This Is It !
My friend who is a Buddhist said once after coming out of a meditation retreat, “The colors were so much more vibrant afterward.” Her meditation teacher said, “When you are present, the world is truly…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Share the Wealth with Jessica Flier: Words Matter – & Why I Write
In my life I’ve struggled with considering myself “a writer,“ but according to one of my favorite writers, if you write, you’re a writer. So I suppose I am! The other thing that strikes me in this…
Reading/743
Both M. and Akhmatova had the astonishing ability of somehow bridging time and space when they read the work of dead poets. By its very nature, such reading is usually anachronistic, but with them it…
Zosima-isms/2
Which of the two is more capable of upholding and serving a great idea—the isolated rich man or one who is liberated from the tyranny of things and habits? Let us preserve the image of…
Roses and Garbage
Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart SutraParallax Press, 1988 A beautiful rose we have just cut and placed in our vase is immaculate. It smells so good, so pure,…
Share the Wealth Sunday 6 June: The Joy of Letter-Writing
For this gathering I invite you to join me in sharing about our experiences of sending and receiving mail through the USPS. The idea for this Share came a few days ago from when Andrew…
Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Insurgent Art of Poetry: A Fall Reading and Writing Class
Where are Whitman’s wild children,where the great voices speaking outwith a sense of sweetness and sublimity,where the great, new vision,the great world-view,the high prophetic songof the immense earthand all that sings in it —Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Populist…
What a Wedding’s Good for
With its three major conflicts brewing (“you’re on my side, aren’t you?”) And seven minor ones simmering (“he was a loser then, he’s even worse now”) The bride’s burning eyes (“there’s only one way to…
This, That, and the Other
1. An excerpt from my 2015 novel, Dear Layla/Welcome to Palestine: Corporate Citizen/1 (Products/2) Some things changed and some didn’t on September 11 It shocked and angered us To see products we had built to…
Reading in Prison
1. At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back…