Monthly Archives: March 2020

God’s Ask: Listen, Wonder, Hope & Pray

By Robin Bates | Published: March 21, 2020

In his encounter with the blind man in John, Jesus shifts the focus away from the man and towards our response. An Edwina Gately poem accentuates the point.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

A Hopeful Spring Poem for Dark Times

By Robin Bates | Published: March 19, 2020

Katherine Mansfield’s “Very Early Spring” signals hope–although it’s a very tentative hope.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Journal of a Plague Year

By Robin Bates | Published: March 18, 2020

Defoe’s “Journal of the Plague Year” has many unsettling parallels with our current situation.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Pale Horse, Pale Rider–in 1918 and Now

By Robin Bates | Published: March 17, 2020

Katherine Anne Porter’s novella about the 1918 flu epidemic may give us a glimpse into our own immediate future.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Not Poe’s Red Death but Still Dangerous

By Robin Bates | Published: March 16, 2020

Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” captures the belief that we can wall out epidemics and then dance the night away.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

To Understand COVID-19, Read Camus

By Robin Bates | Published: March 15, 2020

Camus’s “The Plague” provides insights into our own coronavirus.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

The Plague Full Swift Goes By

By Robin Bates | Published: March 14, 2020

While COVID-19 is not the Bubonic plague, Thomas Nashe’s “Litany in Time of Plague” is a reminder to focus on what’s important.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments closed

Curl Up with a Good Book

By Robin Bates | Published: March 12, 2020

This Scott Bates poem celebrates curling up with a good book.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Biden vs. Bernie, Aeneas vs. Turnus

By Robin Bates | Published: March 11, 2020

To apply a classic allusion to the Democratic primaries, think of Joe Biden as Aeneas and Bernie Sanders as his foe Turnus. Aeneas wins the battle, Turnus the war.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed