Poetry and insights
I’m in love with words, and I love to use the right words to create poems that have clarity and character. I think of my work as “literal poetry.” I don’t put my pen down until I’ve said exactly what I feel, exactly what I mean to say, so that you, as the reader or listener, will have no doubt about it. I want to write poems that don’t need to be explained—what you see is what it is. I want to write poems that express deep human emotions, and very thoughtful observations, and very precise meanings. I am a poet, a writer, a teacher, a moralist, a historian and an unflinching student of human nature. I think a lot. I strive to express truth and give context—both rational and emotional—to reality. I think words can be pictures, and lovely songs, and bodacious scents, and private flavors, and early morning caresses that wake each part of me, one at a time. I know some of those words, and, from time to time, I write some of them.
The Book of Days…part lviii
nature poems about the dawn’s early light…
“…remain generous of heart…”…Amor Towles (quote)
all that has happened to us…
Good Bones…book review
bones and more bones…
dance the night away…”daily,” my poem
make time for it
“endless regret or secret happiness…”
quote from Sarah Orne Jewett
Book Reviews and insights
Reading is part of my life. Old books are companions—they have a palpable essence that will never be duplicated in an eBook reader. I can live with books, inter librorum copias. I don’t read too many novels, although I’m partial to 19th century American and English writers like Dickens and Hawthorne and O. Henry. I’m happy when I’m reading aloud. I wish that I may live long enough to read at least most of the books in my library.
Good Bones…book review
bones and more bones…
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity…book review
fear and anger, not issues…by Lilliana Mason
“endless regret or secret happiness…”
quote from Sarah Orne Jewett
A Thousand Mornings…book review
rich Mary Oliver stuff, her poems
The Price of Salt…book review
the price of love is always right
Historical insights
I think it’s difficult to be a sensitive and sensible human being without some knowledge of history and its enduring elements. An insufficient understanding of history is an impediment to decent participation in human society. I am particularly intrigued by the systematic methods of the French Annalistes to examine the deep structures (longues durées) of history. Awareness and understanding of history allow us to create and sustain a mindful context for our past and present adventures.
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity…book review
fear and anger, not issues…by Lilliana Mason
do we have the stuff for democracy?
a Lincoln quote…
War at The Wall Street Journal…book review
they botched it
The Bright Ages (book review)
A New History of Medieval Europe
What Orwell Didn’t Know…book review
the search for truth in words…
Red Brethren (book review)
David Silverman on “race” in early America
All the President’s Men…movie review
the good guys win
Concept of the Corporation (book review)
Peter Drucker didn’t see the whole monster…
Lincoln, he was a politician…movie review
Daniel Day-Lewis is good
The “pack horse librarians”…
…before there were bookmobiles…
Politics: thoughts and insights
Yelling isn’t my style. I am a committed and, I think, well-informed liberal progressive. It’s my intention to avoid presenting any political commentaries that are doctrinaire, abusive, deliberately hateful or contrary to “…a decent respect to the opinions of mankind…” Maybe you’ll recognize those words from the Declaration of Independence. I respect the value and the necessity of dedicated support for the preservation of the public good. I’m willing to offer my considerations of what constitutes the public good.
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity…book review
fear and anger, not issues…by Lilliana Mason
do we have the stuff for democracy?
a Lincoln quote…
War at The Wall Street Journal…book review
they botched it
What Orwell Didn’t Know…book review
the search for truth in words…
Red Brethren (book review)
David Silverman on “race” in early America
All the President’s Men…movie review
the good guys win
Concept of the Corporation (book review)
Peter Drucker didn’t see the whole monster…
Lincoln, he was a politician…movie review
Daniel Day-Lewis is good
The Sixth Extinction…book review
Elizabeth Kolbert talks about the other global horror…
The Demon of Unrest…book review
Erik Larson tells the whole story of Ft. Sumter
Tidbits
Occasional items that tickle your funny bone, or point your mind in a new direction, or invite you to stop for a moment and listen to what your heart is telling you.
“…remain generous of heart…”…Amor Towles (quote)
all that has happened to us…
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity…book review
fear and anger, not issues…by Lilliana Mason
“endless regret or secret happiness…”
quote from Sarah Orne Jewett
“…profoundly human noise…”
the buzz of the crowd (my poem) “
The Wizard of Oz…you can watch it again
movie review of the Judy Garland version
The Price of Salt…book review
the price of love is always right
The art of Lynn Ungar
A permission, the fields…(poetry)
The Old Man and the Sea…book review
the old man is a teacher
“query”…my poem
the man, solitary
do we have the stuff for democracy?
a Lincoln quote…