Poetry
Forgetfulness
At last night’s book launch, I read a poem by Billy Collins while recommending one of this books of poetry. I also spoke about the importance of listening to Collins read his own poems and the remarkable visuals that have been applied to some of his work. This is one of my favorites:
Read MoreWhat’s in a name? Several literary references.
It’s a boy! In case you haven’t heard, my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy yesterday named Charles Wallace Dicks. Charlie was born at 3:09 PM. He is 7 pounds, 1 ounce and 18 inches long. We chose Charlie’s name for a number of reasons. To start, we liked the name Charles a…
Read MoreA reminder that some of the best gifts come in cheap packages. And in some case, the best gifts are actually cheap packaging.
This insightful and amusing post on the five best gifts of all time (stick, box, string, cardboard tube, and dirt) reminds me of a poem that I wrote years ago that won a contest in the now-defunct magazine Beginnings. It seems rather fitting during this holiday season. _______________________________________ Save Your Money Next Time and…
Read MorePoetry collection continued
Thanks so much for the gracious response to the first poem posted yesterday. Your emails, comments and Facebook messages were much appreciated. Here’s another, completely the opposite of yesterday’s short and silly poem: _________________________________________________ April 20, 1999 I’m eating baked beans from a round bowl, so the dark, sweet sauce doesn’t crawl across the plate…
Read MoreMy future poetry collection begins here
I’m thinking of assembling the poems that I have written over the years into a collection that my agent can then sell for millions of dollars because poetry is super popular and exceptionally profitable and super sexy. Sounds good. Right? As I begin the process, I thought I’d post a few of the poems here…
Read MoreThe headline should read: 99-year old Japanese poet finally gets off her ass
I know there are people who will hear about the 99-year old Japanese woman whose self-published book of poetry has become a bestseller and think that this is a heartwarming and inspiring story. I guess that when you sell 1.5 million copies of any book (and particularly poetry), it would warm any heart. But I…
Read MoreiCarly trumps Robert Frost and Val Kilmer
I am reading Shakespeare’s Richard II to my students. On Friday we came across the phrase “rue the day” in the text. I was prepared to tell them all about Frost’s poem Dust of Snow: The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart…
Read MoreFirst time I was paid to write
The Chronicle of Higher Education posted a fascinating story about a man who makes his living writing papers for college students. Reading it reminded me that this was how I was first paid to write. Back in high school, I was paid by my classmates to write term papers. Though unethical and illegal by high…
Read MoreGreat moments in academia: #1
I had three great academic moments in college. The first: I majored in English while in college, with a concentration in creative writing. My focus was upon fiction, but during my senior year, professor Hank Lewis suggested that I take a poetry class in order to hone my use of sentence structure. So I did.…
Read MoreA 17 to 10 ratio
If you haven’t ever read haiku, other than in an elementary classroom where the emphasis tends to be on the faulty 5-7-5 syllabic construction, allow me to recommend a deep dive into this form of Japanese poetry. Well written haiku is wonderful. One of my students wrote a haiku this week that was simply brilliant.…
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