Category Archives: Uncategorized

An Act of Kinship with One of a Feared Race

Poems by Andrea Skevington and Margaret Mackinnon on Pharaoh’s daughter and infant Moses, along with comments on reaching across ethnic lines in dark times.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Silver Chair and a Childhood Love

In which I reminisce about the girl who introduced me to Narnia and how The Silver Chair helped us negotiate our friendship.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Birds as Emissaries from the Afterlife

Can birds function as emissaries from the afterlife? I’ve had my own experience, as has Lucille Clifton.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Oliver’s Hard-Earned Vision of Life

In which I agree with an Atlantic article defending the poetry of Mary Oliver against detractors.

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

Pratchett on the Danger of Happily Ever After

In Witches Abroad Terry Pratchett explores the dangerous power of predetermined story and how to push back against it.

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

DJT Replays Scene from Dead Zone

DJT escaping his plane in a catering cart while using reporters and staff as decoys is reminiscent of a scene in Stephen King’s Dead Zone.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Helen Keller in the Garden of the Lord

In this poem Helen Keller finds the kingdom of God in her garden.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

My Childhood Encounter with Wind in the Willows

In which I look back and recall the importance of Wind in the Willows on my childhood.

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

Poison Ivy and the Spoon River Citizens

A recent run-in with poison ivy sent me back to the Spoon River Anthology—many of whose denizens have fair exteriors masking poison.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

  • Sign up for my weekly newsletter