Alive beyond Alive
My friend Loyola works at Mount Saint Joseph (she’s chair of the Art Department) and knew Pete Mosher. We reminisced last night and today before Pete’s funeral. Cab picked me up at Lo’s this morning…
Sometimes and Other Times
Sometimes You have such lucidity that people are jaw-dropped in awe Other times Even with 20/20 you can’t see what’s in front of you Sometimes You’re the strongest person, everybody’s Rock of Gibraltar Other times…
Obituaries
There are two kinds Of obituaries The one you write For the light of day And public consumption And The one you write From the deepest night And private obsession
The Dissidents Had Time for Tennis
Allen Ginsberg once noted, “Appreciation is the sacrament.” So this, on Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, from Alice Walker.
Practice
An awed interviewer once exclaimed To the jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, “You do amazing things on the saxophone, Mr. Parker.” The musician replied, “I don’t know about amazing— I practiced for fifteen hours a day…
Share the Wealth: Envisioning Intentional Communities
We, Penny Smith and Tony Albrecht, recently visited a number of intentional communities, which provides the jumping-off point for this week’s Share the Wealth. We will share our pictures, stories, and takeaways from six different…
Ripples of Influence
All living beings are members one of another so that a person’s every act has a beneficial or harmful influence on the whole world. We cannot see this, near-sighted as we are. The influence of…
Sleepless (Life under Occupation/12)
Dear Carla, It’s 5 a.m. and I’ve been up 24 hours We visited a family yesterday The first two hours She beheld her brother Who was home after two years in prison: “How much weight…
Reflections on “The Book of Mev” from Cochabamba by Kate Raymond
Dear Mark, I return to the United States on December 15th and will spend the holidays with my family in Dallas. Then from the 26th through the beginning of January we will be in Colorado…
You, Walt, and I (And Most Everybody Else We Know)
Cab, Here’s section 51 of Song of Myself, which you’ve heard me and others quote scores of times, and even today as we discussed The Brothers Karamazov. And you might also enjoy June Jordan’s essay,…