Days end yesterday I read the poem Gerontion by T. S. Eliot. That was my second reading of the poem this week. I was taken by Eliot’s words. Scholarly analysts say Gerontion is one of his most enigmatic works. There is much enigma in all of Eliot’s poems. Yesterday afternoon I heard that Sergio…
It is Sunday morning. The state of Michigan is considered to be traditionally religious with many houses of worship. Grand Rapids is the location of Calvin College, a Christian Reformed liberal arts school founded in 1876. Zondervan publishing, one of the largest and well-respected Christian publishing houses is also in Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids…
Recently I was troubled by an email exchange with a friend. He supported the removal of children from parents seeking asylum at our southern border. I called it kidnapping, and insisted such acts were atrocities. He disagreed. His argument was that these parents were neer-do-wells intent on defrauding our government. Therefore they deserve to…
One of the first news items of the day was that Donald Hall has passed. The poet died on Saturday at his home in New Hampshire. He will be missed by many. If you are interested here is the NY Times ARTICLE on his life and work. A poem by Donald Hall: Affirmation To…
This morning I received a short, two lines of email from a friend. He commented that he was “somewhat troubled by the Presidents apparent lack of humility.” I composed a brief reply which I sent to him privately without including the rest of the group of recipients. Each of us is an individual caught…
I was asked by Melanie as she handed my coffee to me what I was working on this morning. I said, “I do not know. Something will come to me.” She smiled. I glanced at the front page of the New York Times. The Newspaper stand is adjacent to the counter for coffee additives,…
This morning I was delighted to locate on my shelf a text book from my college days. I was introduced to the words of the Tao te Ching from A Source Book In Chinese Philosophy by Wing-Tsit Chan. I’ve not opened the book in many years. Finding it was like receiving a phone call…
I was asked to read some poems last night. A gathering was sponsored by the Mundelein Arts Council at Taste of Paris. Musicians from the area and several writers were given opportunity to perform in public. I found my imagination going back to the late bronze age. Certainly members of the aristocracy and their…
IV Time and the bell have buried the day, The black cloud carries the sun away. Will the sunflower turn to us, will the clematis Stray down, bend to us; tendril and spray Clutch and cling? Chill Fingers of yew be curled Down on us? After the kingfisher’s wing Has answered light…
The rage of Achilles—sing it now, goddess, sing it through me the deadly rage that caused the Achaeans such grief and hurled down to Hades the souls of so many fighters, leaving their naked flesh to be eaten by dogs and carrion birds, as the will of Zeus was accomplished. Begin at the time…
