Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Goddess Nemesis at Work in Iran

The goddess Nemesis, mentioned in Hesiod’s Theogony and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, is at work in Iran.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

Catch-22 and DJT’s Iran “Excursion”

Catch-22 understand perfectly Trump’s double dealing in the Iranian conflict.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Clifton: the dead shall rise again

Lucille Clifton celebrates Jesus’s Lazarus miracle by pointing to the resilience of the African diaspora.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Using Lit to Grapple with a Death

Friday I’ve written so many times about the accidental drowning death of my son Justin—most thoroughly in Better Living through Literature—that I won’t repeat what I’ve said. Instead, I use today’s “a life lived in literature” installment to reflect back on aspects I haven’t touched on before, some of which are unbearably painful but which may […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

Sad Thoughts in Early Spring

A guest post on Wordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring” from Tobias Wilson-Bates to celebrate the official start of spring.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

The Taming of the Electorate

Petruchio’s gaslighting in “Taming of the Shrew” helps us to understand authoritarian tactics in our own age.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

A Kavanagh Poem for St. Patrick’s Day

“The Hired Boy”—a Patrick Kavanagh poem for St. Patrick’s Day.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Death’s Untimely Frost

A sudden cold snap after blossoms have begun appearing on trees has me reciting Robert Burns.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

The Opening of Eyes Long Closed

David Whyte’s “The Opening of Eyes” works as a poetic gloss on Jesus curing the blind.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

  • Sign up for my weekly newsletter