treadmill thoughts…“and old sneakers,” my poem

treadmill thoughts…“and old sneakers,” my poem

again is anew…

 

 

…and old sneakers

 

We move, we huff,

we quiver, we chant,

thoughts galore will tumble

   as the hot routine deepens,

 

the workout is good,

no doubt,

we mime the young

   as we get old,

we walk the track,

the countless reps,

the 1-2-3, the look-and-see,

the bobbled step,

the front and back,

the in-and-out…

 

This cheerless time,

this silent gym,

this jumbled gear,

the shadowed clock…

look the same as yesterday,

but…

 

I conjure me,

a brand new thought,

a slower step,

I see a different future,

the silence is a private tune,

 

I whisper behind my eyes

   that more is more,

again is anew,

the moving is progress,

it is long moments in my life.

 

November 24, 2024

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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2025 All rights reserved.

 

Movie review: Same Time, Next Year

all-American adultery, oh yeah…

click here

Writing Rainbows: Poems for Grown-Ups with 59 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

 

Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics…book review

Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics…book review

it’s not “extra”…

 

 

Book review:

Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics

 

by Dan Harris and Jeff Warren, with Carlye Adler

New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2017

286 pages

 

I tried meditation once, about 20 years ago or so, and, I confess, I didn’t stick with it.

It seemed like an “extra” thing to do, and I think I felt like I was busy enough.

Harris makes a believable case for giving it a try.

He has good news, in part: you don’t have to sit cross-legged with your knees painfully lowered, you don’t have to pick any kind of “mantra,” and you can start off with 5 or 10 minutes a day—and he repeatedly says “one minute of meditation absolutely counts.”

I’m retired, and now I know I have the time to meditate if I feel like it.

I can count my breaths, so I can get started.

I’ve tried it a couple times already, and, I confess, I think there is a welcome stillness connected to the whole thing.

I think there may be a new way to be me.

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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2025 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: Address Unknown

A friendship corrupted by Nazi hatred in WWII

by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor

click here

Above all: Poems of dawn and more with 73 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

*   *   *   *   *   *

no kicking or biting…says Seneca

no kicking or biting…says Seneca

don’t bite back…

 

 

“How much better it is to take the opposite course

   and not to match fault with fault.

     Would any one think that he was well balanced

        if he repaid a mule with kicks

          and a dog with biting?”

 

Seneca (4 BC-65 CE), On Anger (De Ira), 3.27.2

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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2025 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: Seven Gothic Tales

by Isak Dinesen,

lush and memorable stories…

click here

In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

*   *   *   *   *   *

“…let immensity swell again”…“a style of song,” my poem

“…let immensity swell again”…“a style of song,” my poem

he rang a bell…

 

 

a style of song

 

He wore rough clothes,

scuffed heavy shoes,

he knew where he was going

   but he kept a shuffle pace,

 

he had no look of joy,

there was no kind of sparkle,

only placid look ahead,

as if starting out on plain old day…

 

with quiet voice he rang a bell,

he filled the silence,

I could tell

   he was no stranger to the song—

 

he sang the word:

   “somewhere…”

and took a breath

   and let immensity swell again,

and murmured:

   “…over the…”

and I wanted to help him sing.

 

he kept on walking…

December 19, 2024

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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2025 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: Mila 18

horrific truth by Leon Uris

click here

As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

 

Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.

*   *   *   *   *   *

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie…movie review

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie…movie review

Cue the “Brodie girls”…

 

 

Movie review:

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

 

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969, rated PG, 116 minutes) is all Maggie Smith, all the time.

There is a story line: deeply committed and outspoken teacher pushes young girls to maturity while she dabbles in love and grasps everywhere for approval.

Miss Jean Brodie (Smith) creates a mostly adoring set of “Brodie girls” as she flourishes and flaunts and flounders at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls in 1930s Edinburgh.

She leaves a trail of broken hearts and endures the ultimate humiliation of losing her job after she is “betrayed” by a student who almost grows up in the process.

Good acting, good story, good entertainment.

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Movie review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2025 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: Cleopatra: A Life

…don’t even think

about Gordon Gekko…

by Stacy Schiff

click here

As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

*   *   *   *   *   *

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