The best time to think of thoughts untainted by prejudice or sorrow is in the twilight of consciousness, that murky fugue land situated between responsibility and fantasy, where the imperatives of earning and making and contributing fade into the purple black void of imagination. The best time to think of thoughts untainted by hatred or...
Because the center of the universe can be located easily the anthem I pen is naturally of me: I did this and I did that, throw in a semi-automatic rat-a-tat-tat — and now you’ve got a song for radio, Which rhymes conveniently with “ho,” a word to which I’m well accustomed, unlike instruments I’ve never...
If my father were around to see what has happened to my dog and me, he would smile, I reckon. That important types do beckon is a sign, you see, of achievement. And conveniently they pay the rent. If youngsters were inclined to glower at old thieves presently in power, we’d suffer less corruption....
The joyful noise that scrapes away the accretions of malaise that reliably accompany any life lived without privilege is a pitcher of aural nectar, poured directly to the soul, which, like oil to an engine, needs the sweet sounds of pain and joy and remorse and hope to function properly. You claim you cannot...
We were adults about the whole thing, saying the script learned well from years of practice and reading with spongy minds. It — the awful schism — was for the best as any self-help book, climbing up the bestseller list would have declaimed in tones of compassionate smugness. Yet no one wanted to go...
Bursting forth, saying in color and delicate shape that striving for the sun is worth the heartache, the petals of the plants, demure and bombastic, try for nothing more than survival. But in this effort their nonchalant beauty, which impresses thirsty birds and dust-covered bees as much or more than human admirers, reminds all who...
I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks to God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her...
Do you agree? Do you think this is true? Have you considered or are you offended or does this conform? When we say with certainty and a large (any word but “healthy”!) dollop of pomposity: Without health, we have nothing. Without health, abiding happiness is not possible. Without health, the pleasures of life seem muted...
This week, many of us will enjoy a day off from work, as well as the occasion to pay reverent homage to someone we’ve been taught is a genuine hero: brave, courageous, and diligent, a man whose singular accomplishments made life for all us holiday takers possible.
Grand parades will proceed down festive avenues, and schoolkids will be reminded once again of the glorious events of 1492. A small minority of party-poopers will put their…
Writer, poet, artist, improviser, lyricist, former television personality, and generally decent person.
If you require additional evidence that the presidency of Donald J. Trump poses an existential danger to the United States of America, read The Fifth Risk, the latest work of journalism from popular author Michael Lewis. This short (fewer than 225 pages), easy-to-follow book profiles several dedicated federal employees in various Departments, including Energy, Agriculture and...
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