Stamps and a Poem
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, An Elegy to Dispel Gloom
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
The Plan
My friend Andrew Wimmer’s comment on the above: Of course they have. It was never “on the table.” It’s not a shame, it’s the plan.
Planting Companionship
Calamus is one of the riches sections of Leaves of Grass! I recognized many poems worth rereading and sharing with others. Some will be full memorized, others in part. Allen Ginsberg wondered why the Gay…
Why Did All Those People Die?
W. D. Ehrhart, The Madness of It All: Essays on War, Literature, and American Life [2002] This is a collection of the Vietnam veteran and poet’s prose pieces up till 9.11. Some are quite short…
Check out Matt Taibbi on Substack
For the past year I have been a supporter of Matt Taibbi’s project, TK News, on Substack. Here’s a recent paragraph from his “Democrats Swoon Over George W. Bush, In Match Made in Hell”– A…
Say Yes!
Wednesday 22 September 2021 Dear J, It was energizing and inspiring to spend two-and-a-half hours with you yesterday at Hartford Coffee! I want to share a bit more with you about one of the books…
A Pair/1
Sunday Afternoon Sitting outside at Stella and Bella’s CafeThe Presidential debate two hours awayReading Su Tung-P’o’s bamboo poemWill Clinton deliver the knock-out blow?On my ballot, I’ll write in: Chuang Tzu Dharma Brother Wang Wei Devoted…
Keeping Our Mouths Shut, Our Minds at Peace
Some decades back New Directions published a series of slim Wisdom books that can still serve as an engaging introduction to several religious traditions. Earlier this year, I enjoyed Stephen Clissold’s The Wisdom of St…
What I Love about the US of America: Overture to an Unfinishable List
Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, Riverside Church, NYC, April 1967; Route 50 in Nevada; Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass; Duke Ellington, “Take the ‘A’ Train”; Joey Neilsen, resister of Catholic high school homophobia; massive…
Being Present (Somehow)
1. Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who…