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.
“blue suede view”…my poem
it just was
Literary Publishing in America: 1790-1850 (book review)
history was big, poetry not so much
The Book of Days…part lxv
keep looking at it
How to write…says David Ogilvy
This is easy: it ain’t easy
a careless step invited…“Plain talk,” my poem
trash talk to lonely
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.
Sad underwear…book review
it’ll make you laugh
Bookjoy, Wordjoy (book review)
Pat Mora’s poems, start dancing…
Daily Life of Native Americans (book review)
they didn’t need the Europeans…
thinking about ducks at sea
Hemingway did, the old man did…
Crazy Horse…book review
…a loner and a lone eagle, says Larry McMurtry
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.
Lincoln, he was a politician…movie review
Daniel Day-Lewis is good
The “pack horse librarians”…
…before there were bookmobiles…
The Demon of Unrest…book review
Erik Larson tells the whole story of Ft. Sumter
Iron Tears…book review
Did the British really try to win?
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
Old Henry…a movie review
speaking of Billy the Kid
The Donkeys…book review
remembering World War I
Night by Elie Wiesel…book review
his first story about the camps
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.
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War…book review
the Pilgrims weren’t happy, says Nathaniel Philbrick
Facing East from Indian Country (book review)
Another point of view from Daniel K. Richter
The Bombing of Auschwitz…yay or nay? book review
it was a hard call…
Our Ancient Faith…book review
not really a Lincoln book
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
Twilight of the Elites…book review
Our elites are corrupt, they can’t stop themselves…
The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (book review)
no managers in olden times…
1491 by Charles Mann (book review)
…lost American legacies
How the Irish Became White (book review)
another slice of American history by Noel Ignatiev
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.
the consequences of a deed…Sebastian Faulks quote
going on and on…
Mr. Holmes, the real movie…movie review
a very hot cold case…
“the anxious generation”…it’s real
children born after 1995
The Anxious Generation…book review
just say no
“…not to laugh at human actions…”
Spinoza was worried 350 years ago…(quote)
The Guns of Navarone…movie review
the good guys win
“…on just the one day,” in Cold Mountain
Ruby sees a bigger picture…
The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History
…humans and their faith, by Rodney Stark (book review)
“think about it”…my poem
don’t wait to be asked
Have you “…been made various…”?
George Eliot teaches us…(quote)