Democracy is a busting out all over, and January and early February have been on the whole unseasonally warm. Our spirit tree is doing fine in its new home in our back yard, though right now it's standing in a six inches deep pool of rain water and snow melt. But it's a hardy little buster, I think, a regular little flowering Archipelagoan.

February is a busy month for poets. Mucho poetry competition deadlines - the National Poetry Series, the Yale Younger Poet's Prize, the Nation Award, The Associated Writing Programs award, etc., so I'll just say "a happy fa la la to you all" and get back to my quills.