Author Archives: billwednesdayblog

Uncles. Uncle A kept things neat and clean. Uncle H sold newspapers and smoked cigars. Uncle J liked Big Band music. Uncle V enjoyed day-to-day living. Poem of the Week. May Swenson, “Mornings Innocent” I wear your smile upon my … Continue reading →

Three Men and What They Like. Mr. C. likes the operas of Wagner. Mr. S. likes to stay up late at night. Mr. T. enjoys a good cigar from time to time. Poem of the Week. Ezra Pound, “The River … Continue reading →

Three Young Women and What They Said. Miss E. said, “Let’s put that on our list of things to do.” Miss S. said, “You can’t prove it by me.” Miss T. said, “If you have a pot of any kind, … Continue reading →

Poem of the Week. Mark Doty, “The Embrace” [Mark Doty is my favorite contemporary poet. This poem, from the collection Sweet Machine (1998), witnesses a love that transcends death.] You weren’t well or really ill yet either; / just a … Continue reading →

Poem of the Week. Donald Justice, “Variations for Two Pianos” (for Thomas Higgins, pianist) There is no music now in all Arkansas. / Higgins is gone, taking both his pianos. Movers dismantled the instruments, away / Sped the vans. The … Continue reading →

A Walk on New Year’s Day. It is warm. I need only a light jacket. I walk down Magnolia Street to a stand of woods about fifteen minutes away. For the first five minutes or so of the walk, I … Continue reading →

Favorite Books of the Year. This year I read 92 books: 3 books of poetry, 5 plays, 1 book of scripture, 36 works of nonfiction, and 47 works of fiction. I looked over my reading journal and chose the five … Continue reading →

Happy Winter Solstice! Today is the first day of winter, which marks the beginning of the light half of the year. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2022 and 2023, today we have 9 hours and 8 minutes of daylight. … Continue reading →

Seasonal Music in Stores, Restaurants and on the Radio. So far this Christmas season I’ve not heard “The Little Drummer Boy,” a song I do not like, that and its partner in repetitive inanity, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” … Continue reading →

Poem of the Week. Carl Sandburg, Splinter. (Read the poem aloud. Pay attention to the short “i” sounds in the last line: “It” “is” “thin” “splinter” “singing’. Hear the cricket? For another view of the cricket and its music, read … Continue reading →