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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.
“Wave off,” my poem in the moment
not according to plan…
“We say morning,” my poem
there was dancing
“Book-ish,” my poem
open it again
“…the consequences of a single deed…”
Sebastian Faulks tells it…
The Gifts of Imperfection…book review
what it is, who you be…Dr. Brené Brown
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 Anxious Generation…book review
just say no
Twice-Told Tales…book review
…baubles of memory from Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History
…humans and their faith, by Rodney Stark (book review)
Golden Tales of New England…book review
Some feel-good stories of the 19th century…
This America…by Jill Lepore, book review
The Case for the Nation
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.
Book review: Saint Joan
by George Bernard Shaw
Oops, Columbus didn’t “discover” America
…but he got close…
Book review: Who Built America?
…including people who got their hands dirty
Book review: John Eliot: The Man Who Loved The Indians
Entertaining, convenient biography by Carleton Beals
Book review: John Eliot: “Apostle to the Indians”
…a righteous man of his time
Book review: Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Spiritual Life
A thought leader in the 19th century…
Book review: A Cold Welcome
The culprit was global cooling, 500 years ago…
Book review: The Myths of Tet
How people get killed by lies…
Book review: Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell
Richard Sharpe is all Hollywood bravery, but it was butcher’s work done at the battle…
Book review: The Proud Tower
Typical Tuchman tour de force. It’s a lot more than a history book.
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.
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
All the President’s Men…movie review
the good guys win
be a buttonhole…
Naomi Shihab Nye says it all
Small Things Like These…book review
get to know Claire Keegan
“time would ease me…”…Sarah Orne Jewett
straight from the heart
Lincoln, he was a politician…movie review
Daniel Day-Lewis is good
Victory…Joseph Conrad is good…book review
your life is good…