Karen joy Brown

While I have compiled and recorded two music albums, I have yet to put together or publish a poetry chapbook. Since it's only been a year and a half since my father died, it's not surprising that I've been starting…

I woke up in the early morning dark in a funky old $600 a month apartment above the old El Rey theater downtown. Aware of it being at least $200 more than I could afford, I couldn't resist the second…

There's going to be construction every day this whole summer vacation right outside my front door. The city is tearing up the street to replace water pipes; a necessity for long term viability. This was not good news for my…

I’ve been thinking a lot about Mary for several months now and woke up compelled to write about her this Mother’s Day morning. Not growing up Catholic, my relationship with her is distant and my impressions vague. Even so, she…

In the second episode, meet guest/co-host Katie Phillip and learn how music and Al-Anon brought her and Karen together as they deconstruct Hafiz's poem, "I Know the Way You Can Get," uncovering the roots of our exasperated behavior.  

SONGS IN…

Good friends push us in a good way. After talking to one of those good friends at a rough spot in the beginning of this new year, I decided to to publish the first episode from a podcast I started…

Sun sparkled on the water as I surveyed king tide waves at Bodega Head on my fiftieth birthday. I asked Higher Power what I should focus on this mile-marker of a year. A delightful series of images and ideas rolled…

I didn’t want to do it. I wanted to write about something else, to distance myself from a profession with which I’m locked in a terminal love-hate relationship. Surely, as I boldy devoted precious morning energy hours toward the creative…

Twelve step programs ask participants in step nine to “Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” Though often misunderstood, this step offers a spiritual practice of facing…

I’ve been struggling to shift a clunky percentage in my classroom for years. How is it that I’ve spent 80% of my energy on students who are the least capable of engaging and using the instruction and attention I offer…

April 30th marks the end of National Poetry Month and the culminating game of "Poem in Your Pocket". Here's what the Academy of American Poets(poetry.org) website suggests:

• Select a poem and share it on social media using the…

What a week. On the phone yesterday, a friend compared the struggle to create a new normal during this pandemic to a game of fifty-two card pickup. It certainly feels like playing without a full deck.

The last post showed…