Articles by Ariel Martinez Brumbaugh

Everyone’s a Poet in April

Is it spring in the air — or just poetry month?

The world of famous poets is small. The past hundred years have produced a handful of poets whose names are immediately recognizable: Robert Frost, Dylan Thomas, ee cummings, Maya Angelou, with space here for your own favorite. As a student of poetry and an addict of words, I sadly recall the words of my poetry professor Ed Perlman at Johns Hopkins University: “Only about six poets in the world are able to make a living off of their poetry. The rest of us write poetry...

Article - Books; by Ariel Martinez Brumbaugh; 4/14/11

Bay Reflections

My Father and the Slugs

My father was a patient man who had no enemies. But I recall a summer when a monster was set free. His prize-winning tomato plants, he tended day and night, invited slugs, such slimy beasts, who knew they’d taste just right. And in the morning Dad would rise to find his plants in shreds he’d curse and stamp his feet with rage and swear upon their heads. He started drowning them in salt to watch their bodies wither. he’d track them by their rainbow trails and catch them in mid-...