Monthly Archives: October 2023

November Is California’s Spring

By Robin Bates | Published: October 31, 2023

In “Chaparral Spring,” Rebecca Adams contends, November is California’s spring.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Chaparral Spring", "November", California chaparral, chaparral, Rebecca Adams | Comments closed

Halloween Horrors in the Aeneid

By Robin Bates | Published: October 30, 2023

For Halloween, check out the monsters who greet Aeneas on his way to the underworld.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aeneid, Dante, death, Halloween, Inferno, Underworld, Virgil | Comments closed

On Falling Leaves and Letting Go

By Robin Bates | Published: October 29, 2023

In falling leaves, Clifton finds a graceful faith in letting go. It is a continuing theme for her.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "blessing of the boats", "lesson of the falling leaves", James Baldwin, Lucille Clifton, safety, Sonny's Blues | Comments closed

Preserved in God’s Golden Sap

By Robin Bates | Published: October 28, 2023

In Karr’s spiritual vision, we are like precious insects, preserved in the glowing amber of God’s love.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Meditatio", Intimations of Immortality, Mary Karr, Meditation, William Wordsworth | Comments closed

New GOP Speaker Is a Gilead Patriarch

By Robin Bates | Published: October 26, 2023

Mike Johnson, a Christian neo-fascist who tried to overthrow the 2020 election, has just been elected as Speaker of the House. Gilead threatens.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Christian fascism, Congress, Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House | Comments closed

Peace Poems for Israel and Gaza

By Robin Bates | Published: October 25, 2023

Two peace poems, by an Israeli and a Palestinian-American, invite us to step beyond the hostilities.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Diameter of the Bomb", "Kindness", bombs, Israel-Hamas, Naomi Shihab Nye, war, Yehuda Amichai | Comments closed

Has Voldemort Cursed the GOP?

By Robin Bates | Published: October 24, 2023

What is causing such instability when Republicans attempt to choose a Speaker? Harry Potter may have the answer.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged dark magic, Dennis Hastert, GOP, Harry Potter, House of Representatives, J.K. Rowling | Comments closed

Self-Satire’s Medicinal Properties

By Robin Bates | Published: October 23, 2023

In “Wonderworks,” Fletcher contends that self-satire helped Socrates deal with death.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Angus Fletcher, death of Socrates, Douglas Adams, fear of death, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Irony, Phaedo, Plato, satire, Socrates, Wonderworks | Comments closed

In Penny’s Mysteries, Art Gets Murdered

By Robin Bates | Published: October 22, 2023

In Louise Penny’s murder mysteries, art is an authentic spiritual channel that can be corrupted in the receiving.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Beautiful Mystery, Leonard Cohen, Louise Penny, Margaret Atwood, murder mysteries, Trick of the Light | Comments closed

Monthly Archives: October 2023

November Is California’s Spring

Halloween Horrors in the Aeneid

On Falling Leaves and Letting Go

Preserved in God’s Golden Sap

New GOP Speaker Is a Gilead Patriarch

Peace Poems for Israel and Gaza

Has Voldemort Cursed the GOP?

Self-Satire’s Medicinal Properties

In Penny’s Mysteries, Art Gets Murdered

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