by Richard Subber | Oct 4, 2026 | History, Reflections, Tidbits, World history
OK, it’s not “Take Five”…
Music to Nikkal’s ears
It’s been about 3,500 years since anyone dusted off a lyre to play this Hurrian hymn (H6) dedicated to the Akkadian goddess Nikkal-wa-Ib, the goddess of orchards whose name means “Great Lady and Fruitful.”
The words and music were discovered about 70 years ago in the ruins of Ugarit, an ancient Syrian city. It took about 20 years to interpret the inscriptions on the cuneiform tablets.
Michael Levy, a musician/composer whose specialty is ancient musical instruments, has embedded the original melody (listen here) in this composition with several themes, performed on a replica of an ancient lyre.
It’s not “Lay Down Sally” and it’s not “White Christmas” and it’s not “Take Five.”
It is an intriguing offering of what the Akkadians might have listened to when they were in the groove, when they were celebrating the festival of Nikkal.
It’s so easy for this music of the Bronze Age to survive for centuries.
It’s so easy to listen.
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
“Fishering,” by Brian Doyle
…what meets the eye…
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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”
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by Richard Subber | Sep 24, 2026 | Reflections, Tidbits
you can imagine dancing…
“As we age, we are bound to find comfort
from the notion that it takes generations
for a way of life to fade.
We are familiar
with the songs our grandparents favored, after all,
even though we never danced to them ourselves.”
from A Gentleman in Moscow
by Amor Towles (b. 1964)
New York: Penguin Books, 2016
462 pages
p. 144
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Snow Goose
…sensual drama, eminently poetic…
by Paul Gallico
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In high meadows: poems abide with 60 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”
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by Richard Subber | Sep 22, 2026 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
teasing for recognition
facta
She has a plan.
The cotton balls are vital,
she keeps a handy supply of
cardboard and colored paper,
tape is essential,
tape is the key
to all exactness in the doing,
speed is not exactly the entire reality
but deliberate haste is her style,
she builds with mute devotion to the outcome,
identity is not so needful
as function and connection,
her creatures are elegant monstrosities,
her temples are sturdy elaborations of design
and form that find barely imagined boundaries,
her hybrids tease for recognition
in their own dimensions,
her work is her success, her doing, her design.
She’s busy, she never looks up…
July 21, 2019
If you have good stuff, you can make anything.
It helps if you can imagine everything.
My poem “facta” was published in my eighth collection of 57 poems, Empyrean: new poems.
You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle),
or get it free in Kindle Unlimited, search for “Richard Carl Subber”
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
The Wind and the Lion (1975)
heroic, the way it was…(movie review)
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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 | Sep 17, 2026 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
so much of life
a welcome
wandering in the woods,
wondering in the woods,
feeling like a stranger,
listening for the friendly sounds
and the queries
of the creatures
who will remain after I go,
finding the old trail,
walking the old bend,
recalling the blissful view
of water and bank and dam
and old dead tree
that won’t bud and won’t budge.
The woods are dark and deep,
and they make a welcome
in the shady spots,
and they urge a walker
through the sunny spots,
and they sing a ceaseless song
for all who listen.
So much life,
and little deaths too,
but so much life.
July 21, 2026
Image courtesy of Nancy Bryant
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Bartender’s Tale
Ivan Doig’s story, I mostly loved it…
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In high meadows: poems abide with 60 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 | Sep 12, 2026 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
a thing of great wonder
getting closer
The word “finality”
seems to be on my mind,
I don’t think the end is near,
but I think of it more often.
I don’t think I’m afraid to die,
but it can be a thing of wonder.
My younger me had almost no time
to think of ending,
but now it seems more real.
July 12, 2026
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Blithedale Romance
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, not his best…
–
In high meadows: poems abide with 60 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 | Aug 20, 2026 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
filling the horizons
green, green
Green is everywhere,
it’s in the trees,
covers the ground,
it sprawls,
fills the horizons,
boasts its green-ness,
sings of life,
hums its faithful hue,
it welcomes me,
this color of joy.
June 4, 2026
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Comanche Empire
the other story of the American West…
–
In high meadows: poems abide with 60 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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