Frank Norris’s naturalist 1901 novel “The Octopus: A Story of California” provides us a powerful lens through which to view the growing income discrepancy and the rollback of workers’ rights and benefits that we are seeing in the United States today.
Monthly Archives: August 2011
The Hunger Inside You, Hold It
American Muslim poet Kazim Ali explores the spiritual dimensions of fasting in his poetry collection “Fasting for Ramadan.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Fasting for Ramadan, Islam, Kazim Ali, Ramadan, Religion Comments closed
The Poetics of Base Stealing
Robert Francis’s poem “The Base Stealer” helps us appreciate the exquisite tensions between the base runner and the pitcher.
The Transcendent Properties of Food
“Babette’s Feast” is about a sumptuous banquet that descends upon a querulous community like an act of grace, thereby allowing the spirit to flow again. In other words, it’s a good film to watch these days when our own communities are troubled and having difficulty coming together.
Warren Buffett, Dickensian Philanthropist
Warren Buffett’s op-ed article that the wealthy should pay more taxes is reminding me of Charles Dickens’ benevolent philanthropists, especially Mr. Brownlow in “Oliver Twist.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Charles Dickens, Christmas Carol, Economic hard times, Oliver Twist, politics, Taxes, Warren Buffett Comments closed
Laureate Philip Levine, Working Class Poet
Raised in Michigan and once a factory worker, Philip Levine, our new poet laureate, often writes about rustbelt desolation, as he does in “An Abandoned Factory, Detroit.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Abandoned Factory Detroit", Philip Levine, Unemployment, Work Comments closed
A Fantasy about the Vatican and Condoms
The Pope’s endorsement of condoms to stop the spread of disease last November prompted the following light poem by Scott Bates.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Vatican-Sponsored Condoms", Catholicism, Population Explosion, Scott Bates Comments closed
A Poem for Meek Lovers of the Good
Reading a poem like Emerson “Brahma”’ is a good occasion to remind ourselves that the oppositions in life that tie us into knots are not all that there is to existence.
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