In “Choir Invisible,” George Eliot aspires to have an uplifting impact on others.
Monthly Archives: June 2023
Another Poem about Bread
Tom McGrath’s poem about bread wends its way through its spiritual and earthly aspects.
Song Born from Newly Freed Throats
Tyehimba Jess’s “Fisk Jubilee Proclamation” highlights the power of song to relive history and celebrate freedom.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Fisk Jubilee Proclamation", Fisk Jubilee Singers, Juneteenth, Negro spirituals, Tyehimba Jess Comments closed
A Li-Young Lee Poem for Father’s Day
Li-Young Lee has written the perfect poem for Father’s Day.
McCarthy: Dark, Occasionally Hopeful
Although the late Cormac McCarthy had a very dark vision of humanity, one can find glimpses of hope within his novels.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged All the Pretty Horses, Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy, Passenger, Road, Russo-Ukrainian War, war Comments closed
Authoritarians Long to Act with Impunity
Authoritarians long to act with impunity. H.G. Wells captures this fantasy in “The Invisible Man.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged authoritarianism, Donald Trump, Fascism, H.G. Wells, Invisible Man, Republic, ring of Gyges, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Socrates, Trumpism Comments closed
Trump, His Enablers, and “The Third Man”
Graham Greene’s “The Third Man” captures the kind of evil we see in Trump and his enablers.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Carol Reed, Graham Greene, Little House on the Prairie. Donald Trump, Third Man, Trump enablers, Trumpism Comments closed
Pilfered Files, Eustace Diamonds
I compare Trump with Lizzy Greystock in Trollope’s “Eustace Diamonds”–government files for him, diamond necklace for her.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Anthony Trollope, Donald Trump, Eustace Diamonds, stolen government documents Comments closed
The Poetry of Holy Bread
I share a church talk on “The Poetry of Bread” where I shared poems by Levertov, Ungar, Neruda, Underhill, and others.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Bread", "Blessing the Bread", "Book of Verses", "Corpus Christi", "Meditation on John 6:51", "Ode to Bread", "Stepping Westward", Christ, Denise Levertov, Edward Taylor, eucharist, Evelyn Underhill, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lynn Ungar, Omar Khayyam, Pablo Neruda, Philip Pullman, Rubaiyat, Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Comments closed
