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‘City Hall’ by Richard Marion
“City Hall” by Richard Marion, 1983 drawing, (c) 2013 See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
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‘Dust of Snow’ by Robert Frost
Dust of Snow By Robert Frost (1874–1963) . The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued. . According to the Robert Frost encyclopedia online, this poem was first…
Read More »Poet Joe Donahue in The Nation magazine (12/24/12)
Joe Donahue (Joseph Donahue of Duke University in North Carolina and the literary constellation Lowelliana) has a poem in the Dec. 24 issue of The Nation magazine, one of the few remaining nationally distributed publications that regularly make room for poets–and thus a fantastic location for widespread viewing of literary compositions.…
Read More »He’s Got a Point
I don’t agree with the opinions in the regular essays by Ross Douthat in the NYTimes, but he makes a useful point in his new column when he encourages citizens to at least try to read or listen to political and policy views that come from way over on the other…
Read More »‘Take-Out’ by Richard Marion
Is New Year’s Eve the biggest Chinese-take-out night of the year in Lowell? What is your favorite Chinese take-out place? “Take-Out” by Richard Marion (c) 2012 See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
Read More »Favorite Movies Seen in 2012
1. Lincoln 2. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen 3. Skyfall 4. Argo 5. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 6. Men in Black 3
Read More »‘Not Long Ago Joy Abounded at Christmas’ by Jack Kerouac
A Christmas Eve memory in this excerpt from the 1957 essay “Not Long Ago Joy Abounded at Christmas” by Jack Kerouac: “. . . Christmas was observed all-out in my Catholic French-Canadian environment in the 1930s much as it is today in Mexico. . . .When we were old enough it was…
Read More »‘The Christmas Fruitcake’ by Henri Marchand
. “The Christmas Fruitcake” by Henri Marchand . I think there is no yuletide tradition so endlessly lampooned and so deliciously mocked as the once esteemed fruitcake. Everyone loves chestnuts roasting on an open fire and even plum pudding gets an annual endorsement by the beloved Cratchits, but mention fruitcake…
Read More »‘On John F. Kerry’ (1974)
I was 20 years old in 1974, a sophomore studying political science at Merrimack College. when John Kerry announced he would not make a second attempt to be elected to Congress in the Fifth District. I had been a volunteer in the 1972 campaign, helping in a modest way in…
Read More »‘Patterns of a Prayer Town’
I wrote the first draft of this poem in 1976, and worked on it on and off for a long time. I had in mind the extensive outdoor lighting displays in Dracut (the town) and Lowell, but, especially as it evolved, the dense array of Christmas decorations in Lowell’s Pawtucketville…
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