Apr 4, 2021Religion is a wandering art…Religion is a wandering art whether true or not serving the will of whoever wields her. An unnamed vibration throughout the land the call to worship, device in hand And I beheld the opening of the seventh tab in which many a mortal did scroll heads bowed to tiny rectangle altars before something like light but ghostly…Poetry2 min readPoetry2 min read
Jan 1, 2021Member-onlyOn Reauthoring the Future of Humanity“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “You can’t free a slave unless he knows he’s in bondage.” ~Dead Prez We can’t go on like this. No matter what popped into your head as the antecedent of “this,” you know…Sensemaking24 min readSensemaking24 min read
Mar 28, 2020Member-onlyRhetoric vs. Reality: You can’t outspin Covid-19I am one of thousands of teachers whose classes have moved online. This is a letter I wrote my high school seniors this evening. Dear Students, The world is changing so fast, it almost feels like the ground is crumbling away beneath our feet. I think about you all often…Covid-194 min readCovid-194 min read
Jan 21, 2019Deepest gratitude and reverence, but not grief for the passing of Mary OliverI never asked her, so I’m guessing here, but I imagine that she cared not a whit about dog-whistling in any obscure poetic code to win the approval of any of the so-called “right” people; she wanted to transmit truth, and she did so, and I believe that this is…Poetry4 min readPoetry4 min read
Jul 28, 2018Open BordersI once had a student who moved like water, so much so that one day when she came in out of the rain, I could barely tell where the drops of rain ended and she began. And when she spoke, I could barely tell where she ended and her words began. “I remember something…Poetry2 min readPoetry2 min read
Jul 15, 2018The unavoidable terrorI have oh so many words to express grief and suffering. I can oh so poetically tell you about my pain. I am oh so good at articulating sorrow. Here. Check out my latest iteration: It’s like I’m clinging to a sheer cliff face, trying to climb. And sometimes I do manage to…Poetry1 min readPoetry1 min read
Jan 12, 2018Member-onlyThe light after a stormA poet must go outside for at least ten minutes a day, no matter the weather. It is a mercy of the kind that leads me to continue to believe in a force…Poetry1 min readPoetry1 min read
Jan 7, 2018Member-onlyA bannerI’m not one for waving a banner or bellowing: LOOK AT ME! You looked anyway with a Presence that had dropped away enough falsity to awaken the Presence in me. To ignite my courage to drop away even…Poetry1 min readPoetry1 min read
Dec 30, 2017Member-onlyFrom hymns to hip-hopWe’re flipping channels one evening and come across a few minutes of a Trump rally. I can’t decide which disgusts me more: the fact that he’s still holding rallies, or the fact that so many people are still attending them. I need a palate cleanser after that, so I turn…Memoir3 min readMemoir3 min read
Sep 3, 2017Member-onlyLike a treeI asked God: “How do I wear beauty with neither arrogance nor apology?” She answered: “Like a tree.”Poetry1 min readPoetry1 min read