Trump has mercurial escape powers similar to those of Long John Silver in Stevenson’s novels. There a sliver of optimism in this comparison.
Author Archives: Robin Bates
Trump as Long John Silver
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Project 1925, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island Comments closed
Birds as Heavenly Messengers
A Scott Bates poem about birds flocking around feeders in the snow captures the mystical transformation that cultures dream of during the dark days of winter.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Bird Watcher's Christmas Dinner", Christmas, Hermes Trismegistus, Scott Bates, Winter solstice Comments closed
Pickwickian Anger at Dems’ Surrender
As I watch Democrats surrendering to Trump in advance, I am as appalled as Mr. Pickwick is when he watches his lawyer praise opposing counsel.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Charles Dickens, Chris Hayes, Pickwick Papers, surrendering in advance, Trumpism Comments closed
Advent as a Final Notification
Rich’s “Final Notification” can be read as an Advent poem, a resistance to and then final surrender to God’s will.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Final Notification", "Sonnet XIV", Adrienne Rich, Advent, John Donne Comments closed
Trumpism and Penelope’s Suitors
Penelope’s suitors are like Trump and his supporters, looting the household and then calling other people lazy grifters asking for handouts.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged entitlement programs, Homer, Iliad, kleptocracy, Odyssey, Trumpism, welfare programs Comments closed
A Lovely Poem Celebrating Aging
Author Dudley Delffs has written a lovely poem about turning sixty. “The dimming day is undeniable, but twilight embers ambient gold all around you, a gilt frame glimmering.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Sixty", Aging, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Dudley Delffs, Ulysses Comments closed
Nikki Giovanni, R.I.P.
“Rosa Parks” and “Nikki-Rosa” capture two sides of the late Nikki Giovanni, the political and the personal.
How to Live under Authoritarianism
In “Envoy of Mr. Cogito,” Zbigniew Herbert informs us how to respond to authoritarian rule. We may need his poem as we face another four years of Donald Trump.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Envoy of Mr. Cogito", authoritarianism, Greg Olear, Robert Haas, Zbigniew Herbert Comments closed
Apologies for Press Handling of Gaza
Alcalay’s angry poem apologizing for the U.S. media whitewashing the Gaza conflict is inspired by an Iraqi poet lamenting what Hussein did to Iraq.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "My Apologies", Ammiel Alcalay, Arabian Nights, Bulunda al-Haidari, Gaza, Iraq, Israel, Israeli-Gaza conflict, Palestine, Saddam Hussein Comments closed
