The Keys

When I visited, I met prison guards and leaders who reeked of peace like a Zen master. And guards who seemed edgy. If there’s anything a prison needs, it’s peace. A lot of people are in there because their peace meters ran on empty too long.

Eating Your Words

There is a difference between kissing and talking about kissing. There is a difference between dating and marriage (apparently). And there is a difference between reading and memorizing, which is actually what I’m considering here. I took my students to a writing workshop last week, and one presenter explained the importance of memorizing poems. That […]

Paine ‘n’ McCain at the OK Corral

“We have it in our power to begin the world again.” –Thomas Paine “There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year.” –John McCain I just got back from the southwest, where I met and insulted a charming cowgirl. I expected Tombstone, Arizona to be sort of like Frontierland at Disneyland. Instead, we […]

Expressways

The first walk around my neighborhood in three months reveals what I had suspected: any sign of spring is way underground. My sycamores are still skeletal. The locusts are still wearing a few of their blackened seed pods, like they forgot to take off their eyeliner after a great party. Everywhere I looked for a […]