September 2016
A Walk in the Park
A Walk in the Park
A walk in the park may soothe the mind and, in the process, change the workings of our brains in ways that improve our mental health, according to an interesting new study of the physical effects on the brain of visiting nature.
“How Walking in Nature Changes the Brain,” by Gretchen Sandler, NYT, July 22,2015
My “running” shoes have gotten old
Their soles are wearing thin.
But all the more I feel the ground
beneath my feet –
I sense the stones
and softer earthy path.
So too my joints,
my bones
have thinned,
my hearing’s going bad.
And yet I walk
and still I hear
a…
Long Distance Relationship
Long Distance Relationship
(Deutsche Übersetzung unten)
A first red maple leaf
stands out
upon gray pavement:
a certain sign
that fall is coming.
Back then,
I would have
tucked it in my letter
to you,
beside the lines
of fierce and tender longing.
You would receive it
in a week
and then imagine
me walking
without you.
Today,
I think,
I can capture the leaf
by smart phone,
and you’ll have
the image
in an instant.
But how will you know
that I, walking alone,
am seized with longing
stirred up again by memory
and a small red leaf?
Fernbeziehung
Ein erstes rotes Ahornblatt
leuchtet…
June 2016
Caroline
Caroline
A poem for Caroline Rand Herron (1941 - 2016), by Dorian Brooks.
This sonnet was written soon after Caroline’s unexpected death from pneumonia, by Dorian Brooks, poet and activist for women’s and American Indian rights, and a Radcliffe College classmate of Caroline’s and mine. Caroline was a distinguished editor and writer and later, a dedicated advocate for affordable housing. Among many other positions in the area of the humanities, Caroline served as staff editor of the New York Times Book Review (1993-2005) and worked for The Partisan Review from 1963-78, including as…
Mock Orange Reboot
Mock Orange Reboot
(With a big nod to Louise Glück,
whose poem “Mock Orange” can be found here.)
Louise Glück hates
mock orange:
the scent reminds her of sex
(with a man),
how desire takes hold,
takes over.
How the feeling after –
sober distance, separation –
gives the lie to
her longing for union.
I too understand
the strange power
the force
of mock orange:
sweet scent
sweeping over
as you open the door,
step onto the porch.
It lasts a few days
and is past;
blossoms wither
and die.
But during those days
I am blissful,
dizzy with longing.
Mock orange for me is a promise
of pounding…
February 2016
Showcase your passion!
Around the millenium our young adult daughter held a family conference to help her sort out her career plans. She was considering a number of competing options; her most important criterion was to find something that she felt passionate about. I remember being struck by both the expression and the idea itself. Growing up I had mostly heard the word “passion” in one of two contexts: the “Passion of Christ,” referring to Jesus’ suffering on the cross (as in the St. Matthew Passion), or – in cheap paperback books I wasn’t supposed to be reading – as forbidden, sexual desire. The term…
