Poetry and About Poetry

Two of my poems have been accepted by 50 Haikus . 

Two of my poems have been accepted by 50 Haikus . 

Poetry Quarterly has also accepted my poem  “Silent Lights” for its Spring issue. 

Poetry Quarterly has also accepted my poem  "Silent Lights" for its Spring issue. 

Hunger Chimera has accepted 2 of my poems,  “Resurrections of Lice” and “Voices Done With Mirrors,” for publication in its next issue. 

Hungry Chimera has accepted 2 of my poems,  “Resurrections of Lice” and “Voices Done With Mirrors,” for publication in its next issue.

Hunger Chimera has accepted 2 of my poems,  "Resurrections of Lice" and "Voices Done With Mirrors," for publication in its next issue. 

Poetry Quarterly has accepted my poem “Drinking Heaven” for publication in the Spring 2017 issue. . 

Poetry Quarterly has accepted my poem "Drinking Heaven" for publication in the Spring 2017 issue. . 

My book available at  Barnes and Nobl e.

My book available at  Barnes and Nobl e.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. —Edith Wharton

I would like to invite you to a poetry reading I am participating in that benefits Pieta House, an Irish suicide prevention service, on Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 1 pm at the Arts for the Armory in Somerville, Massachusetts.  Nine poets (including me) will be reading from an anthology, Luminous Echoes, put together by poet Heath Brougher with the assistance of Into the Void, an Irish literary journal edited by Philip Elliot, for the benefit of Pieta House. Details below. IMPORTANT: PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON ATTENDING so that the organizers can get a sense of how many chairs to put out etc. I know some of you are too far away to come or have other plans, but if you can’t make it and you’d like a copy of the anthology, you can order it for 8.5 euros (approximately 10 dollars US) using this link: http://intothevoidmagazine.bigcartel.com. The cost of shipping, which is included, is the only part of that fee that does not benefit Pieta House. You can also make a donation ...

The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is not a book for someone who does not read poetry, believes s/he does not “get” poetry, or otherwise wants an introduction to help them fill the need to get a better great in Lit class. This is a thoughtful and passionate critical essay that ranges over centuries of conundrum: Why have so many for millennia spoken of their hate for poetry? Along the way, Lerner provides brief and cogent explications of some poems. He clearly is careful and loving reader of poems. I Loved it when he said that Keats’ poems failed to send him into trances or transports. And I agree that Dickinson’s discords sing to me more than Keats’s chords. Ben Lerner loves poetry so much that he hates it. His explanation is a very Platonic one, that there is a sphere of ideal poems and that all earthbound ones are pale shadows. The gap between drives us to desire more from the individual poem we read than it can deliver and ...

The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is not a book for someone who does not read poetry, believes s/he does not "get" poetry, or otherwise wants an introduction to help them fill the need to get a better great in Lit class. This is a thoughtful and passionate critical essay that ranges over centuries of conundrum: Why have so many for millennia spoken of their hate for poetry? Along the way, Lerner provides brief and cogent explications of some poems. He clearly is careful and loving reader of poems. I Loved it when he said that Keats' poems failed to send him into trances or transports. And I agree that Dickinson's discords sing to me more than Keats's chords. Ben Lerner loves poetry so much that he hates it. His explanation is a very Platonic one, that there is a sphere of ideal poems and that all earthbound ones are pale shadows. The gap between drives us to desire more from the individual poem we read than it can deliver and ...

A fair transcript of my commencement address to the last class of Germanna Graduates I will celebrate as president may be viewed here :

A fair transcript of my commencement address to the last class of Germanna Graduates I will celebrate as president may be viewed here :

Members of the Germanna Community College Board, Honored Guests, Faculty, Staff, Friends and most especially graduates, thank you for giving me this opportunity to say a few words of parting at this my last Commencement as President, my Last Sermon, my Last Lecture. About a decade ago after I had taken on this trust, I began my speech at my Inauguration by saying: This day celebrates the opportunities provided by America’s promise. It celebrates those who came before. It celebrates the mission and achievements of those who have served, those who currently serve, and those who will serve Germanna Community College and its communities and students. Tonight, I use this opportunity once again to recognize and to thank others as well as to recognize and thank you, the graduates, for the privilege of having served you and others like you. Tonight is no different. While I stand here alone to speak to you, I have never been alone in the role I have performed. Now, I am mindful of the fact that...

My poem “Conservation of Matter and Energy” is in the latest print issue of Into the Void 

My poem "Conservation of Matter and Energy" is in the latest print issue of Into the Void 

The new Aji Magazine contains 2 of my poems on pages 96 & 97. 

The new Aji Magazine contains 2 of my poems on pages 96 & 97. 

My poem “ Visiting a Very Small Dark House ” has been published by Foliate Oak Literary Magazine. 

My poem " Visiting a Very Small Dark House " has been published by Foliate Oak Literary Magazine.