Slate Roof Press Feature Article

Check out my feature article for the Recorder about the local publishing group Slate Roof Press:

https://www.recorder.com/Northfield-based-Slate-Roof-Press-connects-poets-and-community-22168022

It was so much fun interviewing the poets and listening to them talk about their passion for writing.

Seeing the students warm up to the poets was amusing--if you look at the photos, you can see that they avoided the front row of seats entirely. By the end of the reading, however, they were really into it. Some read their poetry to the poets, and others were fully inspired to submit their work to the press as well as to the Poet's Seat Contest next year.

Also, Abbot Cutler (pictured below with fellow poets Cindy Snow, Amanda Doster, and Janet MacFadyen) used to be my adviser and poetry professor at MCLA, so it was awesome to see him again and catch up. 

HWP Contributor Showcase

After publishing my poem "Bardwell's Ferry Bridge," Haunted Waters Press also added me to their very special "contributor showcase." I feel very honored, and am of course excited to see my picture on their website!

Here's the link:

http://www.hauntedwaterspress.com/contributors/nicole-k-braden-johnson/

Publication in Haunted Waters Press

I'm very excited to announce that my poem "Bardwell's Ferry Bridge" was published in the brand-new online edition of Haunted Waters Press titled SPLASH!

http://www.hauntedwaterspress.com/bardwells-ferry-bridge/

I'd like to give a shout-out to the HWP team and their amazing work. They actually did some research, found the bridge I am referencing, and did an awesome artistic rendition thereof to go along with the poem.

I don't want to steal their image, but here is a picture of the original bridge and you can see on their website what they did with that:


(Picture source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardwell%27s_Ferry_Bridge)

Turkey's of the World Unite

Check out my husband's Thanksgiving poem here:

http://critojazz.blogspot.com/2010/11/poem-for-turkeys.html

Great Falls Word Festival

Check out my first article in the Recorder about the Great Falls Word Festival!

https://www.recorder.com/Great-Falls-Word-Festival-is-back-with-four-days-of-diverse-voices-21293077

Publication in The Write Launch

Here is a link to three of my poems which were featured in The Write Launch. The titles are "Hidden Nature," "It Could Happen to You," and "Of One Mind."


https://thewritelaunch.com/2018/03/hidden-nature-it-could-happen-to-you-and-of-one-mind/

Ode to Rosie - Publication in The Mind's Eye

Here is a link to the sonnet "Ode to Rosie," which I co-wrote with my husband, David, in anticipation of the birth of our son. Rosie is our chi-terrier rescue dog, and as of now she is alive and well, though predictably confused as to why she has lost her status as the center of our universe.

It was published in Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts's literary journal The Mind's Eye for their issue dedicated to all things canine.

https://mindseyemcla.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/current-issue-ode-to-rosie-by-david-braden-johnson/

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

Felix puts a horseshoe on his desk

Every time there is a test.

He had it with him the one  time he got an A

Luck must have been with him on that day.

Whenever there’s an important game,

Felicity wears a four-leaf clover on a chain.

The day she found it by the flagpole

She went on to score the winning goal.

But Ida studies hard to get good grades

While Felix wastes time at the arcades.

And as Ethan perfects his new routine

Felicity is at the beach applying sunscreen.

It’s a fallacy called post hoc, ergo propter hoc

That leads some to forego common sense for luck.

Ockham’s Razor

Some blades slice cleanly through stone,

But one, gentler than a blade of grass, can

Cleave or splice together the foundations of our knowledge.

This razor will have no effect on the stubble of a man’s cheek,

But the best thinkers use it most every day

And know its efficiency in cutting through the mind’s fog.

Though it cannot be bought, not being a material thing,

Good teachers will give it freely as a gift

The worth of which may not at first be grasped.

In case your teachers have been remiss, here’s a gift to you:

When caught between competing explanations of the world,

The best one tends to be the simpler of the two.