by Richard Subber | Jul 18, 2026 | Language, My poetry, Poetry
no calories added
Sweet thing
The dawn delays the day,
with layered hues
that do not fade,
the vault is cake,
with icing smears
that will not bake,
the sweet spot filled,
an overflow
of cream and gold,
the lavish spread
betokens gild.
February 10, 2026
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie…movie review
it’s all Maggie Smith
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many waters: more poems with 53 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”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | Jun 30, 2026 | Language, Tidbits
“…Go and tell the guy what you want.”
The wisdom of David Mackenzie Ogilvy (1911-1999)
This is trenchant advice on how to write well—still relevant almost 45 years after it was written by David Ogilvy, who was renowned in the late 20th century as “The Father of Modern Advertising.”
Now, to be sure, Ogilvy’s legendary sway in the ad biz was recognized in pre-internet, pre-wired, pre-Twitter days when ad copy was deemed more salient and more powerful than ad buzz.
Indeed, Ogilvy’s famous memo “How To Write” was circulated far beyond the Mad Men-world of his agency, Ogilvy & Mather, after he wrote it on September 7, 1982.
Here it is:
- Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.
- Write the way you talk. Naturally.
- Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
- Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
- Never write more than two pages on any subject.
- Check your quotations.
- Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning—and then edit it.
- If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
- Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
- If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.
At this point, I know I shouldn’t embarrass myself by trying to reconceptualize or translate Ogilvy’s observations for you…
OK, I can’t resist this one: I think Item 10 is the best. In today’s wired world this can be translated to “If you want to reach an agreement or have an argument, don’t send a text or email when you can call the other party or talk face-to-face.”
Note: the reference in Item 1 is to a now-standard work by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson, Writing That Works: How to Communicate Effectively in Business. A 3rd edition was issued in 2000.
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: Shantung Compound
They didn’t care much
about each other…
by Langdon Gilkey
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My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 52 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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by Richard Subber | Jun 25, 2026 | Language, My poetry
spreading the welcome
Plain talk
Alone, so much alone,
but so far from lonely.
I look ahead to the trail that waits,
I look back to the fading trail
that beckoned me to pass,
the plain retreats to distant crags,
the land invites a careless step,
the trail can wait.
This great space, so open,
so mute, such emptiness
framed for imagination and desire,
I sow my thoughts
and spread my welcome
to the eager land
that pulls my step,
and kindles my bright gaze
as I embrace this moment,
and understand that here
it is impossible to be lonely.
April 16, 2026
Inspired by “At the Seven-Mile Ranch, Comstock, Texas” (1982)
by Naomi Shihab Nye (b1952)
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: An Empire on the Edge
by Nick Bunker
The British wanted to win
the Revolutionary War,
but they had good reasons
for not trying too hard…
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Above all: Poems of dawn and more with 74 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”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | May 21, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Joys of reading, Language, Reviews of other poets
Kids will love it
Book review:
Sad underwear and other complications
by Judith Viorst (b1931)
New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster, 1995
78 pages
This is a great book of great poems that will make little kids laugh, and make big kids laugh, and make parents laugh.
Such as:
The Seventh Swimming Lesson
Stop the presses.
Call a reporter.
Sally just put her face in the water.
How do I know it’s a great book? I’m a grandfather, and it makes me laugh.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Movie review: A Doll’s House
Henrik Ibsen’s classic on abuse…
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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”
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by Richard Subber | May 19, 2026 | Language, My poetry, Poetry
we feast on meanings
taste
a honey made of words,
verses dripping languor,
stanzas squeezing
sweet meaning from the words,
the poem is a bouquet of words,
the blooms fall open
as each phrase proceeds,
we feast on meanings,
embrace each image,
enlarge each thought,
and savor all that lingers.
March 8, 2026
Inspired by “While Listening to Others Talk about Poems in Small Groups” by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, March 7, 2026
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: A Cold Welcome
The culprit was global cooling,
500 years ago…
by Sam White
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My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 52 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.
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by Richard Subber | May 7, 2026 | Human Nature, Joys of reading, Language, Reflections, Tidbits
the ducks don’t think about us…
“…he looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks
etching themselves against the sky over the water,
then blurring, then etching again
and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea.”
from:
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1952
127 pages
pp. 60-61
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Loneliness beyond understanding…
by Herman Melville
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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”
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