Seeds
In my book on Elie Wiesel There is reference to Mev That was a seed for my next book In The Book of Mev There is reference to going to Palestine That was a seed…
Share the Wealth with Claire Peterson: Dancing Joy in the Eternal Ephemeral (Or—Why Everybody and Their Mother Should Take a Dance Class)
“Every faculty, every nerve is bent on communicating a definite idea. Not one iota of energy is wasted in fear.” -Agnes de Mille This Sunday, I will share what I have learned on my journey…
Walt Whitman and Dear Layla
Dear Rebecca, Sarah, Matthew and Patrick, Joanie French and I took the Amtrak train to Texas in the summer of 2005 for a family wedding. Along the way and back, I read the Library of…
Safety First
Royesha told me Since her brother’s come back from Iraq He’s been having nightmares At family gatherings, parties He always positions himself in the far corner in the biggest room To be able to see…
The Lesson of a Tree by Walt Whitman
for Ale Vazquez Sept. 1.—I should not take either the biggest or the most picturesque tree to illustrate it. Here is one of my favorites now before me, a fine yellow poplar, quite straight, perhaps…
Aspiration
20 years old She was in the Adult Learning Academy To brush up on reading, writing, and math skills I offered feedback and encouragement on her writing After graduating from the ALA She wanted to…
For K. L.
After his own New York show in 1988, his work dried up. He moved many times and every time he moved he dumped what little work he had produced. But he didn’t stop thinking of…
How One Person Saw Hồ Chí Minh
In Hồ Chí Minh, everybody finds the noblest, most simple, and dearest member of his family… Compared with weapons, that does not yield to all the weapons of the Seventh Fleet… Hồ Chí Minh’s image…
Guest Speaker
You came to class to tell your story As you surely had done many times elsewhere How you became a serious Muslim While at a West Coast Jesuit university I’d heard many stories about you From…
Be in Love with Yr Life
“Neighbors, friends, colleagues, students, fellow poets, and artists all came to her home where they were greeted with exuberance, shared in her bursts of full-bodied laughter, and were sent off with her signature Buddhist bow….