Monthly Archives: October 2019

And Thick and Fast, They Came at Last

By Robin Bates | Published: October 21, 2019

People are now rushing forth to reveal Trump secrets–like the oysters in “The Walrus and the Carpenter.”

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Trump Uses Genocidal Language

By Robin Bates | Published: October 20, 2019

Trump’s use of the language of ethnic cleansing regarding the Kurds is not new. Clifton’s poem about cockroaches shows how dangerous it is.

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Cheer and Tune My Heartless Breast

By Robin Bates | Published: October 19, 2019

About prayer, Jesus at one point said to pay as though you are a desperate widow before an indifferent judge. Much of Herbert’s poetry sees God in this light.

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Oliver, a Poet for Introverts

By Robin Bates | Published: October 17, 2019

Mary Oliver understands introverts well–and how much they can gain by overcoming their fears and stepping out into the world.

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Connecticut Yankee in Northern Syria

By Robin Bates | Published: October 16, 2019

Trump empty threats in the middle East are anticipated by Mark Twain in “Connecticut Yankee.” In fact, the novel captures well our adventures in the Middle East.

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Using Fiction to Imagine a Bright Future

By Robin Bates | Published: October 15, 2019

Edward Bellamy’s “Looking Backward” is dated but can still get people to imagine new possibilities.

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The Anxiety of Harold Bloom

By Robin Bates | Published: October 14, 2019

The late Harold Bloom longed to be a Samuel Johnson but never got there.

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“Et Tu, Brute!”–Betraying the Kurds

By Robin Bates | Published: October 13, 2019

Which Shakespeare play best captures Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds? Julius Caesar, perhaps, for pathos, Othello for the cold-blooded way it was done.

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Let Us Sail into the Promise of the Day

By Robin Bates | Published: October 12, 2019

E. A. Robinson’s “Children of the Night” finds spiritual hope in a dark world.

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