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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.
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 consequences of a deed…Sebastian Faulks quote
going on and on…
“making night into day…”…“riverine,” my poem
a nameless river
“walking in beauty…”…“walking along,” my poem
I may join you
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.
Did the British lose, or give up, or what?
Maybe it was the Revolutionary “War”…
The Things They Carried…book review
feelings may change…
Good Bones…book review
bones and more bones…
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity…book review
fear and anger, not issues…by Lilliana Mason
“endless regret or secret happiness…”
quote from Sarah Orne Jewett
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 Last European War (book review)
it’s by John Lukacs, dig in…
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…
Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat…(book review)
Stephen Biddle looks to leadership
The Founders’ Fortunes: How Money Shaped the Birth of America
Willard Randall documents it: money talks (book review)
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…
The United States in 1800 (book review)
Henry Adams on 19th century people, culture
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 Bright Ages (book review)
A New History of Medieval Europe
time is different near the sea
John Steinbeck sez so…
Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception
by Pamela Meyer (book review)
goodness, a small flame…
and you are its keeper
“…Bobby always knows…”…“bearly,” my poem
finding the way
Dinner Rush…movie review
real suspense
Atonement…book review
Ian McEwan tells a big story
looking for butterflies…Jacqueline Woodson quote
some things never die…
Red Brethren (book review)
David Silverman on “race” in early America
words have physical feeling…a quote
from The Bridges of Madison County