POETS’ TAKE ON CAPITOL “NEWS”—WOULD THE GODS DO ANY DIFFERENTLY? IF HOMER IS ANY EVIDENCE, WE MAY YET FACE A HAPPY ENDING. MEANWHILE, SPEAKING OF HAPPY ENDINGS: BIRTHDAYS OF TWO WRITERS OF OLD-SCHOOL COMEDY, SYLVIA PLATH AND E.E. CUMMINGS, FELLOW … Continue reading →

We always take advice from poets, Derek Walcott’s Love After Love (“The time will come when, with elation, you will greet yourself . . . “), Rumi (“Say Yes Quickly”), T.S. Eliot (“Let us go then, you and I . … Continue reading →

  Are We a Mean Culture When It Comes to Proclaiming Beauty? Not You, O Listener: read on– ” . . . again the spotlight is on the poet writing the poem—out of darkness, out of silence–she is a tragic … Continue reading →

Language arts in the news this week: the news without which “men die miserably every day.” So here is to living happily today—hear-hear—as in the earliest poetry which was recited, stories told, and to aid the speakers’ memory, it was … Continue reading →

All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that,
and I intend to end up … Continue reading →

The news we need, “without which men die miserably every day” (William Carlos Williams)—in this case, news that we ALL came from Mars. From Kabir to Shakespeare to John Muir to Gary Snyder, we’re celebrating what poets make of science … Continue reading →

BURNING AND LEARNING NEWS: WHILE FIRES RAGE WE RENEW OUR APPRECIATION FOR WILDERNESS, AND THE VITAL ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN HOW WE SEE AND TREAT OUR EARTH, ON THE OCCASION OF THE 97TH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE On … Continue reading →

Chuck Tripi’s poem Janet’s poem Rumi she sent! TODAY, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be … Continue reading →

This is good news for all of us. Many of you know 65 and all of us hope to know. Some did not make it but lit the way of aging with commando* hope—going forth, being in the moment, unprepared, … Continue reading →