Beating the Odds by Lindsay Lewis He thought they had covered eventualities the small assurances of life years of counting carbs and slathering sunscreem petunias, seeding in spring He thought he knew the texture of his life wife at his fingertips filling cups with coffee: Black, rich, dark. He always dealt in...
Read MoreI wrote this poem as a tribute to a woman I met when I worked as a nurse’s aide. She was young- in her fifties- a remarkable pianist, and stricken with dementia. She passed her time organizing our linen carts, and occasionally had lucid moments in which we could engage in brilliant conversation. Her husband was a devoted, loving man who took the ferry every day to visit her. I was deeply...
Read MoreA Cruelty Special to our Species Emily Yoon, my former student and author of A Cruelty Special to our Species paid me a visit Friday evening after doing a reading and workshop at SMUS, her former school. Her poetry addresses a topic rarely discussed- The occupation of Korea and abuse of women. Her poetry is lucid and strong, describing atrocities which are never openly touched upon. I’m so...
Read MoreI have just written a proposal to the Oxford Dictionary committee that the word e (pronounced E) be created as a gender neutral third person singular pronoun. English would have he/ she / e / to describe trans-gendered people who do not identify strongly with either male or female traits. I met a store clerk the other day who was wearing the same blue nail polish as I was. I had blue toes and...
Read MoreLost and Found is an enchanting novel by the brilliant Australian/ universally cultured author Brooke Davis. In this novel, the protagonist, Milly Bird, is abandoned by her mother in a clothing department. She is found by an octogenerian, Karl the touch typist, who has run away from his nursing home, and the bereaved Agatha Pantha. The novel’s main appeal is its sincere understanding of...
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