Month: februari 2018

I fell in love three times
A few months ago, in a period of soul-searching that can happen to the best of us, I fell in love three times. I try to be a faithful poetic observer and report to you how exactly that happened. My first amorous encounter was with Cuban superstar Camilla Cabelo, chiefly because of her aphrodisiacal voice ...
Reading: Another Species by Peter Kane Dufault
American poet Peter Kane Dufault (1923 - 2013) was also a tree surgeon, pollster, fiddler and banjo-player. His writing career spans nearly sixty years. Here a simple poem about species extinction, because it is a topic I am upset about: Another Species Kestrel too? Dwindling now? That small falcon somehow quarried out of a rainbow ...
What is context?
I asked Miru what 배 'bae' and 눈 'nun' means. She says 'pear' and 'snow'. But in Korean, bae also means boat and nun also means eye. I tell her that it depends on the context. Context is the concept I want to explain to her today. "Papa what is that, context?" -"Context is a ...
Simple focus exercise
Type one thing and say something else. For example, type the word 'blue' while you say 'red'. You can almost feel how your brain is creating new neuronal connections when you do this.
A Meditation on power
Find a comfortable place to sit. Be aware of your posture. Is your back straight, are your knees below your waist? Breathe in calmly and deeply. Focus on the phenomenon of power. When have you experienced power over another living being or another living being exercising power over you? How did it feel? Is the ...
Reading: The Ghost In The Martini by Antony Evan Hecht
Anthony Evan Hecht (1923-2004) was born in New York. His parents hated his ambition to become a poet. He fought in WW II and was traumatized by te horrific accounts of the French prisoners of Flossenburg, the concentration camp his division liberated, leading to a nervous breakdown in 1959. I read soemthing light today, it's ...
Vaarwel, halbe donor
Na een bewogen verblijf in Nederland ben ik weer terug in Seoul, met koude en lege kleren en het kwetsbare vertrouwen met een half woord begrepen te worden. Lieve mensen, wanneer het jullie zo voorkomt dat ik te veel koketteer met mijn (en dus jullie) fragiele aanwezigheid hier in dit vreugdetranendal, zeg me dat gerust. ...
Reading: Morning Song by Sylvia Plath
The poetry of Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) never fails to impress. Lazarus and Daddy are household names in poetics, and the entire book Ariel counts as a masterpiece. You can find plenty of wonderful writing on Plath on sites like the Academy of American Poets. Here I read 'Morning song' and, as usual, give an interpretation ...
Reading: Mother by L.E. Sissman
L.E. Sissman (1928-1976) was a child prodigy who won the National Spelling Bee. He had a typical American middle class career in a time when that was still possible, but he also had the calling of a poet. He was diagnosed with Hodgkins' disease in the late sixties, which inspired him to write prolifically: I. ...