
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.
Stonehenge…the stones know…my poem
fingers of the gods
Are you working on the main thing?
maybe Michelangelo got distracted…
“…and hides our dreams…”…“dew not,” my poem
Away, you foggy dew!
“see the new possible…”…“caper,” my poem
those silent promises
The Book of Days…part xlviii
nature poems about the dawn’s early light…
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.
“see the new possible…”…“caper,” my poem
those silent promises
The Stranger/L’Etranger…book review
not the best of Camus
The Homesman…book review
not likable or believable…
singing the easy tunes…“la cage,” my poem
I think I had a thought…
American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century…book review
relentless rhyming, drum beat rhythms…
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.
The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President’s Black Family…book review
he wasn’t the only one…
A Short History of the World in 50 Places…book review
Jacob Fields does the pique thing…
Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300…book review
Peter Heather tells a new story
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams…book review
Stacy Schiff teaches more…
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
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.
Splendid Failure: Postwar Reconstruction in the American South
…the North forgot about slavery (book review)
Reconstruction After the Civil War (book review)
mostly, nothing changed
The Man Who Broke Capitalism (book review)
Jack Welch, all-American what?
Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction (book review)
as they saw it in mid-19th century…
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
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.
“duchess with a bird”…my poem
her new universe…
The Breakfast Club…movie review
telling truth to friends
The Bridges of Madison County…book/movie review
If you’re looking for highly stoked eroticism, look elsewhere.
“…the courage to continue…”…Winston Churchill quote
“keep buggering on”
“…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…