Ahem, Mister Nabokov
You and your Pale Fire Uncle Vladimir has left us something from which we can learn. He penned a book in verse that novel was. And we, the beneficiaries, avoid it at our peril. For in it he tells of teachers, nymphs and wives And utters the...
To our dead Uncle Nabokov
It’s a pale fire, and then paler still Never to consume more intimate history Never more to creep or twist or twirl through logs Wond’ring if a boy would ever, ever meet this girl Who would think of her—yes, the very lift of my very nose? Or...
A Haiku to Undine Spragg
Beauty is skin deep But my skin is really thick Love cannot penetrate it.
Crime and Punishment Sonnet
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov:a murderer and son.His pride and anger might pull it offBeing as he was one who was superior among mortals.He wrote an essay about it.But theory failed when his mental portalsswung and he could not self-acquit....
Tiger Poem
If you know a tigerWell, that's pretty coolEscpecially if it's a young oneStill in school.But if the tiger's birthdayIs next weekDo you know what you could getThat it would like to keep? A tiger wants a forestNot a city of a beach.In the...
So What is Your Question
So I’m reading Jeb McKenna’s second book. Why am I reading Jeb? Because I am also reading Moby Dick and pointing this out to my friends as if it makes me a serious reader of seriously good books. Two friends say: Read...
The Gem Show
Gem Show Upon return from the Tucson International Gem Show, it came time to make a post and yet I was devoid of crunchy ideas to discuss. Then my friend in Malaysia directed me to her recent post about gemstones. ...
Brooklyn
Sweet. Who doesn't like to see immigrants in Brooklyn in the 1920s breaking down the barriers between the ethnic groups via love and the painful yet necessary rejection of parochial values. Nice makeup.
Timbuktu
August 2016 Timbuktu A movie comes along. This one did. Masterpiece. Kurasawa. Huge. All the words blow away like the sand. What God hath wrought. What can we do now for the children?...
Beasts of No Nation
If you want judgment ripped out of you, watch "Beasts of No Nation." Oh, sure; you'll judge war to be bad. No question about it - but you will also see how "Yes, sir," galvanizes the testosterone riddled hearts of young men....
Danish Girl
Danish Girl 2/4/2016 I liked the paint color on the walls in the apartment in Denmark. I liked the doorways and hallways. I liked the paintings. I liked the orange row houses in Copenhagen. I liked the curve of...
Modern Times: Paul Johnson
Modern Times 1/2016 If this were the work of an entire lifetime - the culmination of decades of research - I could understand how one man could do it. But this is just one of his many books. I cannot imagine how he did anything but keep his...