Monthly Archives: March 2012

Obamacare: Forcing Soufflé on Everyone

Is the Supreme Court playing Potter to Obamacare’s George Bailey? Will Woody Allen’s version of French tyranny (soufflé and croissant at every meal) be the end result?

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Adrienne Rich’s Final Dive

In “Diving into the Wreck” Adrienne Rich surveyed the wreckage of post-World War II relationships and charted new paths.

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Using Donne to Defend Same Sex Marriage

John Donne’s impatience in “The Canonization” could be that of same sex couples who want to get married and wonder about all the fuss.

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Science Tells Us Lit Helps Us with Life

Recent brain research indicates that fiction helps us “understand the complexities of social life.”

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Trayvon Martin, Another Emmett Till

The killing of Trayvon Martin reminds me of Emmett Till and a poem written about Emmett’s youthful innocence.

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The Partner of Her Loneliness

In “She Who Reconciles,” Rilke celebrates the gentle yet empowering guest.

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Family Melodrama, Iranian Style

The Oscar-winning Iranian film “Separation” builds complication upon complication as families wrestle with difficult conditions.

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March Madness, Frisbees, and Spring

In this Scott Bates poem, the poetry of basketball is surpassed by the poetry of frisbee throwing.

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Such Singing in the Wild Branches

On a beautiful spring morning when she is startled by birdsong, Mary Oliver describes a merging with nature where she “began to understand what the bird was saying.”

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