Tag Archives: Ceremony

Beauty Amidst the Refugee Heartbreak

By Robin Bates | Published: December 22, 2015

Adam Zagajewski’s beautiful poem “Try to Praise the Mutilated World” is particularly relevant at the moment with the tragedy of the Syrian refugees.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Try to Praise the Mutilated World", Adam Zagajewski, Beauty, Leslie Marmon Silko, Syrian refugees | Comments closed

This Time Grendel Chose Umpqua

By Robin Bates | Published: October 1, 2015

Every time there is another mass killing, this time at Umpqua Community College, I turn to “Beowulf.” Few works understand such violence as well as this medieval Anglo-Saxon epic.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Beowulf, Charles Harper Mercer, gun control, Leslie Marmon Silko, mass shootings, NRA, serial killers, Umpqua College shooting | Comments closed

Milton’s Satan Invades Charleston

By Robin Bates | Published: June 21, 2015

Once again, light has attracted darkness in America with the Charleston church killings. John Milton describes how this dynamic works in “Paradise Lost” and Leslie Marmon Silko does so as well in “Ceremony.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Charleston killings, domestic terrorism, Dylann Storm Roof, Emanuel AME Church, John Milton, Leslie Marmon Silko, mass killings, Paradise Lost, racism, white supremacy | Comments closed

The Peace of Wild Things

By Robin Bates | Published: December 21, 2014

My Intro to Literature class explored how a disconnect from nature leads to existential anguish while opening themselves up to nature provides spiritual nourishment.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Ancient Mariner, "Egrets", "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "Killing the Trees", "Peace of Wild Things", All the Pretty Horses, Bacchae, Barbara Kingsolver, Cormac McCarthy, Euripides, Flight Behavior, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lucille Clifton, Mary Oliver, Midsummer Night's Dream, Nature, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, spiritual healing, Wendell Berry, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth | Comments closed

Black Friday: Don’t Just Shop

By Robin Bates | Published: November 28, 2014

Black Friday’s shopping frenzy can prompt us to forget the spiritual origins of gift-giving. Leslie Marmon Silko helps us see beyond the glitter.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Black Friday, consumerism, holiday shopping, Leslie Marmon Silko, materialism, spiritual desolation | Comments closed

Climate Change: Signs of Witchery

By Robin Bates | Published: November 25, 2014

Native American author Leslie Marmon Silko warns of ecological disaster if we don’t change our relationship to the earth.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged climate change, Environment, Leslie Marmon Silko | Comments closed

Beowulf Blog, 5 Years Old Today

By Robin Bates | Published: May 27, 2014

Today is the five-year anniversary of this blog. I can’t quite believe that, in that time, I’ve written close to 1700 posts and probably over a million words. I have never had so much fun writing. I have particularly enjoyed my interactions with readers. Each month during the school year, around 10,000 different individuals visit […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Creative Writers and Daydreaming, Leslie Marmon Silko, Sigmund Freud | Comments closed

Poetic Guides through Cultural Devastation

By Robin Bates | Published: November 20, 2013

Indian poets are necessary to keep cultural identity alive and to forge new paths in a white world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Crow Nation, cultural devastation, Leslie Marmon Silko, Native Americans, Radical Hope | Comments closed

A Poem for Commencement

By Robin Bates | Published: May 10, 2013

Pay attention and you’ll see the magic in graduation.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Five Skunks", graduation, Steve Kowit | Comments closed