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 unseen owl…” “Occurrence,” my poem
I share my one note
everyone sees it…the empyrean
the poem comes easily
Anne Lamott talks about shaking our heads…
…and she can do it (quote)
…tomorrow’s future, the sweet nows
“now then…” my poem
tomorrow, shuffling, comes…my poem
live each bright hour
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.
What the Robin Knows…book review
what the robins say…
The Brothers…Civil War storytelling
Jan Kovarik tells the story
P. G. Wodehouse—we miss you!
…and so say Bertie Wooster and Jeeves…
The Complete Sherlock Holmes…book review
Arthur Conan Doyle never ceases to entertain…
Saint Martin’s Summer…book review
a very high-toned beach book
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.
With the Old Breed…book review
the prayers of E. B. Sledge, a warfighter
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…
Beowulf, an old story (book review)
better than Steve McQueen…
Conspiracy…movie review
…a flawless portrayal of naked evil…
Bitterly Divided: The South’s Inner Civil War (book review)
David Williams says secession wasn’t popular
Stage Coach and Tavern Days (book review)
Sort of the good old days, maybe…
The Self-Made Man in America (book review)
Prof. Irvin Wyllie exposes the myth
John Adams (book review)
David McCullough tells a good story of a good life
What It Is Like to Go to War (book review)
Karl Marlantes tells the ugly story
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.
Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction (book review)
as they saw it in mid-19th century…
Brown is the New White, another take on democracy
Steve Phillips talks about demographics
A History of the People of the United States During Lincoln’s Administration
by John Bach McMaster (book review)
Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee’s Army (book review)
lots of men didn’t surrender…
The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire (book review)
Peter Hopkirk tells the old story
The Political Depravity of the Founding Fathers (book review)
the so-called “Founding Fathers”…
“Pick battles big enough to matter..”
Jonathan Kozol knows what matters…
A Magnificent Catastrophe (the 1800 election, book review)
Edward Larson tells the nasty story
The Unknown American Revolution (book review)
in the streets, says Gary Nash
The Urban Crucible, by Gary Nash (book review)
the revolution and the leather-apron crowd…
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.
be a philosopher, sooner or later
a gentleman in Moscow did it
Red Dawn, another good Patrick Swayze movie
more than shoot ‘em up
P. G. Wodehouse—we miss you!
…and so say Bertie Wooster and Jeeves…
“a great temple of all the gods…” (Seneca)
from his Epistles
Saint Martin’s Summer…book review
a very high-toned beach book
“let us not be weary” Galatians 6:9
always time for the right thing
Medicine Man, it’s Connery…movie review
Sean can be quirky
“machines are ahead of morals”…Truman said it
morals playing catch up…
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Anne Lamott is a free spirit…(book review)
wrath and anger…each a no no
Book of Sirach, 27:30