Lorde has a poem examining her anger at Whites killing innocent Blacks. It’s a good caution as the Arbery trial nears its end.
Tag Archives: analysis
Lorde on Our Fury over Racial Killings
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Power", Ahmaud Arbery, Audre Lorde, racial justice, racism Comments closed
Langston Hughes on the Dignity of Work
Langston Hughes understood working men and women as well as anyone, as his poem “Brass Spittoons” demonstrates.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Brass Spittoons", Labor Day, Langston Hughes, Work Comments closed
How Fantasy Keeps Us Human
Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett are beloved fantasy writers because they stand up for our humanity in dehumanizing times.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, partisanship, polarization, political extremism, politics, Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time Comments closed
Islamic Philosophy vs. Muslim Fanatics
In his fantasy novel “Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights,” Salman Rushdie engaged in a debate within Islam about Reason vs. Faith. Good and bad jinn weigh in on each side.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged al-Ghazali, al-Qaeda, Averroes, Ibn Rushd, ISIS, Islamic terrorists, Salman Rushdie, Two Years Eight months and Twenty Eight Nights Comments closed
“Sonny’s Blues,” Transcendent Moments
In “Sonny’s Blues, art wars with the world’s darkness and promises momentary relief.
God’s Prayer to Us: Live Kindly, Live
James Richardson’s poem “Evening Prayer” urges us not to narrowly constrain God within rules but to see God as something greater.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Evening Prayer", James Richardson, Prayer, Religion Comments closed
May We Sail without Giving into Our Fears
A Noah’s Ark poem by the great Syrian poet Adonis can be applied to the Puerto Rico rescue effort, especially as certain people on the right attempt to inject race into the affair.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "New Noah", Adonis, Donald Trump, evangelicals, flooding, Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico, racism Comments closed
Let Me Not Love Thee If I Love Thee Not
George Herbert, never afraid to go toe-to-toe with God, grapples with his tormenting faith in “Affliction (1).”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Affliction (1)", Doubt, George Herbert, sickness Comments closed
All Must Love the Human Form
In “The Divine Image,” Blake gives us a poem for our time, a call to pray for mercy, pity, peace, and love and to recognize the human form in diversity. In “The Human Abstract” he adds that prayer is not enough. It must be accompanied by human justice.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Divine Image", "Human Abstract", Abortion, Christian Right, classism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, politics, racism, Steve Bannon, William Blake Comments closed
