Poetry and insights
I’m in love with words, and I love to use the right words to create poems that have clarity and character. 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 very thoughtful observations, and very 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.
The Book of Days…part xxxxi
nature poems about the dawn’s early light…
The Complete Sherlock Holmes…book review
Arthur Conan Doyle never ceases to entertain…
no words needed… “nondescript,” my poem
a rummage of grey, the clouds
Saint Martin’s Summer…book review
a very high-toned beach book
“…she never looks up…” “facta,” my poem
her temples are sturdy…
Book Reviews and insights
Reading is part of my life. Old books are companions—they have a palpable essence that will never be duplicated in an eBook reader. I can live with books, inter librorum copias. I don’t read too many novels, although I’m partial to 19th century American and English writers like Dickens and Hawthorne and O. Henry. I’m happy when I’m reading aloud. I wish that I may live long enough to read at least most of the books in my library.
The Woman at the Washington Zoo…book review
Marjorie Williams, straight from the heart
The Diary of a Lady of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania…book review
hiding in your house…
The View from the Cheap Seats…book review
it’s rare earth, dig in…(it’s Neil Gaiman)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog…book review
Muriel Barbery’s book for logophiles…
Code Girls, the life savers…book review
Liza Mundy tells it
Historical insights
I think it’s difficult to be a sensitive and sensible human being without some knowledge of history and its enduring elements. An insufficient understanding of history is an impediment to decent participation in human society. I am particularly intrigued by the systematic methods of the French Annalistes to examine the deep structures (longues durées) of history. Awareness and understanding of history allows us to create and sustain a mindful context for our past and present adventures.
Book review: The Comanche Empire
the other story of the American West…
Book review: Cold Mountain
by Charles Frazier, he reaches deep…
Book review: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
…don’t even think about Gordon Gekko…
Book review: A Preface to History
Carl Gustavson comes up short…
Book review: Lafayette by Harlow Unger
He was a great man. Also rich and lucky.
Book review: Saint Joan
by George Bernard Shaw
Book review: These Truths: A History of the United States
Jill Lepore gives vital context…
Oops, Columbus didn’t “discover” America
…but he got close…
Book review: Who Built America?
…including people who got their hands dirty
Book review: Clotel, or The President’s Daughter
by William Brown, America’s first black novelist
Politics: thoughts and insights
Yelling isn’t my style. I am a committed and, I think, well-informed liberal progressive. It’s my intention to avoid presenting any political commentaries that are doctrinaire, abusive, deliberately hateful or contrary to “…a decent respect to the opinions of mankind…” Maybe you’ll recognize those words from the Declaration of Independence. I respect the value and the necessity of dedicated support for the preservation of the public good. I’m willing to offer my considerations of what constitutes the public good.
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Tidbits
Occasional items that tickle your funny bone, or point your mind in a new direction, or invite you to stop for a moment and listen to what your heart is telling you.
“Confusion is a symptom of learning.” (quote)
Pass it forward…
“The corner booth,” my poem
alone, but not lonely…
“…hirpling with pain…” Beowulf got it right
dragons are losers…
The African Queen, a love story…movie review
Bogart and Hepburn, don’t you love ‘em?
“…lurching strides in softer sand…”…”Fleet beach,” my poem
I am not a shuffler!
Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism (book review)
Temple Grandin has a lot to say…
A deadly masquerade of amour…Les Liaisons Dangereuses
it’s more than talk…(book review)
Chipmunk talk…
…take your time…
Conspiracy…movie review
…a flawless portrayal of naked evil…
The Self-Made Man in America (book review)
Prof. Irvin Wyllie exposes the myth