Apr 1, 2020 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Poetry
A Litany in Time of Plague (1600) Adieu, farewell, earth’s bliss; This world uncertain is; Fond are life’s lustful joys; Death proves them all but toys; None from his darts can fly; I am sick, I must die. Lord, have mercy on us! Rich men, trust not in wealth, Gold...
Mar 18, 2020 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Poetry
Full Moon March 2020 Ted Kooser (former US poet laureate) The moon was in self-isolation, too, and wearing a white mask as it passed us in an aisle of the night, keeping a distance not acknowledging us. It was pushing a cart heaped up with stars, far more stars than...
Mar 16, 2020 | Current Ned Note, On Books
by NICK FARRIELLA Dearest Rosemary, It was a limpid dreary day, hung as in a basket from a single dull star. I thank you for your letter. Outside, I perceive what may be a collection of fallen leaves tussling against a trash can. It rings like jazz to my...
Jan 1, 2020 | Current Ned Note, On Books
For over a century, International Women’s Day has been observed — and this year, the New York Public Library blog has compiled 365 books by women authors from across the globe to keep the celebration going all year long. I’ll be posting one book from this...
Dec 14, 2019 | Current Ned Note, Horror, On Books, On Writing, Past Notes
The holiday season sees a million variations on Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol, yet this marvelous supernatural tale all too often overshadows the ghostly echoes that permeate Dickens’s entire oeuvre. Here’s a brief overview. In John Irving’s book of...
Dec 6, 2019 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Poetry
A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.’ And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we...
