Former US Poet Laureate Mark Strand is dead at 80. In a 1998 interview with the Paris Review, poet Strand said something I find fascinating: Well, I think what happens at certain points in my poems is that language takes over, and I follow it. It just sounds right. And I trust the implication of what I’m saying, even though I’m
Read moreFerguson, MO is currently a dumpster full of flaming grease and it’s a long way from being extinguished. As I have been watching the Michael Brown/Darren Wilson case unfold, a few things have occurred to me. 1: Let’s just get this out of the way first: there were two distinct groups in the streets the other night. Group A comprised people
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I’ve been thinking on Obama’s recent outbreak of backbone. Standing up to his FCC appointee on Net Neutrality was a fun start, and a lot of folks are welcoming the fact that finally, after six long years, he’s beginning to act with a little courage. Maybe. Maybe he realizes that he has two years left and no more elections to
Read moreHi Woody. I’ve been posting the poems from my latest book to Ello lately – one per day – and this morning’s entry was “Old Ethan’s Quantum Diary.” It’s an especially difficult and painful piece of a larger work that is, in many ways, the most tortured effort of my 35-year creative writing journey. As I explained in the preface to
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A political list I’m on has been having some interesting discussions running in parallel of late surrounding a variety of issues (Obamacare being the big one), and at the core of it all is a basic question: how do progressives aggregate and assert the power needed to effect the policies they support. (Which is ultimately the core question of all politics, I guess.) So, if you’re
Read moreSnake Rattle Rattle Snake had the release show for their new CD, Totem, last night at the Gothic in Denver. Jeez, I wish I could have been there. I think the disc officially drops this week, and thanks to a free preview the other day, I can say without reservation that this is one of the top releases of the year
Read moreWhere were you when you heard the news?
Read moreS&R co-founder Mike Sheehan had a really funny comment on my “Dems need their own Tea Party” post. As in, I laughed until my sides hurt. Checkit: Well, what’s stopping you from running for office? If I’d had soda in my mouth I’d have spewed it all over your computer. He continues: Er wait, never mind… intelligence is a liability in
Read moreI’ve been sifting through the various analyses and post-mortems, and I don’t know that I have anything insightful to say that others haven’t said better. Also, I just don’t have the energy. I think it’s clear from what I have had to say in recent years – and I have said it in various forms more times than I can
Read moreFor Ronan: 2002-2014…
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lullaby pit 