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.
Whack!…the old glove…my poem
“Dad, here’s your glove…”
Atonement…movie and book review
my life is my penance
the fox on crusted snow, “Exit” my poem
one snuff of fear
The Collected Poems of Sara Teasdale…book review
Literate, but impersonal
A Room of One’s Own…book review
A Virginia Woolf story
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.
A Room of One’s Own…book review
A Virginia Woolf story
The Sea-Hawk…book review
…swash and buckle from Rafael Sabatini
Night by Elie Wiesel…book review
his first story about the camps
The Bridges of Madison County…book/movie review
If you’re looking for highly stoked eroticism, look elsewhere.
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War…book review
the Pilgrims weren’t happy, says Nathaniel Philbrick
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.
American Bonds: How Credit Markets Shaped a Nation (book review)
a big part of the American story
Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels…book review
Ian Morris talks energy
The Book of War: 25 Centuries of Great War Writing…book review
the hurt and heroics and degradation
Twilight of the Elites…book review
Our elites are corrupt, they can’t stop themselves…
Friends Divided…off the mark, a book review
not Gordon Wood’s best
Eye of the Needle…desperate but human…movie review
living and dying
Battle of Wits…crypto in WWII…book review
surprise! personalities were important…
The Witches, 1692…book review
a community gone crazy…
Cave of Bones…Homo naledi…book review
there were more of us…
Origins of Modern America, 1860-1900…book review
The Gilded Age, not very pretty…
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.
Friends Divided…off the mark, a book review
not Gordon Wood’s best
the kings that sit on the ground…
Book of Sirach, 10:5, KJV
Origins of Modern America, 1860-1900…book review
The Gilded Age, not very pretty…
“…righteousness and peace have kissed each other…”
what a great idea!
Essays Toward a Historical Theory of Big Business
The Essential Alfred Chandler…book review
21 Lessons for the 21st Century…book review
Yuval Harari is a teacher
How do you lose power?…Thomas Hutchinson quote
try looking in the mirror…
The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President’s Black Family…book review
he wasn’t the only one…
The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (book review)
no managers in olden times…
The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism (book review)
Martin Wolf teaches about trust…
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
The Gifts of Imperfection…book review
what it is, who you be…Dr. Brené Brown
“Life is wide.”
The wisdom of Ivan Doig
that rhyming thing…
easier said than done
A Little Chaos…movie review
cultivating gardens can be fun
“…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