...A new exhibit explores The Troubles in Northern Ireland through portraiture
Friday, April 19, 2024
Seasonal nostalgia …
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Yet another poem …
… this one by me.
Elegy
In Memory of Zelda
The aging princess presides
Over the ruin of the late king’s palace.
The dowager queen cannot help
But notice the walls give way,
The dust gather. The aging princess
Toasts her aging consort and complains.
Hounds bay among debris, the moon
Opaquely shines through soiled panes.
The dowager queen listens and wanly smiles.
“A driving rain may streak,” she thinks,
“But never cleanse the windows,
Whether of house or soul. All
Gives way, nothing being done.
Time was, the princess danced
Beneath a moon effulgent, not opaque,
And children gamboled on the lawn.
The children now are fled
To regions where auroras dance instead.
How it will end seems clearer
Than the windowpanes, though when
Remains obscure, as always.” The aging princess
Takes her aging consort by the hand
And leads him in a halting sarabande.
The royal cats cry out, extend their claws.
The dowager queen listens and wanly smiles.
In case you wondered …
Honoring a centenary …
His claim to immortality is Mrs. Bridge, which astonishes in its build-up of quiet power. Like many books that are ostensibly about nothing at all, it is, of course, about everything.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Something to think on …
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Something to think on …
Latter-day nonsense …
Monday, April 15, 2024
Something to think on …
Our greatest essayist …
Epstein has been called a conservative, but that is only because the shallowness prevailing among the well-educated is usually leftist. What he really is is an exposer of bullshit in all its smelly varieties.
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Truth and faith …
Truth is a quest. An endless procession through a labyrinth of evidence to a deeper understanding of what really is out there in the world. And yet, truth itself is something that we can’t know for certain—except, perhaps, under controlled or limited circumstances.
Another word …
Still,deserving some room at the top …
In a literary sense, Room at the Top is a landmark work of Northern realism. “Certainly no one until John Braine had described the exact kind of urges operating within the post-war specimen,” wrote [Kenneth] Allsop.
His influence only increases …
Although he was born nearly 121 years ago and died nearly 60 years ago, Waugh’s life is one filled with lessons for Catholics today.
Something to think on …
Saturday, April 13, 2024
A poem …
You are the sun in the corner of my picture
In a dream I am putting together
A puzzle. I think it is Eden
But I'm not sure- green here, a flower there.
And where would Eden be without trees?
You're the sun in the corner of my picture;
A look here, a contour there, and hints that
You're a lover who cannot be possessed.
But you are in my Eden and I am glad.
Assembling a puzzle of Eden leaves me
Halfway between architect and shaman.
There may be few ways to get it right.
“Unlucky”, I say to deflect attention.
It's best to have a good reason to talk to God
I'm always a fuck up but I get that right.
Jennifer Knox
Something to think on …
Friday, April 12, 2024
Something to think on …
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Something to think on …
Here’s to you …
… Drinking, a poem by Gabriela Mistral. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden,)
This past Sunday, April 7, marked the. 135th anniversary of Gabriela Mistral’s birth.