Poet, Author, Composer....
Doing the Assignment
340. Doing the Assignment For over a dozen years I ran writing groups in a variety of locations. I called it “Writing Down the Stories of Our Lives.” The goal was to encourage people to write down some of the parts of their lives…
Paring Down Again and Again and Again
339. Paring Down Again and Again and Again I think it’s strange that I pare down my possessions over and over again and then in not too long a time I have to repeat the process, because I accumulate. I’m down to three rooms…
Remember the Milkman?
338. Remember the Milkman? In 1972 Clarence was our milkman. I don’t remember any milkman before Clarence. Now that either means that in Nashville, or Chicago, or even in Indianapolis we didn’t have milk delivered, or it means that none of the other milkmen…
Go After a Friend
337. Go After a Friend Writiing about Paul and Thom yesterday reminds me of one of the things I learned in knowing them. I had known Paul even before he went to be pastor at Washington Square United Methodist Church in Greenwich Village. But…
Art Affects Attitude
336. Art Affects Attitude A story: In the fall of 1992 I went on the train with my friend Thom to Washington, DC. We were going to see the AIDS quilt spread out on the National Mall. My friend, Paul Abels, had died the…
Write—and then Write Some More
335. Write—and then Write Some More Years ago I was in therapy and I shared with this therapist a set of poems I had written after a traumatic event in my life. They were sparse. They were strong. They were clear. This therapist asked…
The Nonsense of Numbers
334. The Nonsense of Numbers It happened in 1999. We raced across the YMCA pool—four year old Lissa, and sixty-six year old me. Her legs thrashed like riding a bicycle in her zeal to get to the other side first. She clung to what…
Where Are You Going
333. Where Are You Going I found this poem that I wrote in 1977, thirty-six years ago. I’m not sure whether it has something to do with then, or with yesterday. — where are you going why must you run will you ever stop…
A Henry James Quote
332, A Henry James Quote I found this quote quite a while ago. And I lost it. Then I found it a couple of months ago, and…you’re right—I lost it again. Now I’ve found it once more, so this time, here it is. Henry…
A Little Street Theatre
331. A Little Street Theatre I was remembering today for some reason some of the stories my daughter Dara would tell me about the street theatre that she and her friend did on the streets of New York. They shared an apartment but sometimes…
New Release!!
Daybook of Personal Faith
Mama and Me
