In his new collection of poems, Norman Finkelstein has one of the best poems I have encountered about libraries. The poem captures the paradoxical nature of libraries, how they both preserve the past but look forward to the future.
Monthly Archives: September 2016
Trump’s Pleasure Dome (with Caves of Ice)
Coleridge’s Kubla Khan and Donald Trump have a lot in common: both build sunny edifices that prove to be sterile at the core.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Kubla Khan", 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump, Samuel Coleridge, Trump Tower Comments closed
My Blind Eyes Were Touched with Light
Helen Keller’s poem about revelation–“In the Garden of the Lord”–has a vision of revelation that is all the more powerful because we know the speaker is literally blind. That gives special poignancy to the line, “My blind eyes were touched with light.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "In the Garden of the Lord", blindness, disability, Helen Keller, Revelation, Spirituality Comments closed
Trump, “FDA Food Police,” & The Jungle
Donald Trump yesterday floated a proposal to roll back food regulations. It’s worth remembering that such regulations were first put into place in large part because of a novel, Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” (1906).
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, food inspections, government regulations, Jungle, Upon Sinclair Comments closed
For Hillary, Witch Hunts Never End
Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post alludes to Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” as she wonders whether Hillary Clinton should be subjected to witch trials to figure out what’s wrong with her.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 2016 presidential election, Arthur Miller, Crucible, Hillary Clinton, Illness Comments closed
Solace for Vets from Sophocles
A group has been giving dramatic readings of Sophocles plays in order to reach veterans suffering from PTSD. The results have been astonishing.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Ajax, Philoctetes, PTSD, Sophocles, Veterans, veterans' suicides, war Comments closed
Prisons, America’s Growth Industry
At long last, some politicians from both parties are beginning to express concern over America’s world-leading incarceration rate. Rachel Kranz raised the alarm 16 years ago in her novel “Leaps of Faith.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Leaps of Faith, prison industry, private prisons, Rachel Kranz Comments closed
On 9/11, Firemen Ascended Jacob’s Ladder
Lucille Clifton’s seven 9/11 poems, written in the days following the attacks, use religious imagery to find hope.
