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.
“this sky is big”… “Immensity,” my poem
this night enfolds
Atonement…book review
Ian McEwan tells a big story
A poet is a fountain…Rainer Maria Rilke
…you read that right…
What Orwell Didn’t Know…book review
the search for truth in words…
looking for butterflies…Jacqueline Woodson quote
some things never die…
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.
Moby-Dick and stuff…book talk
for bibliophiles and their friends…
Age Power…book review
Old people are who it’s all about…
Hand me that hammer…my poem
we need to build bridges
The Asking…some poetic insights…book review
Jane Hirshfield writes a lot of poems
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics…book review
Dan Harris says “even one minute counts”
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 allow us to create and sustain a mindful context for our past and present adventures.
Book review: John Eliot: The Man Who Loved The Indians
Entertaining, convenient biography by Carleton Beals
Book review: John Eliot: “Apostle to the Indians”
…a righteous man of his time
Book review: Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Spiritual Life
A thought leader in the 19th century…
Book review: A Cold Welcome
The culprit was global cooling, 500 years ago…
Book review: Colonial America
A Very Short Introduction by Alan Taylor
Book review: The Myths of Tet
How people get killed by lies…
Book review: Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell
Richard Sharpe is all Hollywood bravery, but it was butcher’s work done at the battle…
Book review: Joseph Brant and His World
A Mohawk leader, he helped shape the 18th century world his people shared with the colonists….
Book review: Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts
The Revolutionary War, as fought by women…
Book review: The Proud Tower
Typical Tuchman tour de force. It’s a lot more than a history book.
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.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
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.
…tomorrow’s future, the sweet nows
“now then…” my poem
tomorrow, shuffling, comes…my poem
live each bright hour
“Ideas are like rabbits.”
John Steinbeck said so…(quote)
“…the duly goggled…”…George Santayana
give the intellectual cripples a break…
Feeling lucky? get ready for it
way to go…
“…my final future…”… “now then…” my poem
the carpe diem thing
“We almost always know…”
doing the right thing…
“faintest breaths…”…“another thing,” my poem
they never look up
Starman…an alien with special sauce
movie review, Jeff Bridges et al.
“a dancing wight”…“Another time,” my poem
no song sublime