Our Aching Bones, Our Breaking Hearts:Poems On Aging
Ageing in the modern world is a conundrum. Armed with self-delusion and money, we spend precious resources fighting the inevitable. We will get older. No matter how many supplements, how much exercise, barrels of “super foods,” insurance, meditation, hair dye, or surgery, our bodies will age. Until they don’t.
Ona Gritz Mulls Imperfections in Many Forms
Before reading Ona Gritz's Present Imperfect, I didn't know that the condition of Cerebral Palsy can "bisect" the body, effectively making one side partially functional or not functional at all. In this work, related mostly in diaristic, brief chapters, Gritz explores multiple physical and emotional challenges encountered throughout her life, ones that often seem to be more than one person can handle.
Drive
There is something inherently American about a drive on the open road. Other countries certainly have fine cars and highways, but there is a mythic quality to the American road trip that is unique. Perhaps it is because we are a nation that came of age in the era of the automobile that the roar of an engine is embedded within so many of our ideas about freedom, mortality, nature, and the search for meaning. A passion for cars and a willingness to explore these ideas informs much of Elaine Sexton’s latest book, Drive.
The Pleasure of Firing Back
Maybe it was the heat, but I thought about violence a lot this past summer. Please do not be concerned, I am not contemplating violence myself; well, at least not beyond what is normal for most folks driving in Seattle these days. No, I am thinking about all of the violent entertainment I have consumed since childhood, from Natural Born Killers to Narcos. I am also thinking about all of the wars my country has waged in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, and the carnage currently inflicted daily by Russia in Ukraine. In Graham Buchan’s new book, The Pleasure of Firing Ba
A Brother’s Testimony
In his new book of poetry, A Brother’s Testimony, Maurice McFadden has proven to be a good poet and, most importantly, a good apostle. The book cover rightly acknowledges that McFadden’s language is “Raw, Relevant and Real.” A similar voice to the Book of Psalms, this hard-edged poetry collection explores the journey of a man searching for God in times of trials, tribulations, and seemingly unconquerable hardships.
The Distortions
Like people all over the world, I have been in a state of shock, horror, and anger as Russia has waged war in Ukraine for the last few months. I have spent many nights lately baffled by the sheer senselessness of human violence. When I am confused and troubled in this way, I find that is one of the best times to turn to literature, not for easy answers by any means but to read about the people who endured the crises of the past and survived. W.H. Auden has been a source of wisdom and solace. I also found meaning in Writing on the Walls at Night, the latest book by Claudia Serea.
Writing on the Walls at Night
Like people all over the world, I have been in a state of shock, horror, and anger as Russia has waged war in Ukraine for the last few months. I have spent many nights lately baffled by the sheer senselessness of human violence. When I am confused and troubled in this way, I find that is one of the best times to turn to literature, not for easy answers by any means but to read about the people who endured the crises of the past and survived. W.H. Auden has been a source of wisdom and solace. I also found meaning in Writing on the Walls at Night, the latest book by Claudia Serea.