It’s a common belief — or at least a very common, unquestioned association — that goodness is boring, and evil is fun. This is especially the case when we think about fictional characters, but it also extends to life. I’d rather go to hell because people in hell are more interesting, I’ve heard. This has always … Read more
However well-meant it is, please do not tell a heartbroken person that someone who hurt them, someone they loved, is “not worth their tears.” First of all, you are in effect disrespecting their depth of feeling.* Their tears say more about their heart than anyone else’s, and your perceived “worthiness” of the person who hurt them is … Read more
Contrary to all appearances, I have not given up my 100 Themes Challenge, even though I started it in 2015 and I’m not even halfway through. I WILL GET THERE EVENTUALLY. Tonight (December 2 going into December 3), I wrote a poem for the first time in months. And the poem before that had been the … Read more
It’s been a while since the last Turgenev translation, but we’re back in business! “The Threshold” was one of the first prose poems in the Senilia collection that I read and understood, so it has a special place in my heart alongside “The Skulls.” You’ll notice that this one has no commentary attached. That’s because … Read more
I resurrected the 100 Themes challenge this past year, and for the most part I’ve been sitting on the new poems instead of sharing them. They just didn’t seem “good enough” to be shared. While sifting through the collection today, however, I noticed one that I rather liked. It was based on the 28th prompt: … Read more