The last eighteen months have been very eventful for me, with my life being a whirlwind of things happening, both bad (multiple bouts of illness and a family crisis that unexpectedly took half a year to resolve) and good (dozens of publications in poetry journals and anthologies, featured readings across Massachusetts, and even a few fairly prestigious awards including the Stanley Kunitz Medal in 2023 and the Frank O’Hara Poetry Prize this year). Being so active in my local poetry community which I love so much (I’ve been either hosting or attending an average of three local poetry events a week when not sick) has been really wonderful, but unfortunately, it also has taken up so much of my time that I have neglected this incredible online community of fellow poets, writers, and bloggers which I value just as much. I must apologize to you all for shamefully not posting on Paul’s Poetry Playground since last September, and express how grateful I am to all of you who are amazingly still regularly viewing and leaving likes for this blog. Although things haven’t seemed to have calmed down all that much for me, I am happy to announce that Paul’s Poetry Playground is finally being re-opened for play and I intend to write a post at least once a week, if not more. Thank you so much, dear readers, for your continuous interest and support, and I pledge to try not to let you down again. See you soon!