It all shows up together… The shock, the grief and the unbearable pain, right along side the amazing courage, compassion and strength to keep moving forward. Who could blame anyone for reacting in fear after this latest terrorist attack in Paris? Of course this would also be a time where hastily made comments may not be as…
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They called him Rat Little. This kid was the poster child for mean + bully. I remember one Friday night at Shoneys Restaurant seeing him use the cast on his broken right arm to wail unmercifully on another kid. And the cast? Yes of course, the result of a previous fight. Rat Little was 16 and…
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I recently had dinner with a good friend. At one point the subject of psychotherapy came up. We both agreed that we were glad we had done some therapy along the way. I said my wife had once stated flatly that she would not have married me if I had not done therapy. I still love that she…
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Do you sometimes feel that poetry is all prim and proper? That it is rarified and can only survive in the hot house environment of a lit class? I say not. It lives right where we live. Mad, bad and dangerous to know… …is exactly how one famous poet was described just after writing a barn burner of…
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This week let’s go for the impossible… Let’s define the characteristics of a great poem. Let’s see if there are some universal features that we can use for our detective work… again and again? So we can spot the keepers we either find or write. I mean we know what finding just the right poem…
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Since I was 5 years old, I’ve had a special dislike for shoes that are not shined. In fact, to this day it is virtually impossible for me to attend an event that includes my wearing leather shoes that are not clean and shiny. You should see my handy work with my well-worn shoe brush and the old…
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First of all I want to say thanks for the deeply touching response to my last blog concerning the passing of our amazing cat… Paloma. Reading your notes of kind support, I felt a deep sense of connection and gratitude. Now for this week’s blog. Of course I am a huge sucker for poems with…
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After twenty years you could forgive us for thinking she would never run out of the lives cats are famous for having. Yes, she had ailments, but they seemed no match for spirit and will. A dear friend gave us a book called Zen Cats. And it was befitting for the coffee table that Paloma roamed under. She was the…
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