Category: articles
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In the River of Man • from 54 poems at 27
find me in the river of thought and event carried by the current of contemporary men see me stack their pebbles higher into my modern wall damming up their river into my waterfall genius ain’t meaningless its genus is in genes from us we can’t be me till me ain’t we original hearts make original…
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The Last Ship :: The Musical Gotham Deserved, But Not the One it Needs Right Now
Like all of my posts, this one is late. Not late like a marinade or summer come at last. Too late, in this case. Of course, I couldn’t have stopped the inevitable. Recap: Sting (the musician) wrote some songs (a musical) about his town (a shipyard) and it got him out of writer’s block. You…
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If Ever • from 54 poems at 27
If you never wake I’ll die and master beside manner just to be the first keeper you see on the other side And if you lose the faith I’ll study eighty tender reasons to wait Cause I’ll never go Never leave you alone you can’t chase away this chaser won’t outpace this pacer I’ll never…
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The Pot Hole
In the past few years, I’ve seen politicians found campaigns upon the legalization of Mary Jane, encountered books titled everything from Puff or Pass? to Pot, Inc., and heard some of the most logically unsound arguments for any position on any topic ever applied to why we should legalize NOW! People have loaded up on…
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Dead Guest Post: The Vote and The House
As many of you are out canvassing this month, today’s dead guest post comes from G.K. Chesterton: The Vote and The House by G.K. Chesterton (public domain) Most of us will be canvassed soon, I suppose; some of us may even canvass. Upon which side, of course, nothing will induce me to state,…
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JOHNNY CAGE OF MORTAL KOMBAT CALLS 911
“911 operator, what’s your emergency?” “I inhaled a fireball.” “Okay where are you?” “Oh god, I don’t know… I… I swallowed a fireball, what do I do?” “Stay calm.” “Okay, okay. BUT IT’S A FIREBALL.” “Right. Where are you?” “Liu Kang’s dojo. Our summer barbecue kind of got out of hand…” “Out of hand how?”…
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Can a Pastor Write Fiction?
Often in person or in emails I will get a pretty heartfelt question from some pastors. They want to know if it’s kosher for them to write mainstream fiction and still do pastoral ministry in the local church. “Can I be a pastor and still write fiction under my real name?” I received one of…
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Marching with 50,000 Peacemakers and the Silences that Followed
A single glance at America today can throw me into a rage and my rage prompts me to write. When a piece is born of wrath, I set it out in the windowsill and let it cool. Like a pie. Like rhubarb pie — the kind of pie I detest but must eat anyway because I…
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Lexi’s Song • from 54 Poems at 27
All the ice melted leaving dark snowmen every forty feet And all their plastic bones are exposed. All the glass open every screen up But the radiator’s set to a hundred and four. How did we go from the frozen circle of Lucifer and plunge into another myth, oh a lake of fire? I remember…
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Between Pretend and Reality
:: A trip to the Sunset Park CSA Farm :: originally at SunsetParkCSA.org (pitctures by the same) The day my wife and I planned on visiting the upstate farm our local Sunset Park CSA supports, I was hauling around a twelve-hundred-page Brandon Sanderson novel. Hardback. My arms ached. I’ve built up their strength recently by…
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On the Perfection Practice Makes • Artistic Craftsmanship
Confession time: I have a problem. A dialog problem. If there’s anything I learned early on, it’s that the professional discovers his weaknesses as quickly as possible and moves to mend them. That’s why they tell you to never tell a poker pro if you discover their tell — they’ll correct it at the first opportunity.…
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Contra Graham :: the War to Define YA Meaning and Maturity
Often in literary circles people will “punch down,” as critics of Charlie Hebdo have claimed. But sometimes it’s worse. Sometimes we kick the kids and even the young adult readership. As any family, the literary community is messy. We have a great many flaws to work through. But one issue that can wait no longer…