Poet Profile

Tom Painting

Tom Painting formerly taught creative writing at School of the Arts in Rochester, New York. Beginning in the fall of 2011, he will be teaching junior high English and Creative Writing at the Paideia School in Atlanta. Tom is an outdoor enthusiast. He is married to Laura Brachman and has three children.

Books Published: Piano Practice (bottle rockets press, 2006)

crickets
the pulse in a hollow
of her neck

deep winter
I search the lease
for a loophole

spring plowing
a flock of blackbirds
turns inside out

year's end
the weight of pennies
in the mason jar

big sky
the uncertain legs
of the foal

after hours
the grief counselor
loosens his tie

Credits: "crickets" - Acorn 10 (2003); "spring plowing" - Frogpond 25:2 (2002); "big sky" - Acorn 16 (2006); "deep winter" - Acorn 14 (2005); "year's end" - Modern Haiku 39:2 (2008), Favorite of Issue, republished Modern Haiku 39:3 (2008); "after hours" - Modern Haiku 38:2 (2007)