The Chapbook — Midnight

I like when we are in bed
and I kneel behind you
and look out the window
at your dress
gold and stretched on ocean waves.

Song of the Rain in Three Notes

High, low,
high,
lower,
the rain falls
singing in the trees.
Drink deep
for tomorrow may be dry.

Life is Art for Chicago Artist Erick Roho Garcia

He has painted everyone from Edgar Allan Poe, Bob Marley, Frida Kahlo and Derrick Rose in bright colors on canvases larger than the lives his subjects have led. He is Erick Roho Garcia and this talented Chicago artist lives by the credo that "life is art."

Roho's art has been turning up in galleries and street corners throughout the city drawing on cultural influences that stretch from Mexico to the South Side. A Diego Rivera for the 21st century, we recently put Roho behind the proverbial eight-ball and had him answer eight questions as to what motivates his art...and his life — since they are one-and-the-same to him.

Library Walk: William Carlos Williams

Happy Birthday William Carlos Williams! Born September 17, 1883.

The William Carlos Williams poem, Poem is one of the few poems on Library Walk that is cast in its entirety. Available in The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams: 1939-1962, Williams compares the life-cycle of a rose to the life-cycle of man and the importance of poetry in capturing those moments thereby rendering them immortal.

He does all that in 27 words!

The Chapbook — Poem For My Brother

In the Fall, oak leaves blew as we
in the courtyard of the Art Institute.
It was afternoon now,
and my brother drew in charcoal.

In the morning we had flittered in the galleries,
and lighted on a van Gogh,
and pecked Vincent’s chairs of straw.

Empty Plate

I could tell you
that I'm fine;
that my smiles have meaning
and I live life with meaning
as well,
but I'd be lying if I told you
that that were
true.

On The Road in Missouri: The Stranger Within Our Gates

We wanted to clear St. Louis having left Chicago too late in the day to make it straight through to Texas. Driving down the I-44 our eyes were peeled in the diminishing light for a roadside sign that would point us to a cheap sleep. Well, we found that sign and our budget lodging in Nowhere, Missouri but what we weren't expecting was another sign.

This sign was framed and hung on the back of our motel room door in St. Clair, Missouri. Was it a sign from God?

W.H. Auden's 9-11 Poem...Written in 1939

As we  remember the horrific events of September 11, 2001 we remember a poem. In the aftermath of 9/11 people turned to poetry to express their anger, their grief, their disbelief at the madness of it all. One of the poems that people turned to in those uncertain times was a poem written by W. H. Auden. The poem was written in September...1939.

The poem, September 1, 1939, marks the onset of World War II and first appeared in The New Republic the following month and in book form in Auden's 1940 collection of poems, Another Time. The poem echoes the W.B. Yeats poem from another war, Easter, 1916 that brings to life the Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland. Auden's poem earned the poet acclaim, especially for the line, "We must love one another or die."

First Lines Second Thoughts — Ian Fleming's Goldfinger

First Lines Second Thoughts is a look at the first lines of well known literary works. On second thought, do these opening words stand alone as poetry? Today, in honor of National Bourbon Heritage Month we look at literature's most famous spy. James Bond.

What? You thought Bond only drank vodka martinis. Not in Ian Fleming's seventh Bond book — Goldfinger. Published in 1959.

She Ain't Like the Rest

The heavens open
and allow me to view
inside the dream,
the dream that can only be seen
by staring through the gateways
encasing the soul of a queen.

Following Dreams

We were meant to dream.
It´s in our nature.
To hope, to wonder if,
to pursue.
Our dreams give our lives meaning,
our reason to be,
and yet,
there is a price,
they are not given for free.

Pauvre Hobo — The Tale of a Cajun Song

Hobo art from the Hobo Museum in Britt, Iowa.

Ca me fait de la peine de me voir
Mais comme un pauvre hobo.
Plus personne pour m’aimer,
Plus personne pour me soigner.

Ca me fait la peine de me voir
Mais comme un pauvre hobo.
Plus d’argent, plus de souliers,
Mais comment moi je vas faire ?

Back to School — MOMA Offers Online Art Courses

Does the beginning of another school year make you fondly recall your favorite subject?

If your favorite subject was art then New York City's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) may rekindle that passion with seven available online courses. Ranging from multi-media creations, experimenting with collage, through to modern and contemporary art, MOMA courses will allow you to connect with fellow art lovers on an inspiring journey while learning at your own pace.

The Chapbook — I Wander the Beach Sometimes

I wander the beach sometimes where men stand with pants rolled,
fishing for shark. And I think I can find you in the wandering night
and set you close and kiss and, as we close our eyes,
make another universe in our private dark. And the sheets
will be like the linens dry upon the air and folded in the light when the
hurricane has gone away. You make words as I do. Make them into wings as I
will and meet me now.