Door in the Mountain by Jean Valentine Never ran this hard through the valley never ate so many stars I was carrying a dead deer tied on to my neck and shoulders deer legs hanging in front of me heavy on my chest People are not wanting to let me in Door in the mountain let me in
lickspittle (LĬK-spĭt-l) Definition (Noun) An abject parasite or sycophant; a toady. In Context "Journalists and members of the Left liked to accuse Hawke of being a lickspittle of the United States but, as Costello – who was no Hawke fan at the time and who observed the relationship closely – remarked, 'I never saw him as such.'" Blanche d'Alpuget, Hawke: The Prime Minister, 2010.
Poems, Sunrises, and Precedents BY ED ROBERSON On sonnet form times even in the grip of trouble get no less a sunrise than sun is capable the capable beauty all we have to expect— to ask more from some incompetent laughs at the proposition we have trumped all that from such horses as we have pulling our wagon through the dust which we ourselves yoked to the lead that trust— people of the voice though we were. people who cannot figure what it is we want to say for us— if all we have is [...]
Book of the Month: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (1993) Critical Evaluation "By writing black female protagonists into science fiction, and bringing her acute appraisal of real-world power structures to bear on the imaginary worlds she created, Butler became an early pillar of the subgenre and aesthetic known as Afrofuturism. (Kara Walker cites her as an inspiration; and, as Hilton Als has pointed out, Butler is the 'dominant artistic force' in Beyoncé’s visual album 'Lemonade.') In the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time, Kellyanne Conway made a strong case for George Orwell’s 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' [...]
otiose (Ō-shē-ōs) Definition (Adjective) Having no practical function; redundant; superfluous. In Context "Given that trial, conviction, and execution were practically foregone conclusions, it may seem otiose to try to establish the grounds on which Darcy and the others were convicted." R. W. Hoyle, The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s, 2001.
L.A. River BY JACK COOPER I like how the mallard ducklings goofy and weak waddle up the cement incline then slide into this runoff of lawn sprinklers and car washes and how the great blue heron seems to be teleported here from the Jurassic to look for extinct species of fish but mostly I like the way the little birds fly in and out of the barbed wire with only a smear of water to keep them singing.
I dwell in Possibility – (466) BY EMILY DICKINSON I dwell in Possibility – A fairer House than Prose – More numerous of Windows – Superior – for Doors – Of Chambers as the Cedars – Impregnable of eye – And for an everlasting Roof The Gambrels of the Sky – Of Visitors – the fairest – For Occupation – This – The spreading wide my narrow Hands To gather Paradise –
farrago (fə-RÄ-gō) Definition (Noun) A confused group; a medley, mixture, hotchpotch. In Context "Between these two dates an obscure man of letters, Edouard Drumont, had published La France Juive (1886), a farrago of nonsense that purported to demonstrate the Jewish hold on France and its destructive effects." Eugen Weber, France: Fin de Siècle, 1986.
My mother used to marvel at the twists and turns her life had taken. “If I could write a book, nobody would believe it,” she’d say. What about your life? Would we believe your story? How will you know until you write it? Are you ready to write your memoir or the “Great American Novel”? Let 2021 be the year you finally commit to getting your stories or poems or essays on the page. No matter what your writing goals are, it’s great to have support. The blank page can be intimidating. Princeton Writes invites you to join Writing Space, a [...]
Let It Be Known BY MARGARET BURROUGHS Let it be known to all, the story Of the glorious struggle of my people. Let it be known that black men and women Helped to build this our country. Let it be known that black men and women of the past In an effort to make this country What it ought to be, gave up their very last To make America, a real democracy A true homeland of the free. Let our leaders of today go back into the past And come fighting forth envigored with the spirit Of Turner, and Vesey, Douglass, Tubman [...]
