Total Views
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.
“…downbeat for the dawn…”…”Overture,” my poem
“…faint sounds of night…”
another take on dawn…my poem
the sweet spot filled…
Aging: An Apprenticeship…book review
How to live so you’re ready to die…
“mantra,” with dancing…my poem
let it be
“…even the smallest step…” says Marcus Aurelius
it’s a process, stay involved
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.
One Small Candle…book review
the Mayflower folks lit one
The American Revolution: A History…book review
The Founders weren’t real keen on “democracy”…
O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”
“…two foolish children…”
Pilgrims without faces
matter of fact, we don’t know what the Pilgrims looked like…
Collected Poems of C. K. Williams…book review
dusty and dull
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.
Did the British lose, or give up, or what?
Maybe it was the Revolutionary “War”…
The Things They Carried…book review
feelings may change…
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity…book review
fear and anger, not issues…by Lilliana Mason
do we have the stuff for democracy?
a Lincoln quote…
War at The Wall Street Journal…book review
they botched it
The Bright Ages (book review)
A New History of Medieval Europe
What Orwell Didn’t Know…book review
the search for truth in words…
Red Brethren (book review)
David Silverman on “race” in early America
All the President’s Men…movie review
the good guys win
Concept of the Corporation (book review)
Peter Drucker didn’t see the whole monster…
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.
The Demon of Unrest…book review
Erik Larson tells the whole story of Ft. Sumter
Age Power…book review
Old people are who it’s all about…
“stop seeking the impossible…”…The Daily Stoic
commit to resisting the bad stuff
Hand me that hammer…my poem
we need to build bridges
keep a watchful eye…and resist
do not let them go gentle…
The Pioneers by David McCullough…book review
bona fide McCullough, erudite prose
No Constitutional Right to be Ladies…book review
Linda Kerber drills down…
John Adams…book review
David McCullough tells a good story of a good life
The Donkeys…book review
remembering World War I
A Room of One’s Own…book review
A Virginia Woolf story
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.
1491 by Charles Mann…book review
…lost American legacies
Stop running…(Guillaume Apollinaire, a quote)
…look around…
that “frolic architecture”…Emerson quote
sometimes he grabbed the best words
Thelma and Louise…movie review
the high road
Jekyll and Hyde, you think you know the story
…but try it again, Jekyll really doesn’t measure up…
“If men were angels…”…James Madison quote
“no government would be necessary”
“…midst all these books.”
one view of the sweet life…
The Girl at the Lion d’Or…book review
Sebastian Faulks is tenaciously literate, richly Gallic…
whistle a happy tune…my poem
it’s like a singalong
The Birthday Party and The Room…by Harold Pinter
not much here