by Richard Subber | Aug 9, 2026 | Language, Poetry, Reviews of other poets, Tidbits
…words can be pictures…
“The world is never the same
once a good poem has been added to it.”
Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
Welsh poet and writer
Dylan could have said “A poet is never the same after writing a good poem,” or “A person is never the same after reading or hearing a good poem.”
I’m in love with words, and I love to use the best words to create poems that have clarity and character.
Sometimes I think of my work as “literal poetry.” I don’t put my pen down until I’ve said exactly what I feel, exactly what I mean to say, so that you, as the reader or listener, will have no doubt about it. I want to write poems that don’t need to be explained—what you see is what it is. I want to write poems that express deep human emotions, and thoughtful observations, and precise meanings.
I am a poet, a writer, a teacher, a moralist, a historian, and an unflinching student of human nature. I think a lot. I strive to express truth and give context—both rational and emotional—to reality.
I think words can be pictures, and lovely songs, and bodacious scents, and private flavors, and early morning caresses that wake each part of me, one at a time. I know some of those words, and, from time to time, I write some of them.
I read a lot of poetry, including the classic poets like Homer and poets in America and poets around the world who have written since ancient times to modern times. Occasionally I find a poem, or a phrase, or an image that is intensely intuitive, or wonderfully imaginative, or just plain beautiful. I offer those words from other poets for your enjoyment.
* * * * * *
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
“Fishering,” by Brian Doyle
…what meets the eye…
–
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 30, 2026 | Human Nature, Tidbits
Tina was my favorite kicker.
“You can’t dance in a long dress.”
Anna Mae Bullock (Tina Turner) (1939-2023)
The simple truths may not be the true-est, but they are the most remember-ful.
I’m a Tina Turner fan, and after reading this terpsichorean quote, I understand even better exactly why I’m a Tina Turner fan.
Tina was the exotic essence of vitality, with a decent dose of sexuality and a potent dollop of magnificent obsession.
When Tina performed, she was All.
All in, all out, all Tina, all right, all zippity, all extra well done, all flash dance without the welding helmet.
I think Tina had no intention to titillate when she said “You can’t dance in a long dress.”
I think she purely meant to make it real clear that you have to be able to kick when you’re proving to yourself that you’re alive. Alive!
Dance like no one is watching you!
* * * * * *
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: Lafayette by Harlow Unger
He was a great man. Also rich and lucky.
–
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 | Jul 26, 2026 | Theater and play reviews
running in the sea breeze…
Movie review:
Albert Nobbs
It’s an obvious story line, and you can sorta guess how Albert Nobbs (2011, rated R, 113 minutes) will end.
Glenn Close rather convincingly plays a woman who passes for a man (“Albert Nobbs”) in a posh hotel in late 19th century Ireland where appearances matter. She makes a life.
She meets Janet McTeer who, as “Hubert Page,” treads a similar path and who, like “Albert,” tries to fool herself about her prospects for happiness.
There are caricature secondary characters, an exaggerated unlikable hotel owner, and an ill-fated two-dimensional love affair.
There is a brief rapturous scene at the seashore where “Albert” and “Hubert” let their woman selves run in the breezes.
The best moments make Albert Nobbs watchable.
Disconnect (I’m avoiding a spoiler alert): the ending is not about “Albert Nobbs.” It’s sweet. It’s Nobbsian. It’s other.
* * * * * *
Movie review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
The “dime novels” in the Civil War
Think “blood-and-thunder”…
–
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 | Jul 21, 2026 | Tidbits
Yeah, sure, M*A*S*H, okay…
The average American today wasn’t alive
when Saturday Night Live did the first live broadcast
in October 1975.
If you’re like me, you cherish your memories of The Good Ones who made SNL a hit: I’m talking Chevy, John, Dan, Gilda, Garrett, Jane, and Laraine, you know who I’m talking about.
Pick your favorite, right? C’mon, nobody can pick one favorite out of that lineup.
For starters, Roseanne Roseannadanna. Love ya, Gilda. Priceless. Non pareil.
And then there was the “Point/Counterpoint” commentary with Dan and Jane, that ignorant slut.
I could go on.
Of course it’s true that SNL today isn’t what it used to be.
I think all the diamonds were polished in the 1970s.
OK, OK, M*A*S*H was a contender, I figured you’d bring that up.
* * * * * *
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: American Colonies
So many and so much
came before the Pilgrims
by Alan Taylor
–
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”
* * * * * *
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.
* * * * * *
