Love

Simone Weil considered it a direction, not a place. I think she was on to something. She equated it with attention, and felt it was the best gift we could give to anyone who was suffering.

Recent Poetry, January 2026

Origen (circa 185-circa 253)

When Egypt was a very Christian place,

Before Islam had showed its pretty face,

Of Alexandria, you were the wondrous sage,

And they all loved you in that early age.

The first book called The Philokalia,

Anthologized you. No et alia.

The Cappadocians, all did much like you,

You were a great foundation for them too.

Recent Poetry, October 2025

To the Priests of the Orthodox Church

To all guys I with whom I read,

(At least the ones who are not dead).

Who studied theology, from their perch,

Of th’Eastern Orthodox Church.

My Boss

A good publisher knows how to use people, and, I suppose that my former boss’s original Buddhist teacher saw that quality in him. Knowledge that it was a business, after all. No romantic ideas. No notion of editors who sit around reading all the time, making publishing decisions based solely on a work’s value. 

Evangelicalism

The modern evangelical movement arose from the Second American Great Awakening (late eighteenth and early nineteenth century), which was characterized by big emotional camp meetings and revivals. 

Peggy O’Neal (1957-2025)

This what I wrote for my sister’s memorial. Eric read it aloud, as I am still somewhat hard to understand:

Recent Poetry, September 2025

Enlightenment

If we could see things as they be,

God and Satan, beans, that tree,

Are all just me and In my ken.

There is no separateness then.

Hateful actions make no sense,

When no one’s there to take offense.