Plus ça change, plus …
How yet resolves the Governor of the town?This is the latest parle we will admit.Therefore to our best mercy give yourselvesOr, like to men proud of destruction,Defy us to our worst. For, as I am…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Joanie’s Teacher
“Make the impossible possible, the possible easy, the easy elegant.” –Moshe Feldenkrais
Inspiration for the Day (or Decade)
If I hadn’t heard the Robert Johnson record when I did, there probably would have been hundreds of lines of mine that would have been shut down—that I wouldn’t have felt free enough or upraised…
First Thoughts on Julie O’Heir
Where do I look for this question that’s glowingWhere do I look for this truthgrin that I know is in the city limitsWhere do I feel that bare vibe whispering around my upper ear My…
Danielle Mackey
I’ve known Danielle since 2006 when she took a SLU Social Justice class with me after she’d studied abroad in El Salvador, which, it is safe to say, transformed her life. Since then, we’ve spent…
Exploring di Prima
Dear Poet. I finally got my Walt class together… maybe you could join us as a guest speaker at some point, tell us what you thought of him. But if you are indeed interested/curious about…
Shame
1. “When we came to the camp, Hamzat led the khan into the tent. And I stayed with the horses. I was at the foot of the hill when shooting began in Hamzat’s tent. I…
The Dear Love of Comrades: Reading and Writing with Walt Whitman–A Summer Class
As I was reciting some Whitman poems this morning and noticing my mood improving, I realized: I want to invite friends to read Whitman this summer. There was never any more inception than there is now,Nor…
Sangha of Poets
Dear Friends, As we are reading Nhat Hanh’s poems for our June session, I thought I’d share a few poems by other Zen poets in the weeks ahead. Here is one by Han-Shan, who lived…
Tolstoy Summer
✓ A Confession and Other Religious Writings (Penguin) ✓ The Gospel in Brief: The Life of Jesus (Harper Perennial) ✓ Hadji Murat (translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky) ✓ The Kingdom of God Is within You…