Elizabeth Howard

Elizabeth writes literary non-fiction, haiku, cultural rants, and Demand Poetry in order to forward the cause of beautiful writing. She calls London, Kansas City, and Iowa home.

How to Live with Purpose

How to live with purpose, when you find your true calling, focus and work and passion

Measuring the distance between living, giving, and making meaning It is the soul and curse of the Enneagram 8 to not only know how to live with purpose, but to be unable to avoid it. Having done all I can to resist this label, I have eventually just given in — I have a calling…

What the moon tells us

Every 28 days, the full moon returns. Why is that monthly reoccurrence so magical? Why does it appear like a stranger in the sky? Why are there names for our full moons — the Strawberry, the Cold, the Harvest — and why are we made blue when two of them visit us in a calendar…

What makes you a writer?

I am a writer, Quote: A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world. Susan Sontag Quote - What makes you a writer

I am a writer because I write. I am a writer because I swallow the moonrise. I am a writer because I inhale language exhale poetry. I am a writer because I need to be. I am a writer because every time a person speaks I am thinking not about the words they speak but…

For All Women Present

For All Women Present Here's the Truth of Womanhood

What have I given away that I should I have kept for myself? This question is a trap for mothers everywhere. In fact, it’s the sort of question non-parents would ask a mother. And then — when she replies something like “myself?”– they respond with a sweet pat on the back. I’d like to remind…

What are you greedy about?

What are you greedy about

I don’t want to answer this. I started trying to write about Ben and Jerry’s or about these boxes of Swiss Cheese flavored crackers I used to gorge on when I was a teen. But it’s making me really uncomfortable. I can’t think of what reason– I can only feel it. So I’ll just try…

The Art of Not Beating Myself Up

So close but so far, pexels-henry-&-co-2886015-so close so far

It’s a fine balance — to Excuse oneself of one’s Daily failings while Simultaneously keeping Inherent laziness in check. Somewhere along the Spectrum between Perfectionism and total Sloth-dom, I rise to Today’s occasion of To dos. On the one hand I know I am Failing utterly at Living in the now As I continually Check…

An Ode to America 2020

Photo byOde To America 2020- Max Andrey from Pexels

EHoward · Cheers to the Oblivious   An Ode to America 2020 Cheers to The Oblivious and In Love with Ignorant Hope You know that you are American If you are alive And not that well, Living in the world in 2020. Reading one after another News article and yet Still holding out hope (In…

Bye Doug

Doug Schrad Plays the sax at Assumption

Bye Doug. But before you Go, let me just tell you that I know your smile. Those gleaming teeth A smirky look. A gentle heart. I can still hear you laugh, Like a snicker rolled into a wave. Your fine blonde hair (Gone white in the Summer sun), I remember. I remember the dock at The…

Some Babies are Rhinos

rhino Photo by Francesco Ungaro from Pexels

What is my fault? This is the question I wonder about often as I Let the Cymbalta slide down My throat. What am I to blame for? What can I lay to rest — what Outbursts and frenzies That erupted from me When my mind was Rubbed raw by discontentment And curdled in its own…

The Biggest Waste of Time

Worrying in the middle of the night is the biggest waste of time

When, in the course of Sleeping, I stumble across Some disturbance in a dream I will then find myself awake. Awakeness is a layered process, But eventually I squint at the Digital clock (if the laundry isn’t Blocking it) and come out of it. I might feel tired enough to Escape, but usually My mind…

Accidental Garden

Birdseed Sunflowers Summer 2020

Let me tell you the story about Sunflower seeds and The accidental garden that Changed our pandemic world. After we had been home in March A few weeks, the wave of strangeness Refused to recede. Waking and Sleeping hours began to Acquiesce to each other and So I found myself often fully Upright at 4…

Straight Outta Downton

Remember Anne Hathaway? A few years back she Hosted the Oscars. A guy who shall remain Nameless was also there but Was he really? Because She danced, sang and Joked circles around him. I’ll never be Anne Hathaway (Or Rebel Wilson, for that Matter) but I do remember The fine figure she cut that Evening…

What Difference Do I Make?

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou quote Do I Make A difference

On the struggle with the existential meaning of writingOne of the toughest parts about being a writer/artist is doing the work. The nitty-gritty everyday work. The reason isn’t writer’s block or lack of time. There’s always time — everyday — for me to sit down and write. The reason — for me, and I am…

50 Things That Make Me Feel Normal

When things are out of whack, it’s a good time to make a list of the everyday ordinary things that set you on the path to average again.I had a few of those days when I felt a little bit out of kilter. When I was driving from yoga on Saturday, I started making this…