Two of my poems are featured in the Spring 2019 edition of The Watershed Journal. They’ve assembled submissions by writers from northwestern Pennsylvania. All of our pieces celebrate our place in northern Appalachia, some with folk wisdom like “Today” by Greg Clary and others with a nice convoluted wit like “Wait Not” by Byron Hoot. My poem … More “Vespers” and “Memorial Day” in The Watershed Journal
As I’m getting ready to step down at the end of June, I will be reflecting on my three+ years on the Ferguson Township Board. I’ll start with accomplishments that I have spurred or been truly honored to be a part of. While I’ve initiated some of these, they all required work from the other board members, our (awesome) staff, and citizen volunteers. We have… … More Community safety, people’s rights, and climate optimism: My legacy of service in Ferguson Township
Thrilled to learn that two of my poems, “Vespers in the Barrens” and “Memorial Day in the Shale Fields” will be featured in the spring edition of the The Watershed Journal. “Vespers” reflects on the land’s and our own mortality in a place where iron was once rapacious king but now the land is a … More Pieces accepted in The Watershed Journal
Today, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale held his first public hearing on the climate crisis. He has stated that Pennsylvania faces grave flooding risks among other problems and that we cannot rely on Washington to tackle the problem. If you didn’t know, last year the Centre Region where I live had record precipitation at about 64″. … More Our statement to the Auditor General on the Climate Crisis
MEMORIAL DAY IN THE SHALE FIELDS Families gather at the cemetery of the first Memorial Day to honor fallen soldiers. The carnival’s din white noise in the background. The Governor invokes the Preamble’s more perfect union, America’s freedom, her might, the first woman to have lain an offering at the soldiers’ graves. Since she was … More MEMORIAL DAY IN THE SHALE FIELDS (Revision)
MEMORIAL DAY IN THE SHALE FIELDS Families gather at the cemetery of the first Memorial Day to honor fallen soldiers. The carnival’s din white noise in the background. The Governor recollects the Preamble’s invocation, our more perfect union, America’s freedom, her might, the first woman to have lain an offering at the soldiers’ graves. On … More MEMORIAL DAY IN THE SHALE FIELDS (Revision of Memorial Day)
Memorial Day Families gather at the cemetery to honor fallen soldiers as the Governor recollects the Preamble’s invocation of a more perfect union, America’s freedom and her might. Out there in the periphery, the place my effete neighbors call Nowhere or Hicksville a child shudders in her mothers’ arms, nose bleeding and head pounding with … More Memorial Day
In 2014, I co-organized a Memorial Day protest against former Governor Tom Corbett’s opening of state parks to the natural gas industry. I wrote this piece for a conference I attended the following fall as a reflection on environmental protest as a form of public moral education. It’s wonky at points, but heartfelt nonetheless. Given … More Reflecting on our decision to protest Tom Corbett’s fracking moves on Memorial Day 2014
To my Dem friends, I’m going to be really blunt about John Fetterman & Governor Wolf: They have to deal with the fracking industry in a responsible way. Fetterman might win because no one is paying attention, but Wolf…if he doesn’t clean up his shop and commit to a modern energy economy…he’s toast. The people who … More Pennsylvania Democrats need to understand the energy future right now, Tom Wolf most of all.
How much of your soul are you willing to sell to make a few bucks? That’s really the question you should ask about the Nestle plant in Centre County. But it’s not the question that Nestle Waters representatives want you to consider. They’d like you, your neighbors, and your representatives in government to “soberly” weigh … More The soul of our community is not for sale
Peter Walks for Democracy 