I was a alerted to a new facet of my reality after taking a breather while reading my old review or the documentary Born into Brothels. And it’s essentially this: I have little or no interest in a piece of art as a piece of art. I think this gets to the very core of […]

I want to tell you that the world is still beautiful. I tell you that despite children raped on city streets, shot down in school rooms, despite the slow poisons seeping from old and hidden sins into our air, soil, water, despite the thinning film that encloses our aching world. Despite my own terror and […]

DWQ “What a fool?!” thought the old man, seeing a young man coming up the path. He wasn’t looking out at the pond. He seemed to see little more than his feet and the dog that would sometimes wander away from him. “What a fool?!” thought the young man. This grandpa had stopped on the […]

Today on Other People’s Words, a beautiful poem by Wesley McNair called “The Future.” On the afternoon talk shows of America the guests have suffered life’s sorrows long enough. All they require now is the opportunity for closure, to put the whole thing behind them and get on with their lives. That their lives, in […]

Today’s “Other People’s Words” is a poem about what’s really important. It’s called “Beside the Point” by Stephen Cushman. The sky has never won a prize. The clouds have no careers. The rainbow doesn’t say my work, thank goodness. The rock in the creek’s not so productive. The mud on the bank’s not too pragmatic. […]