Recent Poetry, September 2025

Good Writing

You know it when you see it,

Like pornography or art,

It’s elusive just a bit

But always has a beating heart.

Benedict’s Dharma

Henry, Patrick, ed.  Benedict’s Dharma: Buddhists Reflect on the Rule of Saint Benedict. (New York: Riverhead, 2001).

This is another book I’ve read in retirement. It’s not my intention to do reviews of every book I read. Just some of them that have left a strong impression. 

My Mother

They say if you’re doing an autobiography, you should start with your parents, since they indicate best of all where you come from. I probably won’t do an autobiography on this blog, but I will do reflective essays on both my parents. Probably stopping there.

My Father

Compared to my mom, my dad was a pretty simple guy. He was born in the foothills of the Ozarks in Missouri, but they moved to California when he was quite young.

Idolatry

“The great sin remains idolatry, and there is an idolatry of concepts as well as of graven images.”—Thomas Merton 

Recent Poetry, August 2026

That Works

Learning compassion

Is what spiritual practice is all about.

The work of a whole lifetime.

Whatever the tradition.

A Study of Gregory Palamas

Meyendorff, John. A Study  of Gregory Palamas. Leighton Buzzard (UK): Faith Press, 1974.

This is yet another book I’ve read  in retirement. I’ve had it for a long time without reading it. But I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who can confidently rattle off that they’ve read it. Now I am one of those people.