Category Archives: poem

Time: Advent Word 3

Today, I will borrow my contribution from”Burnt Norton,” first of the Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot, my acknowledged maestro in all things Anglican. Whenever I ponder the word time, it is this poem that informs my musings: Time present and time past Are … Continue reading

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One Doomed Youth–and 17 Million More

From July to November 1917, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was a shell-shocked second lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment, under the care of W. H. R. Rivers at Craiglockhart War Hospital. There, he became close friends with Siegfried Sassoon, who became … Continue reading

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The Armistice: A Remembrance

The 99th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I took center stage in my English 112 class on Friday, November 10. For more than a year, I have been preparing to guide my students on this journey through … Continue reading

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March Rain: A Haiku

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The Thing with Feathers

Advent 2003 Emily Dickinson tells us that “hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.”  Let’s forget all about the image in our minds of … Continue reading

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Hope Is a Thing

Twenty years ago today, so the legend goes, the hopeless step-grandmother of a wild child saw a red sign on a gray door: “Enter Here in Peace.” Though the parlous state of her soul belied the mode of entry, she took … Continue reading

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Finding World War I: Fact, Fiction, and Truth in Pat Barker’s “Regeneration Trilogy”

We are living moment by moment through the centennial of the war that neither ended all wars nor made the world safe for democracy–catchphrases so cheap and aims so lofty that even as the armistice was being signed on November 11, 1918, … Continue reading

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A Few Things I Know

Geese cackle, feathers tickle, Belts buckle, beets pickle. 1543: Annus mirabilis Crest has been shown to be an effective, decay-preventive dentifrice that can be of significant value when used in a conscientiously applied program of oral hygiene and regular professional … Continue reading

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