Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Me

 Me, pro. The objectionable case of I. The personal pronoun in English has three cases, the dominative, the objectionable and the oppressive. Each is all three.

-- from The Devil's Dictionary (1911) by Ambrose Bierce (1842-ca. 1914)

President Donald Trump
Trump is always thinking of himself.


Monday, September 14, 2020

Trees: A Quotation from Willa Cather

 

To read an article about American author Willa Cather (1873-1947), click here.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

We Wear the Mask

WE WEAR THE MASK
by Paul Laurence Dunbar

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we owe to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
     We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
     We wear the mask!

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
To read an article about Paul Laurence Dunbar, click here.



     

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

August Fogs

Folklore often says each fog in August means another snowfall in winter. The English proverb in the photo below says otherwise.


 

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Timepieces

Here is a found poem of mine titled "Timepieces," a found poem consisting of quotations from Edward Gorey and Christina Rossetti. It is on page 53 of the 2020 edition (the Spring 2020 issue) of The Bluestone Review. To read the 2020 edition of The Bluestone Review in its entirety online, click here.

 

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Trusting God Gives Strength

"Union gives strength," said Aesop. As the quotation below, Isaiah 40:28-31, from the Second Edition (1992) of the Good News Translation of the Bible says, so does trusting God.

Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts. He strengthens those who are weak and tired. Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted. But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.