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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.
“Heartbeats,” love never ends, my poem
not so very far away
Want to be a gardener?…“Gardens galore,” my poem
strive to be a seed…
Wait for the feeling to pass…
“Shivering,” my solitary poem
do the bounce thing…“allegro,” my poem
kids make their move
The Book of Days…part lxiv
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.
The Gifts of Imperfection…book review
what it is, who you be…Dr. Brené Brown
The Brothers…Civil War storytelling
Jan Kovarik tells the story
“…the hollow men…” and so on
T. S. Eliot, a bloomin’ wasteland…
1491 by Charles Mann…book review
…lost American legacies
Newspapers and Democracy (book review)
a museum piece about “the free press”
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.
Conspiracy…movie review
…a flawless portrayal of naked evil…
The Self-Made Man in America (book review)
Prof. Irvin Wyllie exposes the myth
1491 by Charles Mann (book review)
…lost American legacies
Go Down Together…Bonnie and Clyde (book review)
they were violent criminals
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (book review)
consistent tension, a page turner…
The Witches: Salem, 1692 (book review)
…a community gone crazy…
How the Irish Became White (book review)
another slice of American history by Noel Ignatiev
Book review: Thieves in the Night
Arthur Koestler’s story of Galilee, before Israel…
An Empire on the Edge (book review)
The British wanted to win the Revolutionary War, but they didn’t try real hard…
No one remembers “The Six Grandfathers”
…except the Lakota Sioux
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.
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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 art of Lynn Ungar
A permission, the fields…(poetry)
The Old Man and the Sea…book review
the old man is a teacher
“query”…my poem
the man, solitary
do we have the stuff for democracy?
a Lincoln quote…
Million Dollar Baby…movie review
Clint Eastwood, a heart-throb…
“…make sunshine…”…Louisa May Alcott quote
why not?
“…a sandy cat…”…Virginia Woolf quote
you have to think about the cat
Last Chance Harvey…movie review
heart throbs galore…
“More than coffee…” (my poem)
ask me again, Polly…
not just cookies…my poem
eat the last one