The Apostrophe Blog
My golden shovel, “Verdict,” has been accepted for publication in Volume 3 of the Antifa Literary Journal. It is based on an oft-quoted stanza from Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes. The golden shovel is a poetic form in which the last word of each line is made from the words of a preexisting poem to which the poet is paying homage. This form was invented by Terrance Hayes whose 2010 poem, “The Golden Shovel,” is based on “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks. Her short poem begins with this epigraph: The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel. That is where Hayes got the name for his new form.
The public domain photo above is of the painting, Philoctète abandonné dans l’île de Lemmos by Pierre Cabanel. It is in Le musée Paul Valéry in Sète, France.
Interests: Reading, writing, not arithmetic. The art and craft of poetry. Photography. Vegetable and flower gardening especially heirloom bulbs and dahlias. Movies in real theatres. Theatre on real stages. Art in real galleries. Crossword puzzles and, of course, Wordle. Singer-songwriters like Aimee Mann and Patti Griffin. All kinds of music especially 1930s jazz. Venice, Italy! The Dude abides.
- The merry month of May… - May 13, 2026
- Award News: Second Place in OPA 2026 Poetry Month Contest - May 8, 2026
- Publication News: “On the Precipice in This Perilous Moment: A Triptych” - May 5, 2026
