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Following is an excerpt from the poem “Dearborn Suite” in the collection “News of the World” by Philip Levine (Knopf, 2009). . Dearborn Suite . 1. Middle-aged, supremely bored with his wife, hating his work, unable to sleep, he rises from bed to pace his mansion in slippers and robe,…
Read More »Hometown reporting on Philip Levine’s appointment as US Poet Laureate from the Fresno Bee in California. Levine was born in Detroit and started teaching at Fresno State in 1958. The university didn’t even have a creative writing program at the time. His close friend and fellow poet Peter Everwine,…
Read More »Poetry is front-page news online tonight. That’s different. The NYTimes tonight reports that Philip Levine is the new U.S. Poet Laureate. Read Charles McGrath’s article here, and get the NYT if you want more. Phil Levine was one of my poet-heroes when I started writing in the mid-1970s. I admired…
Read More »“Are you he who would assume a place to teach or to be a poet here in the States? The place is august, the terms obdurate.” —Walt Whitman
Read More »About ten days ago, NYTimes columnist Paul Krugman got to the core of the problem with the national Republican party. When one side opts out of the agreed-to rules of elections and governing in a democracy, the system cannot function effectively. If your attitude is going to be that you…
Read More »MassMoments reminds us that on this day – July 23, 1846 – Henry David Thoreau after walking from his Walden Pond cabin to do an errand – found himself in the Concord town jail for refusing to pay his back taxes. His was just an over-night stay – as someone…
Read More »According to Lawrence City Clerk William Moloney, the petition to recall Mayor William Lantigua will be ready today. The citizen group “It’s Your Right” led by activist Reverend Edwin Rodriguez with help from others like Wayne Hayes – need to gather at least 5,232 signatures or 15 percent of the…
Read More »“After” is a book of letters in the form of poems that poignantly describes the author’s life and experiences as a child before, during and after the Khmer Rouge. It traces the author’s journey out of Cambodia to the United States and the experiences he had thereafter, through loss of…
Read More »Here’s another softball poem from the vault. This one was first published in the literary journal “Kennebec” at the University of Maine, Augusta. I spent many summer days in Maine during the 1970s and ’80s, visiting a friend who lived near Ellsworth. I brought this poem to a writing workshop…
Read More »Last week, one day around suppertime I was walking our family’s Boston Terrier on the South Common and I had what I can only describe as a sense memory. The strong sun, bright sky, dry air, grass underfoot, and voices bouncing through the park made me think that the evening was perfect…
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