In response to Trump’s defense that his rambling is verbal weaving, I look at applicable weaving imagery in Silko’s novel “Ceremony.”
Author Archives: Robin Bates
Silko and Trump on Weaving
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Ceremony, dementia, Donald Trump, Election 2024, joy, Kamala Harris, Leslie Marmon Silko, PTSD, stream-of-consciousness Comments closed
Candide on Trump as God’s Messenger
Trump has been accorded messiah status by some of his followers. Voltaire would disagree.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Candide, Evengelical Trump supporters, Trump assassination attempt, Voltaire Comments closed
Celebrate Work? or Complain about It?
For Labor Day, two poems (Brecht, Piercy) about jobs that degrade. But the poems themselves offer solace.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Pirate Jenny's Song", "Secretary Chant", Bertolt Brecht, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, Kurt Weil, Labor Day, Marge Piercy, Threepenny Opera, Work Comments closed
Facing the Terrors of Freedom & Joy
In “St. Peter and the Angel,” Levertov notes that divine revelation is only the first step.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "St. Peter and the Angel", Brothers Karamazov, Denise Levertov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Grand Inquisitor Comments closed
Blake, Gibran, and Harris’s Joy
The power and effectiveness of Harris and Walz’s joy is captured in poems by Blake and Gibran.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Eternity, "Joy and Sorrow", 2024 election, Al Sharpton, Auguries of Innocence, Bill Clinton, joy, Kahlil Gibran, Kamala Harris, Prophet, William Blake Comments closed
Harris’s Speech and a Baldwin Story
The shift in Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech–from heartwarming bio to Churchillian call to action–reminds me of the shift in Sonny’s jazz playing in Baldwin’s story.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Democratic National Convention, Election 2024, James Baldwin, Kamala Harris, Sonny's Blues Comments closed
Gorman Dares Us to Dream Together
Amanda Gorman’s Democratic National Convention poem celebrated an all-inclusive vision of America.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Dream Together", Amanda Gorman, American Dream, Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris Comments closed
