Height of Beauty
Secret obsessions, private mad endeavors, finally, unintentionally, revealed are so fragile they break the beholder’s heart. Which beckons the ask: why is heartbreak so beautiful? From “Letters from Max,” by Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo.
World on a Page
What I love, so much, about Anne Carson is how much world she packs onto a paper page. Below is page 2.5 from “Autobiography of Red” an orbit-altering read.
It’s All in Your Head
Sunday morning considerations courtesy of Mary Oliver
Lover Created, Because, Destroyed
Such an honor to see my review of Luis Panini’s book The Destruction of the Lover published in Tupelo Quarterly. My review seeks to articulate Lawrence Schimel’s translation of Panini’s original Spanish text, a translation that forms part of the Pleiades Press Series in Translation. Tupelo is a journal I’ve admired for so long. One […]
Last Drops
Sometimes, a lot of the times, when I read Sharon Olds it is a small, non-central phrase that does me in. Seldom is it the grand finale. Often, it is a line tucked into the middle, like a “last drop of something,” that makes me come back to it, come back to the poem, in […]
Whistle While You Wait
The Poetry Foundation’s site come in mighty handy while waiting in line. Example on this is brief, perfect poem above. Other photo in this post is the internal patio of the Poetry Foundation’s Chicago headquarters, which I recently had the chance to visit. More on that later. Later like when I am waiting again in […]
Eroto-Politico Fun
From David Foster Wallace’s essay “Ticket to the Fair.”
Voudoun // Desire as Divine
Voudoun is a religion of volume, voluminous rites under voluminous skies. It is a cosmology whereby hungry, horny god is appeased by the action of hungry, horny human hand. Through the physicality of man, both heaven and earth may be healed. In Voudoun, the loa, or spirits, materialize via corporeal possession of the Voudouist, or […]
Islam & Disciplined Prayer
What would happen if every human on earth prayed at five am just once a month? Once a week? How about once a day? What would happen if that single morning prayer was just one of five daily prayers, five daily moments devoted to humility, silence, grace? The Five Pillar of Islam are faith, prayer, […]
The Orange Patch in the Center of the Quilt: Lessons of Survival via Self-Love and Community in the Writings of Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison
When Baby Suggs, ultimate matriarch and sorceress in Toni Morrison’s masterpiece “Beloved,” is unable to protect her own kin, to deadly consequence, she retreats from the world to her room to stare at her quilt and lie in “bed to think about the colors of things” (Morrison, Beloved, p208).This quilt is remarkable, not only in […]
Judaism & the Academics of Faith
Judaism is a faith built on faith. The Messiah is coming, eternally and beautifully coming. In the meantime, there is Yahweh and the holy books: the Talmud and the Torah. The Talmud, which literally means “work,” is a compilation of over six hundred years of rabbinic teachings, musings and legalese. It can be considered as […]
Jainism: Tolerance as Faith
Jainism may be a minority religion in India, but the vast proportions of the Indus Valley render the minor into the massive when scaled to world standards. Four to five million people practice this ancient faith, whose oldest spiritual masters go back to the time of Earth’s physical creation and whose most recent master, Mahavira, […]
Intimate Wonder
Places of wonder abound. Or do they. This is something I wonder about. Does wonder have more to do with mood/temperament of observer or with design/purpose of place. By the way, I am leaving the question marks out on purpose. In order to convey the certainty of my lack of certainty. These are not rhetorical […]
The Most Miserable
Pictured above is the best book report I’ve ever read, about the actual best book I have ever read. Yes. I think. Coetzee’s “Disgrace” will have to make a more thorough appearance on here soon. Time is ripe for a reread. But, back to this current post, which is about Claudia Rankine’s “Don’t Let Me […]
Poems Heavy as Poached Game
Scenes from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sharon Olds’ first book of poems “Satan Says.” In the background, Paola Pivi’s solo exhibit at the Miami Beach Bass Museum.
Eating (and Drinking) One’s Way to Heaven
Western religions tend to keep faith separate from the ins and outs of the everyday. Church is for Sundays, specifically from 10:00 am to 11:30 am. Amen. And those quotidian ins and outs, when taken literally, are simply not matters of decency, certainly not ones in which to involve the Almighty. As a result, one […]
WWJD
This post is the second part of a ten part exploration of what I consider to be the most valuable teachings from some of the world’s most followed religions. Last week, I wrote some words about Buddhist acceptance, which live here. Today it’s Christianity’s turn. As occurs in Buddhism, Christianity takes its moniker from its […]
Mimetic, et al.
“Mimetic” is my Word of the Day. Synonymous (yes, at once!) with “echoic,” “apish,” “slavish” and “canned.” From John D’Agata’s genre-bending, lyrical, US-centered tour of the essay’s recent history: “The Next American Essay.”
A Zorse
A “zorse” is the word to use when speaking of the offspring between a zebra and a horse. Also, say this out-loud: Kanye is half cannon, half ballet. Half canonical, half prey. From Sarah Blake’s “Mr. West”
Fascination
The fascinating thing about fascination is fascination itself. Obsession works in similar ways. An obsession, a swallowing up of will by all encompassing drive, takes over in inexplicable ways. Callings exist beyond a mere sense of purpose. Why else would there be an entire book of poems on Kanye? Poem “God Created Night and It […]