The poet.

I’m a poet and a veteran of the competitive performance poetry scene. My poetry - which has been published in poetry journals such as Rattle, science and medical journals like Narrateur, and outlets that make my Bubbie proud like Jewish Journal - explores sexuality and power dynamics, the intersection of science and society, motherhood, gender, and death. As a slam poet, I competed on and coached multiple national teams in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. I was a host and slam master at New York’s louderARTS, and am the founder of the University of California at Berkeley Poetry Slam, which won the first ever College Unions Poetry Slam International (CUPSI). While I no longer compete in slams, I continue to write poems that have the occasional habit of turning into songs. 

NOTE: My poems often deal with mature themes and make use of adult language. If that’s not your thing, take heed.

The poems.

“The part of the story I’d rather not tell” - Rattle
Rattle Poetry Prize Honorable Mention 2009

I probably wrote this poem 20 different times before I finally stopped trying and let the poem write itself. Where it went startled me and made me a bit uncomfortable, but ultimately captured what I had struggled to say for years. I was glad it found a home in Rattle, on of my favorite journals, and humbled to have had it receive an honorable mention in that year’s poetry prize.

“Tycho Brahe” - AstroPoetica

Sometimes the stories of the people who do science are even more intriguing that the science itself. Tycho Brahe is one such character.

“The Liar” - Muzzle

Another poem I wrote 6 ways from Sunday before I finally landed on the way the poem wanted to write itself. Junior high sucks. We’re all such terribly clumsy humans at that age, and the damage we do to one another still haunts me.

“How my grandmother eats dinner” - Narrateur

Narrateur is a great journal from the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine. It’s focused on publishing the stories, poems, photographs and art of clinicians and those who work in healthcare. So many people who chose to work in healthcare are creatives and yet that side of themselves is not often celebrated in the business of medicine. That’s a shame. I’m glad journals like this are trying to correct that imbalance.

“You Made You” - Narrateur

Being pregnant is a trip. Your brain tells you there’s going to be all this work you need to do in order to create a human, but then your body says, “Nope, we’ll take it from here.” It’s a slow-motion hijacking. All that was left for my brain to do was write poems about it.

“Untitled (for my bubbie)” - The Jewish Journal

So pleased to have this poem published in the Jewish Journal. Not only because it's a great fit, but because being in the Jewish Journal meant that my Bubbie now had grandchild bragging rights that trump all the other Bubbies at the hair salon. At least for a week.

“Crush” - IndieFeed Podcast
(Featuring Marty McConnell)

I used to perform often in duets or quartets of other poets. Here’s a duet I wrote with Marty McConnell. Poems take on a whole other dimensions when read aloud. This audio clip is a good example of work that simply doesn’t translate the same way if you only read it on the page.