“Casting Off”

During the summer of 2019 I said ‘yes’ to a part-time teaching opportunity for the 2019-20 school year. Last week, I held my last zoom classes, shared my last words with my students, one of which was a reminder to submit their final essay exams at the scheduled time, and then, just like that, without … Continue reading →

Recipes

You know how certain words appear to be so strange and meaningless the longer you look at them? ‘Recipe’ is one such word. How are we supposed to figure it out phonetically? What inkling can we glean that it’s a three-syllable word, for cryin’ out loud? And is the ‘re-‘ a prefix? Can you cipe … Continue reading →

Losing Artfully

In these days of COVID-19 quarantine/isolation/stay at home orders around my community, my state, my country — and in all likelihood in yours, it surely feels as though we’ve lost more than we can bear. So many lost school days. So many lost dollars. So many lost jobs. So many lost loved ones. The losses … Continue reading →

Ambiguities

“I wrote a poem on the mist / And a woman asked me what I meant by it.” A few days ago we awakened to a lovely fog, leaving only outlines of trees for us to see, along with the assurance that the sun was shining above the clouds. Daylight, shrouded in mystery and silence. … Continue reading →

On Being. And Meaning.

Sure, Hamlet asked it better than most: “To be, or not to be…” — you know the one. It’s the question on all our minds — what is the point of all this — this living that we’re doing?! Always one to invite us to ponder life’s biggest, most pressingly urgent questions, Shakespeare put unforgettable … Continue reading →

Always Amazing

I didn’t at first know that Wendell Berry was a poet. I discovered him as a novelist, and delighted in Jayber Crow. I grew to love him during my reading of The Memory of Old Jack. Dear Heaven, you should read Berry, and let his words seep into your soul. Rich in character and community and a love for the … Continue reading →

“The Trouble with Poetry”

These days, like any of the other days in the long millennia of human existence, seem filled with “trouble.” I’ll not trouble you (you see what I did there) with a list. If you can find a blog post, you probably know your way around the various news sites as well, so you’ve gotten your … Continue reading →

Stormy Weather

“Expect the unexpected.” Life proves the adage. Literature proves it as well, because, as we all should know by now, written words mirror the way life goes. And so it was, that on a sultry Wednesday in late August, I went to my AP Lit class, ready to discuss Kate Chopin’s lovely (and aptly titled!) … Continue reading →

Tribute

In the early morning hours of February 25th, a friend that a year ago I didn’t even know I had departed from this life and entered into a Glory that we who are left behind can barely imagine. Her name was Danielle. She was a friend, wife, mother, teacher. Cancer had its way with her … Continue reading →

When I Remember what Shakespeare is Good for…

Some of my students are going to meet up with Shakespeare in a few days.  They’re going to whine about. They’re going to resist. They’re going to say something along the lines of “I just don’t GET it.” Or, “It’s so hard!!!.” Or, my absolute favorite: “Shakespeare and his King James English has no relevance … Continue reading →