This Sunday is Father’s Day. No doubt you’ll read many saccharine accounts of fathers and what it means to be a parent and to be parented. But reality is not usually as sweet. Sometimes the people in our lives cannot be summed up with sentimentality. One of my favorite poems is This Be the Verse by Philip Larkin because it views parenting as flawed at best. Of course it is overly cynical. Nevertheless, there is much truth in this jaundiced view of parenting as imperfect and … [Read more...]
Van Gogh solace
Tuesday was a beautiful day in Chicago, which was restorative and lovely. Also lovely and restorative is the Immersive Van Gogh at Chicago’s Germania Club. It is the first cultural event I have gone to since the pandemic started. In some ways, it was not business as usual; temperatures were scanned, everyone was masked, and circles were marked on the floor to show us where to stand six feet apart. But in some ways it felt like a welcome return to normal. Maybe the event … [Read more...]
Starting again
Why, Hello! This site has been on hiatus for months now. I’ve been uninspired to post and uninspired in general. But I’m hoping to start again, especially as April is Poetry Month. Also, this year marks the ten-year anniversary of Solace in So Many Words. By submitting this photo, Laura Rodley provided the gentle nudge I needed. Thanks! Peace, love, and solace A frequent contributor to this site, Massachusetts poet Laura Rodley, is also … [Read more...]
Show and Tell For Grownups
Hello. I’m checking in to say hi, wondering how you all are faring. It seems to me everyone is anxious these days and maybe depressed and angry too. Keep heart. Here’s a new diversion for you. My friend Sharon Fiffer and her husband Steven Fiffer, both well-known Evanston writers, recently started STORIED STUFF: Show and Tell For Grown-Ups. It launched May 25. Here’s how Sharon describes it: “At storied-stuff.com, come discover the treasures that others hold dear—and … [Read more...]
Mother’s Day poem by Laura Rodley
It’s Mother’s Day weekend. Hope you have sunny weather ahead. How nice to open my email and receive this poem from Laura Rodley, the Massachusetts poet whose work is often featured here and in other places such as the New Verse News (where her poem Pushcart-winning poem Resurrection appeared in 2013). She is also a freelance writer for publications such as Country Folks. I can always count on her to give me something imagistic, evocative and full of feeling. These days … [Read more...]
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