~ Telling the Truth, Mainly
One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries. ~A. A. Milne Last night, embroiled in the Great Throwing-Away, I made surprising discoveries. I found *The senior will, which I read at the junior-senior banquet (1969) *The judge's comments on ten pages of a novel I submitted to the … Continue reading The Great Throwing-Away: Back When I Was Smart
Dear March — Come in — How glad I am — I hoped for you before — Put down your Hat — You must have walked — How out of Breath you are — Dear March, Come right up the stairs with me — I have so much to tell — I got your … Continue reading Emily Dickinson: Dear March – Come In
Have you ever made notes on a subject and later discovered you have no idea what they mean? It happens. It happened. On Day I, I wrote about a book I'd seen at a bookstore earlier that day, Joshua Hammer's book, The Bad-Ass Librarian of Timbuktu. While at the store, I also made notes about … Continue reading Day L: Literary Terms They Don’t Teach in English Class #AtoZChallenge
***** With apologies to James Whitcomb Riley Little Google Fiber's come to our house today, To scramble through the attic and drag cables on the way, And cut some boards and drill some holes and stuff some cables that Will link up with some … Continue reading Day J: Jammies, or, Quick! Get Up and Put Some Clothes On! #AtoZChallenge
With thanks to Abbie Taylor, who told me about Pi Day Poems, and to Shakespeare, whose sonnet provided the form. Anti-Ode on Pi Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou‘rt such a strange shape, legs much like a chair, A top so curved there’s just no stinkin’ way It’d seat a … Continue reading My 3.14 Day Poem*
Last month, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff announced a contest for Trump poems. Guidelines called for verses written from any political stance. I wrote two sonnets but forgot the October 8 deadline for submission. It seemed a shame to let them languish on the hard drive, so I share them here. The first appears … Continue reading Political Poetic Parody: Sonnet #1
Why? Because--A friend, calling to confirm David and I would meet her and her husband the next day at the Harry Ransom for the Edgar Allan Poe exhibit, reported her house was being leveled for the second time in three years. "There are thirteen men under my house." I hooked up Edgar Allan Poe with … Continue reading Edgar Allan Poe and Me: A Questionable Partnership or, The Maven
A light exists in spring Not present on the year At any other period. When March is scarcely here A color stands abroad On solitary hills That science cannot overtake, But human nature feels. It waits upon the lawn; It shows the furthest tree Upon the furthest slope we know; It almost speaks to me. … Continue reading Emily Dickinson: “A Light Exists in Spring” and Some Words About the Poet
Once upon a time, a few days before Halloween, my friend ME called and said, “There are thirteen men under my house. They’re leveling it. For the second time in five years.” Then she invited David and me to go with her and her husband to see the Edgar Allan Poe exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center, … Continue reading The Maven
THE ROAD TO BETHLEHEM If as Herod, we fill our lives with things and again things; If we consider ourselves so important that we must fill Every moment of our lives with action; When will we have the time to make the long slow journey Across the burning desert as did the Magi; Or sit … Continue reading The Road to Bethlehem
William bit me at the vet, Didn't like the aide's assistance, Used his claws and fangs to set On the path of most resistance. Say I'm teary, say I'm mad, Say that pills and needles hit me, Say my arm's inflamed, and add, William bit me. *** Jane Carlyle, wife of philosopher Thomas Carlyle, … Continue reading William Bit Me
THE ROAD TO BETHLEHEM If as Herod, we fill our lives with things and again things; If we consider ourselves so important that we must fill Every moment of our lives with action; When will we have the time to make the long slow journey Across the burning desert as did the Magi; Or sit … Continue reading The Road to Bethlehem
Mark Twain is given official credit for this poem, but it was really composed by Emmeline Grangerford, whose family Huckleberry Finn met on his Adventures down the Mississippi River. Below, Huck quotes Emmeline's tribute to Stephen Dowling Bots, who came to a watery end. He also records what happened to Emmeline, whose compulsive rhyming finally … Continue reading Poetry: Huck Finn Praises Emmeline Grangerford’s Tribute to Stephen Dowling Bots
When I am dead, I hope it may be said, "His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.” ~ Hillaire Belloc
Below is a piece I originally posted, under a slightly different title, several years ago. I don't know why the text looks as it does, but it will stay that way until tech support and I find a remedy. I hope you will read and enjoy anyway. At HEB this afternoon, having verified that I … Continue reading Select Tender Type or, Another Reason Literature Is Useful (Repost)
