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Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

July 2018

July 30, 2018

Wabi-Sabi: Living with Beauty and Ugliness

Yesterday, a man might have killed me. Both receptionists were away from the counter when...

May 2018

May 24, 2018

Between Death and Resurrection

And should you glimpse my wandering form out on the borderline Between death and resurrection...

May 10, 2018

In the Presence of My Enemies

I eat a pretzel in the presence of my enemies. (They have assembled in Charlottesville.)...

March 2018

March 19, 2018

Trafficking in Fear

I am chatting with a woman in a clothing store as our conversation moves from...

September 2017

September 22, 2017

Poetry Friday: “Cellar Door”

I love poems that stitch together memories from opposite ends of a lifetime, connecting them...

July 2017

July 25, 2017

As Petals Fall

“Why are you in the dirt?” he asked, trundling to where I crouched. “I’m pulling...

July 05, 2017

The Mysteries of Revision

When a former MFA professor asked me to come to her class and speak on...

June 2017

June 22, 2017

Courting Babel

This month I thought it would be a good idea to take four hours of...

June 15, 2017

A Prayer for Kendrick Lamar

It occurs to me each time I listen to Kendrick Lamar’s new album, Damn: The award winning...

April 2017

April 06, 2017

Muddy River

By Jen Pollock Michel. It was the summer of Leiby Kletzy, the eight-year-old Hasidic boy...

March 2017

March 24, 2017

Poetry Friday: “Love’s Last” by Christian Wiman

The spring equinox was on Monday. I am slowly seeing a flush of new life...

March 02, 2017

I Am an American

I refresh the page, I refresh the page, I turn away for a few minutes,...

February 2017

February 17, 2017

Poetry Friday: “Afternoon Swim”

The play of grammar has always lured me. I’ve wondered: why do English sentences take...

January 2017

January 26, 2017

To Run and Not Grow Weary, Part 2

By Jeffrey Overstreet. Maybe it was instinct that sent me back to relive the 1924...

January 13, 2017

Poetry Friday: “Hail, Spirit” by Pattiann Rogers

Recently, I have been reading The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle with my 16-month...

November 2016

November 30, 2016

The Ghosts of Home

When I visit my family in northern Minnesota, I find myself on the same roads...

October 2016

October 27, 2016

Interview with a Zombie

Halloween costumes and decorations. If I’m a vampire, Pinterest is my garlic. Not only do...

September 2016

September 27, 2016

Getting Close to You, God: A Meditation During the Month of Elul

“You are my light and my help / Whom should I fear?” Thus begins Norman...

September 09, 2016

Poetry Friday: “The News”

What do I do with the daily news of disasters? Do I mumble a quick...

July 2016

July 05, 2016

Adam Zagajewski’s Trench Warfare

“Writing poems is a duel / that no one wins…” As I’m reading the poem...

July 01, 2016

Poetry Friday: “For Whom the Resurrection Is the Full Moon Rising” by Mark Wagenaar

This is a poem to stretch the mind. It begins by stretching our imagination to...

June 2016

June 13, 2016

Eden at the Indy 500

I managed to live in Indiana for forty years before visiting the Indianapolis 500. A...

June 07, 2016

A Letter To My Sister

Eve, my sister The one who took the fall Eve, my sister Mother of us...

April 2016

April 21, 2016

Flying into Fear, Part 2

Read Part 1 here. My fear of flying made every flight I took an exhausting...

April 20, 2016

Flying into Fear, Part 1

Years ago, I worked with a woman who sold her car after a spider's nest...

February 2016

February 24, 2016

Peace, My Animal

"Benedic, anima mea," I say each night to the mouse that lives behind my desk....

December 2015

December 10, 2015

Waiting for the Blessing

By Lisa Ampleman On Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, my church blesses expectant...

May 2015

May 20, 2015

Monasticism in Lockdown America, Part 9: Psalms, In the End

Continued from yesterday. Thinking of the psalms as a way to cycle through the...

May 19, 2015

Monasticism in Lockdown America, Part 8: Psalms, In the Beginning

I always privately hated the psalms. Most of them, anyway. As a teenager, I’d leaf...

January 2015

January 26, 2015

Is My Truth Your Truth?

I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections Or the beauty of...