Anthology of Pioneer Valley Writers

Thrilled to have three poems included in this anthology of writers from the Pioneer Valley – the place the New York Times called “arguably the most author-saturated, book-cherishing, literature-celebrating place in the nation.”

Summer’s end

As summer rolls to a close, I’m thinking back on its best moments. One highlight of the summer was my trip to England and Scotland, a three-week jaunt from corner to corner of the UK – from Eastbourne’s white cliffs in the southeast, to the black shale cliffs of Cornwall in the southwest; from the …

A honeybee frequents the wildflower spiderwort.

Bees, wild and tame

As the number of backyard and urban beekeepers surges nationwide, I visited a friend’s hives to write about honey bees. I also looked into the bees’ struggles with colony collapse disorder. But writing the article, I found that a still more urgent problem than honey bees may be wild bees. Honey bees, lovely and important …

Water, for one town and nationwide

I talked with Bob Flaherty on WHMP about water, crumbling water infrastructure nationwide, and the responsibility of large companies like Coca Cola – which operates a large plant in Northampton MA – regarding payment to towns for their water use. An in depth look at Northampton’s new water sewer rate – WHMP Morning News The …

Tractatus

New poem in The Cape Rock, issue 43 no. 2. A photo posted by Naila Moreira (@naila_fin) on Mar 27, 2016 at 10:36am PDT View larger here or on Instagram

Black, white and gray – a lens on nature

photo by Stephen Petegorsky NORTHAMPTON — The Meadows are one of my favorite places to walk, daydream, write, and watch nature change in its numberless daily ways. A swath of agricultural land between Northampton’s downtown and the Connecticut River, they’re within easy walking distance of my home. Wandering the Meadows, I regularly see red-tailed hawks, …

Lines from Base Camp

“Pirene is the name of a fountain or spring in Greek mythology … it was said to be a favorite watering hole of Pegasus, sacred to the Muses. Poets would travel there to drink and receive inspiration.” #poetry #poem #naila_fin A photo posted by Naila Moreira (@naila_fin) on Feb 13, 2016 at 7:11pm PST in …

A spear in the darkness

Reading back through an old notebook, I rediscovered some fine insights by fiction writer Tim Weed, originally shared during a talk he gave at the yearly meeting of the NE Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. He spoke of creating stories that will build lingering meaning for readers. Weed started by playing two pieces …