Monday, August 22, 2011

Mortality and Grief


Wading in the Sandy River
and watching the waves gently rock and sparkle in sunset,
I picture the Ganges with dead babies and cows floating past.
On a sand bed centered in the river
I see a large tree branch lying,
from which small branches curve in the same direction,
as though this were half the ribcage
of a dead water buffalo lying on its back.
I remember this week’s news:
My Aunt Barbara lying in her condo for five days,
dead and alone.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Book Proposal

On Friday I started writing a book proposal for my travel memoir, _Every Day is Magical: a Buddhist Pilgrimage in India and Nepal_. As soon as the proposal is complete, I'll start sending query letters to agents.

That said, I haven't worked on it since Friday and need to go back over the manuscript in order to finish the outline--I don't remember the exact order of everything on the trip. The next step after that is marketing ideas...before I start contacting agents.