Author Archives: rdavies

Harry Belafonte, 96. “So I’m sad to say I’m on my wayWon’t be back for many a dayMy heart is downMy head is turning aroundI had to leave a little girl in Kingston Town”

are not really safe places anymore for the regular or average library-goers, particularly (unaccompanied) children. Bathrooms can be especially dangerous. There are way too many bums, street people, and druggies frequenting them (and, historically, they have long been around in … Continue reading →

Russia drops a bomb on its own city. “We do it to ourselves” is half of human history.The other half is “And we do it to others.”

*This is also one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to, with Frank’s entertaining Irish accent and his bang-on voicings of typical reluctant high-school learners. A bona-fide high-school English teacher classic. Loved his epiphany about using excuse notes by … Continue reading →

I noted the minor headline about a chartreuse shortage which suggested that monks would know the reason for. A little while later, while reading “Maples in a Spruce Forest” a poem by John Updike, I got to the ending “The … Continue reading →

I originally joined the Stroll in 1990, its first year; I am still connected to many kindred spirits via this splendid aggregation, now in its 33rd year, and have given many readings and workshops over the years.

How straight it flew, how long it flew,It clear’d the rutty trackAnd soaring, disappeared from viewBeyond the bunker’s back –A glorious, sailing, bounding driveThat made me glad I was alive. And down the fairway, far alongIt glowed a lonely white;I … Continue reading →

people are suffering and dying in a major public disaster, songbirds like robins and finches will continue to sing brilliantly and miraculously, completely oblivious to the human world. And they will continue to sing long after one is long gone.

in apartment lobbies, on shopping mall lots, in food courts, at school bus stops, etc.Sounds very much like T.S. Eliot’s warning that civilization will end with people killing one another on the streets. Alberta has become incredibly violent and dangerous … Continue reading →

An annual weekend to be creative and imaginative. A time for love, sacrifice, rebirth, and treats!