Lately I’ve been rereading T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. This led to my taking down to peruse, after a hiatus of about twenty years, the slim volume he wrote called The Use of Poetry & The Use of Criticism. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Poetry
This week, I’m passing along an article from the Bahá’í World News Service about the efforts of PEN International to defend persecuted writers the world over. I include a link to the original posting of the story interested readers can … Continue reading
St. Paul’s Cathedral and John Donne’s Memorial: I was eager to visit this magnificent cathedral not only for the architecture, but to see the memorial statue of John Donne, who famously penned the words, “No man is an island.” An … Continue reading
This blog post is included in: No Time to Spare Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin Introduction by Karen Joy Fowler December 5, 2017 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt … Continue reading
We are all mask-makers. Fear teaches us the art, And time holds them up for us to dance among, Changing our faces To face other gazes. In saints and bodhisattvas They disappear. Some masks are Gauzy, Thin. But more … Continue reading
The scent of blackberry sage tea Like a whisper unheard Steals through the house Borne on cool spring invading through opened windows: Plum blossoms, mold and forest, the fresh tea-like woodiness of redwoods. In a moment The space these … Continue reading
To me, Vachel Lindsay has always been the epitome of an American poet. Best known for Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight and General William Booth Enters into Heaven, which was set to music by Charles Ives, his work, according to Wikipedia, “lacked elements … Continue reading
Antisocial Sonnet #4 Obsession The lady lingers long before the mirror Distressed by what she sees below her belt: An image so distorted by her fear It wrings from her an outcry most heartfelt. “My butt’s too big!” she cries. … Continue reading
The Borborygmus The Borborygmus is a dreadful beast He clamors for attention unashamed Emitting gastric noises undecreased By anything except the tribute claimed. Orotund and rounded are his vowels Rumbling up from Stygian depths denied But vainly by the victim … Continue reading
Gesundheit! The drama of a sneeze can’t be denied, Its setting of the stage is masterly, It starts with just a tingle deep inside In nasal preface to catastrophe. And then it builds to twitchings of the nose With halting … Continue reading