Auntie Beth died suddenly. Coronary thrombosis gives no warning. Driving to the funeral home, people on the sidewalks and in cars were happy, laughing, and enjoying life. “Don’t you know what a sad day this is?” I wanted to scream. “Can’t you see my grief?” Any attempt to find words to express feelings related to […] (Read more)
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. —T.S. Eliot. “Little Gidding.” Four Quartets. “To know the place for the first time” haunted me. I didn’t know where I read the words or heard them. […] (Read more)
Déjeuner du Matin is the first poem I learned in French. The poem is easy for first semester French students to understand and to learn. Poet Jacques Prévert’s simple language carries a dramatic punch. I was pleased to recite the poem because I felt, at the time, as though I were really speaking French even […] (Read more)
“To His Coy Mistress” is an example of carpe diem, seize or pluck the day, poems about making the most of time. There is nothing coy about Andrew Marvell. He wants to get laid and leaves little doubt about his lustful desire. I often say, “Had we but world enough and time,” to describe dismay at what I […] (Read more)
A life is without books is unimaginable. The worlds created by Dickens, Bronte, Austen, Steinbeck, Irving, and a host of other writers enrich my life. Emily Dickinson expresses her reverence for books as “a bequest of wings.” In another poem, the book is a “Frigate” and “the Chariot / That bears the Human Soul!” Dickinson regards a […] (Read more)
I was in the seventh grade. Priscilla Zwitzer, who taught at my school, was a friend of my family’s and a neighbor. Priscilla and her husband had an exquisite collection of classical music and spoken word LP recordings. Priscilla and Martin had no children. Educated, well-traveled, and sophisticated, they were the parents I thought I […] (Read more)
I joined the 2013 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge and wrote 26 blog posts, one for each letter of the alphabet from April 1 through April 30, 2013 (Sundays off). The theme I chose was “important people in my life.” I learned I could write on a schedule and stick to a theme. […] (Read more)