8/15/79: Apocalypse Now
Sean MurphyReleased in theaters on this date, 44 years ago. Anyone out there who has not seen this movie? Anyone who hasn't seen it several times? Like most masterpieces, nothing can…
The Struggle of Memory against Forgetting: Why Milan Kundera Matters
i. Kundera almost killed me, still in my creative cradle, a writer needing nourishment. He arrived in my life too early. As a reader, it wasn’t soon enough, as what…
Original Poem: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, 1967: MUHAMMAD ALI REFUSES ARMY INDUCTION*
My thanks to Words & Sports Quarterly for publishing my poem about how America handled Muhammad Ali and his (spiritually & politically astute, prescient) conscientious objection to the Vietnam war.…
Original Poem: The Unsatisfactory Suicide Note
Four summers ago, almost to the day, a friend took his life, and his life partner posted his farewell note. This situation was awful enough, on so many obvious levels,…
Original Poem: On This Day in History, 4877 B.C.: Universe is created, according to Kepler.*
It's always a fresh thrill to see one's work find the right publisher, and I've been fortunate to have my work published by Exterminating Angel Press many times. With gratitude,…
Original Poem: Sustenance
It's an honor, every time, to have any literary magazine accept your work, and it's an extra thrill when you place work suitable for a certain journal. I'm so happy…
A Story about Storytelling
What are you going to do, teach? This was the question. It’s what everyone asked, what everyone thought, how everyone assumed things worked: you get a degree in the Humanities and…
AI Will Not Replace Art
"Etonne-moi!" --Serge Diaghilev, to Jean Cocteau Adam Gopnik, the prolific and brilliant writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker for several decades, has a timely piece in The New York Times that…
Original Poem: Now’s The Time
I continue to appreciate the team at Jerry Jazz Musician for celebrating America's unique art form, and showcasing not only the sounds, but the words around the sounds. For my…
National Poetry Month Meets American Culture
Huge love & thanks to the awesome team at Washington Writers' Publishing House for featuring my poem "DuBose Heyward's Blues," which was drafted with the working title "Rhapsodies in Blue"…