Welcome to Hell… September 11, 2001 At 9:30 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the telephone rang in the office that I shared with my friend, the French teacher René Moisan. At the other end of the line was his daughter, Geneviève. “Have you seen the news?” she asked, with a peculiar catch in her..
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. – Carl Sagan Inexpressible cosmic beauty…and empty space: A Tanka poem A flash of wonder, Andromeda, galactic, Colours so divine. Spectacular illusion: Artifice fills empty space. Tanka poems follow a set of rules. They all have five lines, and each line..
We need beauty because it makes us yearn to be worthy of it. -Mary Oliver Posted here is just one example of the brilliant photography of Lorne Coughlin, the inspiration for this modest poem. Ruby throated hummingbird with dahlia: A Tanka poem A hovering pause, A dazzling floral stopover, Beauty in stasis,..
August 30,2024 Today is our 44th wedding anniversary/ Nous fêtons aujourd’hui notre 44e anniversaire de marriage. Ce qui suit est une histoire vraie. Les noms n’ont pas été changés pour protéger les coupables. What follows is a true story. The names have not been changed to protect the guilty. Scènes de notre marriage / Scenes..
Good Neighbor Sam What was the first film you ever saw in a “movie theatre”? I saw my first such movie in July of 1964 when I was 12 years old. Starring the iconic comedian Jack Lemmon, the film was a piece of fluff called “Good Neighbor Sam”, but for me this foray..
Flowers for Algernon: The Essence of Life Itself Have you read the renowned science fiction story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes? Or the expanded novel version that was published seven years after the story, in 1966? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers_for_Algernon Along with novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,..
The Russians are coming/ Les Russes sont à nos portes August 22, 1968 The English version of this text in honour of my wife’s birthday immediately follows the French. Aujourd’hui, c’est le 66e anniversaire de mon épouse Anne. Le 22 août marque également le 56e anniversaire de l’invasion de son pays, alors connu..
Black and white in colour: A Tanka poem I have no clue What draws me to this image, Any theory is askew. This starkness lies within me A cosmos of dreams… not new. https://121clicks.com/inspirations/the-sound-of-silence-black-and-white-photography-george-digalakis Tanka poems follow a set of rules. They all have five lines and each line follows a pattern:..
Wildcat/ Flannery O’Connor revisited We just watched a brilliant cinematic portrayal, directed by Ethan Hawke, of the brief but richly productive career and heart-breaking personal life of the iconic author Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964). The film presents vivid and disturbing insights into her writing through the director’s depiction of her creative process, as he conceived it. ..
Thailand: Where tackiness is next to godliness Our younger son spends much of his time in Thailand, a world chock full of all things tacky, of corniness, of kitsch. Tongue -in-cheek, he suggests that I move to Thailand where my broken foot would never impede shopping, not with such vehicles as you see in this..