Recently, I discovered that a friend I thought was Catholic has embraced some other belief system. It made me think of a poem by Christian Wiman called, “All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs.” Wiman is a poet my wife introduced me to a couple years ago, through this very poem. Whether they know orContinue reading "All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs"
February ‘23
As Valentine’s Day came to a close last week, I came down with a cold. This got me thinking about Valentine’s Day last year: My wife had vertigo, and I had a high fever with a side of congestion (COVID or influenza, I’m guessing). Let me tell ya, the romance was high 😆 Such aContinue reading "February ‘23"
The Crow
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven is one of the more notorious poems of all time. For the uninitiated, the basic story is this: a raven visits the narrator, who is mourning his lost love, and repeats the word “Nevermore” until the narrator loses it. (“Nevermore” seems to be an eternal drain of despair opening below the narrator’sContinue reading "The Crow"
Softly and Tenderly
Last week, I mentioned I’m working on poems based on Christian hymns that will be included in an upcoming book, Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. My goal has been to write modern poems in which I poetically interact with a hymn rather than just rehashing it. Synthesizing and distilling the text of a hymn into new imageryContinue reading "Softly and Tenderly"
Caverns
In other posts, I’ve mentioned I’m working on my fourth book, The Anonymity of Waiting. Well, at some point last year I started working on a fifth book at the same time. It started with poems based on the text of Mozart’s Requiem Mass. From there, I moved on to writing poems based on Psalms. I originally thought allContinue reading "Caverns"
Perfect Words
On Thursday, my friend Matt Randles (also a writer) sent me the meme above and said, “Use any (or all!) of these words in your next poem.” Being an overachiever (at least, when I feel like it), I immediately decided I would try to use all the words in a poem. I’m not sure whatContinue reading "Perfect Words"
A Poem about Cheese
Sometime last fall, my son and I were playing the video game “Civilization VI,” which (as the name suggests) is a civilization-building game. Various junctures of the game feature quotes, and this particular fall day, the quote was from GK Chesterton: “Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.” I laughed aloud…typical Chesterton. But IContinue reading "A Poem about Cheese"
No Rhyme or Reason
On A Wandering Minstrel’s Facebook page, I sometimes post poetry memes in between weekly blog posts. I was close to posting a meme about English words that are spelled alike but don’t sound alike when I thought of a poem from my book Event Horizon: “No Rhyme or Reason.” The lines of this poem end with wordsContinue reading "No Rhyme or Reason"
Goldenrod—Mary Oliver
At a yard sale, my wife picked up New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver. I had heard of Oliver but hadn’t read much of her work. At some point between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I started reading. Oliver is quickly becoming a favorite poet. She is known for simple imagery, plain speaking, and a focus on nature. There isContinue reading "Goldenrod—Mary Oliver"
Hell Is Multi-Tasking
The title of today’s post and poem says a lot about me and how I feel about multi-tasking 😉 It’s on my mind because I am, in fact, multi-tasking today. As I write, I am also roasting coffee, as well as making a list for the rest of the day. And this is as close to eternal punishmentContinue reading "Hell Is Multi-Tasking"
A Wandering Minstrel 