Almost Complete Poems…(book review)

Almost Complete Poems…(book review)

No ring to grab here…

 

 

Book review:

Almost Complete Poems

 

by Stanley Moss (1925-2024)

New York: Seven Stories Press, 2016

 

Almost Complete Poems represents much of the life work of poet Stanley Moss.

The poems appear to be sincere babble. Moss is literate but undisciplined. The poems lack coherence.

 

It’s not my life’s work to read them.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: “Bartleby, the Scrivener”

Loneliness beyond understanding…

by Herman Melville

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”

*   *   *   *   *   *

“Questions,” regarding Martin Luther King

“Questions,” regarding Martin Luther King

our old friend Martin

 

 

Questions

 

Did you see the man we can call

   “our old friend Martin”?

It seems the good they die young,

but we can remember

   the goodness that he preached,

and the goodness that he lived,

and we can murmur his name

   as we do a good thing today,

and do the same tomorrow.

 

The man called Martin

   pointed the way

and he asked many questions.

He recalled the Good Samaritan who asked:

“If I do not stop to help this man,

what will happen to him?”

The man called Martin said:

“The question is, ‘If I do not stop

   to help the sanitation workers,

what will happen to them?’

That’s the question.”

 

Martin said “I have been to the mountaintop.”

The mountaintop is far,

maybe a lifetime journey away,

and few of us may make it

   to the mountaintop,

but we can murmur Martin’s name

   as we do a good thing today

and do the same tomorrow.

 

Will you do a good thing today?

That’s the question.

 

January 2, 2026

*   *   *   *   *   *

My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: The Comanche Empire

the other story of the American West…

by Pekka Hämäläinen

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.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Stop running…(Guillaume Apollinaire, a quote)

Stop running…(Guillaume Apollinaire, a quote)

no surprise here…

 

 

“Now and then it’s good to pause

in our pursuit of happiness

and just be happy.”

 

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918)

French poet

 

All you need to do with this one is nod your head and say “Yeah, I need to do that more.”

Ring the bell that’s in your hand.

Sing the song that’s in your head.

 

[Thanks to my trusted personal advisor for this one]

*   *   *   *   *   *

Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: Shawshank Redemption

A world I do not want to know…

by Stephen King

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”

*   *   *   *   *   *

Newspapers and Democracy (book review)

Newspapers and Democracy (book review)

it’s about money, not journalism

 

 

Book review:

Newspapers and Democracy:

International Essays on a Changing Medium

Anthony Smith, ed.

Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1980

 

Newspapers and Democracy may be of most interest to informed readers who understand the basics of the history and the modern business model of newspapers, and want more historical context.

The essays were published in 1980. There is no mention of the internet or Google or social media or any of the digital manifestations that have crowded the traditional newspaper audience into a small corner.

There is no substantial or convincing assessment of the putative public service mission of “the press” that has been blatantly claimed by newspaper owners and journalists for at least more than 60 years.

Newspapers and Democracy is a museum piece, not an explanation of the alleged “power” of the alleged “free press.”

*   *   *   *   *   *

Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.

 

Seeing far: Selected poems with 47 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”

*   *   *   *   *   *

old books, souvenirs of thought…my poem

old books, souvenirs of thought…my poem

not just any book…

 

 

old books

 

A book is not just a book.

 

The writer knows the book,

at least, the wholeness of it,

and what was left unscribed.

 

Each reader knows the book,

at least, the meaning of the words

   in their order,

and in their revelation,

and in their singularity,

their growth as understanding molds them.

 

An old book is a shell of its time,

a memento of its era,

a souvenir of thought and thinking,

a precious invitation

   to live in the past,

a reality of expectations,

generations of meaning,

a companion of other words.

 

December 24, 2025

*   *   *   *   *   *

My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: Sketches by Boz

…the Miss Willises are a scream…

by Charles Dickens

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.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Pin It on Pinterest