Jun 17, 2020 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Past Notes, Poetry
BOUQUET by Lucille Clifton i have gathered my losses into a spray of pain; my parents, my brother, my husband, my innocence all clustered together durable as daisies. now i add you, little love, little flower, who walked unannounced into my life and almost bloomed...
Jun 2, 2020 | Current Ned Note, Past Notes, Poetry
Poem: what they did yesterday afternoon, by Warsan Shire these are what my prayers look like; dear god i come from two countries one is thirsty the other is on fire both need water. later that night i held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the whole...
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...
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...
