This is why I read the 32poems blog. Deborah Ager isn’t your typical poetry blogger. You won’t find any pretentious snot about postmodern superiority or lullabies to feminist goddesses chanting the sapphic pleasures of song and eternal nature worship. No W.D. Snodgrass meets the New Formalism with palisades to democratic vistas. And, God forbid, no sappy M.F.A. theses or poetry workshop rejects foisted upon us all through vain self-glorification. Deborah’s the real deal.

OK, so it’s a recipe, not a poem. Is there a difference? Writing a poem has much to do with cooking a meal. They are both creative pursuits and the one might be more tasty at mealtime, but no more beneficial. While one feeds the body, the other feeds the soul.

Ager’s blog is attractive, with its sunflower yellow borders and burnt orange dressings, you get the sense that she’s talking to you, not at you, and you know that she loves poetry. It’s not just a passing fad or a failed calling. Her top menu says it all. The obligatory About Us, a pretty decent blogroll even though most of the blogs are Blogspot blogs, a nice list of writing residencies (a feature I absolutely love), a list of poetry magazines, the 2007 book list (yay!, and something called NaPoWriMo.

Ager’s been writing her poetry blog since September 2004, which means she knows what she’s doing. It also means that she has one of the longest running poetry blogs on the Internet. It makes me jealous. Her list of categories is long enough to hang a man in town square (not that she should), but the items in the list are as attractive as her yellow. And one more final sweet thing to say: I love ginger, and sweet potato soup sounds good too. The only thing I don’t like – she doesn’t post every day.