I don’t remember paying much attention to sunrises and sunsets in my youth. I suspect it is a factor of aging that makes me notice these things now. No doubt I have grown more sentimental with the years. Perhaps also it is modern times that make me more appreciative of nature. After all I don’t want to turn on the news and sometimes I am ashamed to be human. Last evening the light of the setting sun drew me outside. I never tire of the trees behind my house, stalwart … [Read more...]
Mental Health Awareness: how to contribute to the conversation
Happy May! Hope Spring is finding you; here in Chicago we’ve had some warm days and some very gray days. On the subject of gray days, did you know the suicide rate in the US has surged? The April 22 edition of the Chicago Tribune reports, “The U.S. suicide rate has increased sharply since the turn of the century, led by an even greater rise among middle-aged white people, particularly women, according to federal data released Friday.” May is Mental Health Awareness … [Read more...]
Be good and be quiet?
I’ve been thinking about bragging. These days we call it promotion. Social media is thick with it. Bragging used to be frowned upon, but it doesn’t seem to be that way so much anymore. I get it. I try to promote Solace in So Many Words and my writing. That’s professional promotion that’s seems required these days when we each have a persona we present to the world. But let’s not get into the branding of Ellen Wade Beals--ouch. How about when it comes to personal … [Read more...]
Lummox wants work; Trees and Math Anxiety; and Bird-watching
Howdy – How’s your April shaping up? Have you been celebrating poetry? Reading it? Writing it? I got an email from Lummox Poetry Anthology #5, which is looking for work on the theme of “ism" or "isms." Examples cited include: Alcoholism, Capitalism, Patriotism, Buddhism, Globalism, Conformism, Masochism, Regionalism, Commercialism, Pessimism, Mannerism, Egotism, Dogmatism, Realism, etc, etc. Lummox #5 is also looking for illustrations, collages, artwork of all kinds. … [Read more...]
Controversial words, controversial works
In the literary world, a couple of respected publications are being questioned for their choice of content. In both cases, the writing itself was far from exceptional. In the first incident the publication is Kenyon Review's KR Online, which featured two poems by John Smelcer, “Indian Blues” and “Smoke Signals.” I’d link to them but they have been taken down by editor David Lynn. This was after a stink was raised on social media about Smelcer's appropriating indigenous … [Read more...]
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