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 thoughts we thought but...

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 my voice’s cadence—or my...
Crime and Punishment Sonnet

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. Sonia loved him—and her...
Tiger Poem

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 forest it...
So What is Your Question

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 Jeb McKenna.  You’ve...
The Gem Show

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.   What a read!  Rocks....

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

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

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...