Poetry and About Poetry

Quickening Fields  by  Pattiann Rogers My rating:  5 of 5 stars A wonderful collection of poems by Pattiann Rogers, who has the remarkable ability to write lush language that is also precise an clear. If it has a theme, this collection speaks to the unity of all being and indeed the unity of all things, animate and inanimate, and of all things with the voice of the poet. I don’t know how the wood thrush knows how to match the pitch and fall of its cry exactly to the pitch and fall the mountain ridge makes against the evening sky…. Each round lobe of the three-leafed clover fist perfectly into each green note of the tree frog’s treble,and each tree frog swells its tremolo in cylindrical bunches of three-tones rings…. What is it that I imitate? to what structure do I meld? my stance, my cry and mumble fitting exactly into the chinks and snugness of some other? What is it that makes its own body, that finds the steps of its own motion against the outline o...

Quickening Fields  by  Pattiann Rogers My rating:  5 of 5 stars A wonderful collection of poems by Pattiann Rogers, who has the remarkable ability to write lush language that is also precise an clear. If it has a theme, this collection speaks to the unity of all being and indeed the unity of all things, animate and inanimate, and of all things with the voice of the poet. I don’t know how the wood thrush knows how to match the pitch and fall of its cry exactly to the pitch and fall the mountain ridge makes against the evening sky…. Each round lobe of the three-leafed clover fist perfectly into each green note of the tree frog’s treble,and each tree frog swells its tremolo in cylindrical bunches of three-tones rings…. What is it that I imitate? to what structure do I meld? my stance, my cry and mumble fitting exactly into the chinks and snugness of some other? What is it that makes its own body, that finds the steps of its own motion against the outl...

Quickening Fields by Pattiann Rogers My rating: 5 of 5 stars A wonderful collection of poems by Pattiann Rogers, who has the remarkable ability to write lush language that is also precise an clear. If it has a theme, this collection speaks to the unity of all being and indeed the unity of all things, animate and inanimate, and of all things with the voice of the poet. I don't know how the wood thrush knows how to match the pitch and fall of its cry exactly to the pitch and fall the mountain ridge makes against the evening sky.... Each round lobe of the three-leafed clover fist perfectly into each green note of the tree frog's treble,and each tree frog swells its tremolo in cylindrical bunches of three-tones rings.... What is it that I imitate? to what structure do I meld? my stance, my cry and mumble fitting exactly into the chinks and snugness of some other? What is it that makes its own body, that finds the steps of its own motion ag...

Heron Tree has published my poem, “Enlargement,” which  you can read for free  HERE  along with 6 other poems of mine they have posted over the years.  Thank you Editor Rebecca Resinski. 

Heron Tree has published my poem, “Enlargement,” which  you can read for free  HERE  along with 6 other poems of mine they have posted over the years.  Thank you Editor Rebecca Resinski. 

Heron Tree has published my poem, "Enlargement," which  you can read for free  HERE  along with 6 other poems of mine they have posted over the years.  Thank you Editor Rebecca Resinski. 

An Enemy of the People  by  Henrik Ibsen My rating:  4 of 5 stars A century later, this play seems as relevant as ever. What power does a person of science and medicine have against the rich, the powerful, the mass of pubic opinion, the corrupt? Do facts and science matter? Are we willing to betray our principles for our short-term gain? To betray our health and the health of our children? Can we face an enemy we cannot see, a disease, when our imagination fails to believe it? Is the answer to the worst of democracy some aristocracy of “superior” people? In the end, is it really true “that the strongest man [sic] in the world is he who stands most alone”? View all my reviews

An Enemy of the People  by  Henrik Ibsen My rating:  4 of 5 stars A century later, this play seems as relevant as ever. What power does a person of science and medicine have against the rich, the powerful, the mass of pubic opinion, the corrupt? Do facts and science matter? Are we willing to betray our principles for our short-term gain? To betray our health and the health of our children? Can we face an enemy we cannot see, a disease, when our imagination fails to believe it? Is the answer to the worst of democracy some aristocracy of “superior” people? In the end, is it really true “that the strongest man [sic] in the world is he who stands most alone”? View all my reviews

An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen My rating: 4 of 5 stars A century later, this play seems as relevant as ever. What power does a person of science and medicine have against the rich, the powerful, the mass of pubic opinion, the corrupt? Do facts and science matter? Are we willing to betray our principles for our short-term gain? To betray our health and the health of our children? Can we face an enemy we cannot see, a disease, when our imagination fails to believe it? Is the answer to the worst of democracy some aristocracy of "superior" people? In the end, is it really true "that the strongest man [sic] in the world is he who stands most alone"? View all my reviews

The Collected Poems of Amy Clampitt  by  Amy Clampitt My rating:  5 of 5 stars As in any “Collected Poetry,” the totality of the poems in this collection is somewhat uneven. That said, Amy Clampitt’s work still ranks with the very best in English poetry over the last century. Her language is lush, her vocabulary rich (though sometimes verging the arcane and obscure), her poet’s eye that of a naturalist, a scientist, as well as an artist. She has been compared with Wallace Stevens, and there are echoes and influences here. The intellect joined with the body in a dance. The senses all given their due. I have savored these poems for over two years and will savor going back and rereading.  View all my reviews

The Collected Poems of Amy Clampitt  by  Amy Clampitt My rating:  5 of 5 stars As in any “Collected Poetry,” the totality of the poems in this collection is somewhat uneven. That said, Amy Clampitt’s work still ranks with the very best in English poetry over the last century. Her language is lush, her vocabulary rich (though sometimes verging the arcane and obscure), her poet’s eye that of a naturalist, a scientist, as well as an artist. She has been compared with Wallace Stevens, and there are echoes and influences here. The intellect joined with the body in a dance. The senses all given their due. I have savored these poems for over two years and will savor going back and rereading.  View all my reviews

The Collected Poems of Amy Clampitt by Amy Clampitt My rating: 5 of 5 stars As in any "Collected Poetry," the totality of the poems in this collection is somewhat uneven. That said, Amy Clampitt's work still ranks with the very best in English poetry over the last century. Her language is lush, her vocabulary rich (though sometimes verging the arcane and obscure), her poet's eye that of a naturalist, a scientist, as well as an artist. She has been compared with Wallace Stevens, and there are echoes and influences here. The intellect joined with the body in a dance. The senses all given their due. I have savored these poems for over two years and will savor going back and rereading. View all my reviews

My good friend, Pat Bradley, has a new thriller out.  Bitter Yellow  is a great read taking place during the 1918 Flu Pandemic and going at a fast pace that doesn’t stop until the last page. Available on Kindle  HERE . 

My good friend, Pat Bradley, has a new thriller out.  Bitter Yellow  is a great read taking place during the 1918 Flu Pandemic and going at a fast pace that doesn’t stop until the last page. Available on Kindle  HERE . 

My good friend, Pat Bradley, has a new thriller out.  Bitter Yellow  is a great read taking place during the 1918 Flu Pandemic and going at a fast pace that doesn't stop until the last page. Available on Kindle  HERE . 

John Adams Under Fire: The Founding Father's Fight for Justice in the Boston Massacre Murder Trial by Dan Abrams My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews