
bounds into finger-thin willow.

Strong stars surround the green
wash of the aurora, God's love, the moisture
of a woman's orgasm...

From here, we can see much farther
than we can walk.
We walk to the edges of our bodies.

-Peggy Shumaker

Peggy also edited "Hidden Alaska" a Special Feature in the current Alaska Quarterly Review. Here is a sample poem by Renee Singh that Peggy read for our listeners.

At Fish Camp

smoke rises, twisting
against kings sliced
dripping slow deliberate
delicious clear oils
that run then drop
down gently into ashes
below