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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.
“Look at that”…my poem about a tree
it sure was something…
The art of Lynn Ungar
A permission, the fields…(poetry)
The Book of Days…part lvii
nature poems about the dawn’s early light…
“query”…my poem
the man, solitary
one, two, counting lives…my poem
I count my own
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 Fabric of Reality…book review
David Deutsch could use some philosophy…
Small Things Like These…book review
get to know Claire Keegan
“time would ease me…”…Sarah Orne Jewett
straight from the heart
Victory…Joseph Conrad is good…book review
your life is good…
The Sixth Extinction…book review
Elizabeth Kolbert talks about the other global horror…
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.
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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.
“…another step to futures…”…“Look up,” my poem
the clouds have their own time
“Life is wide.”
The wisdom of Ivan Doig
that rhyming thing…
easier said than done
“…Virginia Woolf?”…it’s hell on earth
It ain’t the Cleaver family…
a raisin thing, not just dried grapes
could be a big deal
The Bombing of Auschwitz…yay or nay? book review
it was a hard call…
You can only see four legs…
Honest Abe says so…
…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)