Formatting angst
I thought I was finished with my work on formatting the poetry book by Gerard. I sent the PDF to the printer a couple of days ago – hooray! – and got back a proof that alas, didn’t look quite … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Poetry
Spambot of the day; poem of the day
This seemed like a most unusual spambot, with a rather elegant and “literary” sound to it: The landlady sobbing and wailing at her forlorn condition like a peasant woman. So I looked it up, and sure enough, it’s from this … Continue reading →
Poetry, and dapper Gerard
I’m finished editing Gerard’s poetry book, and the cover’s being designed as well. What’s left? Printing it and distributing it, and there are decisions to be made about those things, too. Last time a friend did the mailings, but that … Continue reading →
I’ve been working on Gerard’s poetry book …
… and although I’m very close to finished, I recently hit an extremely frustrating formatting snag. Formatting the essay book wasn’t easy, but it was a piece of cake compared to formatting poetry. The settings that purport to be appropriate … Continue reading →
Robert Frost on justice and mercy
Recently commenter “Selfy” linked to this article and offered the following quote from it: Mr. Rigney echoes this critique of systemic racism but reserves most of his ire for feminism, which he blames for many of empathy’s ills. Because women … Continue reading →
“He that keepeth Israel”
Robert F. Graboyes is a writer I often read, and I recommend this more personal piece he wrote about his beloved recently-deceased wife. RIP. She sounds like a rare and wonderful person, and it sounds as though they had a … Continue reading →
My curious foray into poetry translation
I was generally an excellent student, but my worst and most disliked subject was foreign languages. I’m not sure why, except that I hated having to memorize lists of words. I took Spanish because I was told it was easier … Continue reading →
Happy Father’s Day!
[NOTE: This a slightly edited version of a previous post of mine.] Father’s Day. A sort of poor stepchild to Mother’s Day, although fathers themselves are hardly that. They are central to a family. Just ask the people who never … Continue reading →
Closing time for Gerard’s blog – plus an update on the poetry book
I knew it had to happen, although I’d been delaying it: closing down Gerard Vanderleun’s blog. For one thing, he left instructions to me to leave it up for two years and then to take it down. So it was … Continue reading →
Working on Gerard’s poetry book leads me to thinking about Emily Dickinson’s editors
Let’s step away from politics for a moment. Lately I’ve been working hard on Gerard’s poetry book. I’ve discovered that editing poetry is different than editing essays – in some ways easier and in some ways more difficult. And of … Continue reading →
Presidents’ Day poetry
[NOTE: Today is Presidents’ Day, and this is a repeat of a previous post.] I’m not that old, but pedagogical practices in my youth seem absolutely archaic compared to whatever passes for education these days. For starters, we had Washington’s … Continue reading →
Why poetry matters
Here’s a fellow lover of poetry: WHEN I speak of poetry, I think of classic poems written by great poets of the past, poetry that modern educationalists think of as ‘elitist’ literature. Such writing may now be largely the preserve … Continue reading →