by Richard Subber | Jul 16, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Human Nature, Reflections
it’s not the last obscenity…
Book review:
Aging: An Apprenticeship
Nan Narboe, ed.
Portland, OR: Red Notebook Press, 2018
286 pages
Narboe created a handy and wide-ranging collection of reflections on the art, science, and humanity of the aging process. More than 50 authors tell it like they think it is, for folks nearing the increasingly ordinary age of 50, and for folks in their 50s, 60s, 70s , 80s, and 90s and beyond. If you’re not in one of those groups, you will be sooner than you think.
Of course, the explicit premise of most of the authors in Aging: An Apprenticeship is that life can be good (or not), aging happens to everyone, and dying is the end game.
Gloria Steinem’s contribution is on point, completely tolerable, and instructive. She says:
“After all, we are communal creatures
who must mirror each other to know who we are.
Every living thing ages and dies,
yet humans seem to be the only species
that thinks about aging and thinks about dying.
Surely, we are meant to use this ability,
especially in a country
that suffers so much from concealing aging and dying
as if they were the last obscenities.”
For Aging: An Apprenticeship, Narboe has collected essays that range from whimsical to doggone serious. Each author offers a very personal argument that aging and dying are 100% natural.
* * * * * *
Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
A quote from General Custer
Hint: something to do with Indians…
–
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”
* * * * * *
by Richard Subber | Jul 14, 2026 | Human Nature, My poetry, Poetry, Reflections, Tidbits
it’s the dancing…
mantra
Let your hands pray,
let your eyes dance,
let your self embrace
the beginning
of the rest
of your life.
April 13, 2026
* * * * * *
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
–
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.
* * * * * *
by Richard Subber | Jul 12, 2026 | Human Nature, Reflections, Tidbits
pass it forward…
The Roman Stoic Marcus Aurelius (121-180) said
“…be satisfied with
even the smallest step forward…”
He saw so clearly that it’s a process: achieve that small step, and start working on the next step immediately.
Pass it forward.
* * * * * *
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
The Bridges of Madison County
book/movie review
If you’re looking for highly stoked eroticism,
look elsewhere.
–
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”
* * * * * *
by Richard Subber | Jun 20, 2026 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
your smiles abide…
Heartbeats
The last goodbye may hurt my heart,
but you have touched my cheek
when I forgot to smile,
we sang plain notes dipped in love.
We’re on a road
that we’ve tried to imagine,
but it is a strange road,
there is no straight ahead,
there are turnings we’ve never known,
we’re not in a race
but there is a finish line,
there is no turning back,
you may go
but not so very far away.
Your living here is done,
but I’m not done with you,
you are a teacher to my heart,
our fingers blend a lovers’ knot,
your tender touch lingers
on the cheeks of the kids,
your smiles abide in every room.
I say goodbye
but I won’t forget.
My memories heal my heart.
April 14, 2026
Inspired by this quotation: “Experience is in the fingers and head. The heart is inexperienced.”
(1842, Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862))
* * * * * *
My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Snow Goose
…sensual drama, eminently poetic…
by Paul Gallico
–
Empyrean: new poems with 57 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.
* * * * * *
by Richard Subber | Jun 16, 2026 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
work that hoe…
Gardens galore
What’s not a garden?
What doesn’t want to grow?
What do we have
that will not be cultivated?
What part of me
does not strive
to be a seed?
What part of you
would not thrive
in the damp of desire?
What time will you not give
to pluck a weed, and then another?
What earth does not long at night
for the gentle push of the hoe?
What greater joy
than stroking the first green shoot,
and cuddling the first bloom?
What would you say to the child
who wants to be a gardener?
March 28, 2026
Inspired by “In Time” by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, March 28, 2026
* * * * * *
My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Loneliness beyond understanding…
by Herman Melville
–
Empyrean: new poems with 57 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.
* * * * * *
by Richard Subber | Jun 14, 2026 | My poetry, Other, Poetry, Reflections
Loneliness, en passant…
Shivering
I take a stand in the cold tonight,
this frigid porch is bare,
in deadened, yellowed light,
a chitter of rustic sound is near…
I guess that loneliness could find a home here.
I guess I might feel warmer in the dark.
February 1, 2018
It was only a few moments, a mere chance to feel lonely,
I let it pass…
* * * * * *
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Bartender’s Tale
Ivan Doig’s story, I mostly loved it…
–
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”
* * * * * *
