Under Construction
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Dog Days
Dog Daysan off-cycle post
In the Dog Days of 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown — an unarmed Black man — was shot to death by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Following an investigation, the Justice Department issued a report that detailed the bias and racism in policies and practices of the Ferguson Police Department and the local courts.
The Dog Days of 2026 approach. Time to get ready for the annual Sealey Challenge to read 31 books of poetry in 31 days. Or read as many or as few as you choose.
If you read even one book of poetry during the month of August, consider making it Nicole Sealey’s book length erasure of that Justice Department report: The Ferguson Report: An Erasure.
Or start here, with one of the 100 Sealey Challenge Recommendations.
More about The Sealey Challenge, selected from the website FAQ:
The Sealey Challenge is a community activity in which participants read a book of poetry each day during the month of August.
While the challenge is to read a book every day in August, the real heart of the Sealey Challenge is about spending more time with poetry. There’s no wrong way to #SealeyChallenge.
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pax ex bello
pax ex bellopeace from war – a 3-pass alchemy
The poem:
The source materials:
April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson addresses a joint session of congress to seek a declaration of war
May 05, 2026, Josh Datko addresses President Wilson
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dread
dreada three-pass alchemy for LeeAnn Pickrell
The poem:
Source and process notes:
The prose in LeeAnn Pickrell’s post titled Fog is the source material for all but the last line of each stanza.
The poem in her post provides the last lines, which come (in this order) from the second, first, and last stanzas.
When I put the prose and stanzas together, the source material looks like haibun.
Haibun: draft for the first stanza of “dread”:
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Cancer
Cancerfor JTB – happy birthday, my love
Fourth astrological sign of the zodiac
Cardinal of the Water trigon of Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio
An ancient word of Indo-European origin, derived from a root meaning “to scratch”
Latin cancer is the generic word for crab
Mural in the Kupa Synagogue, Krakow, Poland
Not always a group of diseases involving uncontrolled cell growth
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raft
raftthree-pass alchemy for DKK
The poem:
The source: “Skipped Steps” by Deborah K. Kelly.
Know that neither “Skipped Steps” nor “raft” is about either Noah or an ark.
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how children became other
how children became otherDesertification and Drought Day – June 17, 2026
Source material: “How Children Became Monkeys,” as told by the Bukidnon people, in Mabel Cook Cole’s Philippine Folk Tales (1916)
About Desertification and Drought Day, being hosted today by Kenya.
A global drought map. The extent of drought in the world today is staggering.
A global food insecurity interactive map.
The World Food Programme.
The poem:
When I first approached the source material, I saw a story about a moth child, with “moth” rising from “mother.” The source material had a different idea.
For the curious, here is how the 5-pass alchemy rose off the page:
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frogs start singing
frogs start singinga three-pass alchemy in four stanzas, for Ann Collins
The poem:
Ann Collins writes beautifully about microseasons.
The source material for this post is her note to readers following “Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Microseason № 19, May 5-9” Take your time. Read her poem before you scroll down to her note.
Microseason May 5-9, is frogs start singing.
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tangled
tangleda five-pass alchemy
The poem:
Source material, written by my friend Tara Kramer: “not-yet hour,” Earthwords (University of Iowa), Spring 2007
Kramer’s memoir manuscript, The Deepest Light, won first place in Nonfiction, Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award, December 2025.
