Thanksgiving day. A day of sacrifice and feasting. The customary “victim” is the turkey. The day is dedicated to a nationwide communal meal, families including invited guests, extended family members are together around a table for a meal of prepared turkey, side dishes which have passed the test of tradition. The elements are common,…
Human life, by its very nature, has to be dedicated to something, an enterprise glorious or humble, a destiny illustrious or trivial. …in these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths… All imperatives, all commands, are in a state of suspension. Given over…
A few minutes until 7AM, and the streets of Geneva were silent, traffic on State Street was scarce. A rare sensation of quiescence on a Sunday morning in this river town. It will not last. I begin to write, the raucous sound of the bean grinding machine, the animated conversation of baristas behind the…
Death is coming and leaving the tavern, death leaving and coming in. by Frederico Garcia Lorca Many years ago I wrote this poem into one of my little notebooks. There are nine of these small notebooks, small enough to fit inside of a rear pocket of my blue jeans. I liked the poem by…
Today I read more about the war in Ukraine in the New York Times. The war grinds on. The article was about the role of therapists to offer treatment for the psychological damage exacted by the extreme violence of artillery strikes and missiles destroying towns. I thought about commenting about a poem today, as…
That Madman Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market-place, and cried incessantly: “I am looking for God! I am looking for God!” As many of those who did not believe in God were standing together there, he excited considerable laughter. Have…
Brain fog… At least that was my condition upon waking this morning. It is gray, windy, a day chilled with winter’s retreat. The disorientation, as if my senses were obstructed by a old exhausted filter, continued until I arrived at Starbucks. Now I am into my second cup of coffee. I watched the 1970…
Do we not all “live” at the Hotel California? “You can check out anytime but you can never leave…” Bombs and rockets rained down last night. Russian missiles struck at least three cities in western and central Ukraine, and there were reports of fierce fighting on the outskirts of Kyiv. — according to the…
Time for writing is limited today. I did not post yesterday. Posting nothing again would be morally indefensible under the circumstances. This was the lead paragraph in The Morning news update from the New York Times: First, a news update: Russia continued its broad offensive in Ukraine today, pummeling cities and towns. Ukrainian officials…
This morning in a fog, dazed in disbelief. The siege of Ukraine continues. The port of Kherson has fallen. It is a city of 300,000. The bombardment of other cities continues. My mind reels at the news, that Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party asked Putin of Russia to delay the…
