Monthly Archives: April 2024

Blake on Racism and Child Abuse

By Robin Bates | Published: April 9, 2024

Blake’s “Little Black Boy,” quoted by Lamott in her latest book, is a complex exploration of racism.

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Democracy under Assault? Stand Firm

By Robin Bates | Published: April 8, 2024

How to withstand Trump’s incessant assaults on democracy? Be like Lizzie in “Goblin Market.”

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Two Poems on the Magic of Eclipses

By Robin Bates | Published: April 7, 2024

Two poems, by Wilcox and Trestman, capture the magic of eclipses.

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Stranger Than Fiction’s Easter Message

By Robin Bates | Published: April 6, 2024

The film “Stranger Than Fiction” has a profound Lenten/Easter theme.

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A Poem for When You’re Feeling Weary

By Robin Bates | Published: April 4, 2024

Swinburne’s “Garden of Proserpine,” a good poem for when you’re feeling fed up with life.

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Vlad’s Black Riders, Trump’s Tell-Tale Heart

By Robin Bates | Published: April 3, 2024

Recent literature citations by opinion writers include “Lord of the Rings,” “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

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Caste in a Multicultural Democracy

By Robin Bates | Published: April 2, 2024

To grapple with Wilkerson’s understanding of racism as a caste system, I turn to Langston Hughes, Twain, and Arundhati Roy.

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Bridges and the American Dream

By Robin Bates | Published: April 1, 2024

The Key Bridge disaster–and doubts about America’s response–brings to mind Hart Crane’s bridge poem, a hymn to America aspiring to greatness.

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