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Michael Simms
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Blog posts including essays by author Michael Simms.
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Strangers at the Door | Robert Gibb, Laure-Anne Bosselaar and Jose Padua
I’ve always loved poetry that has a clear voice, a strong reliance on craft, and a sense that a person is speaking about ideas or incidents
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Jul 10, 20232 min read


The Courage of Teachers
In 1987, students gathered in front of the admin building angry over the corruption of the university’s board. The crowd was getting...
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Jul 1, 20215 min read


The Trojan Women
Today on the Classic Cars website, I saw an ad for a fully restored 1965 GMC pickup with a hard-shell camper hood, and I thought of Henry
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Mar 14, 20218 min read


Harriet Powers: Quilt Maker
Folk artist and quilt maker Harriet Powers (1837-1910) was born into slavery outside Athens, Georgia. She was married at 18 and gave...
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Feb 28, 20213 min read


Blue Notes
From a neighbor’s window, I hear Billy Joel’s carpe diem Only the Good Die Young in which he tries to convince a good Catholic girl
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Nov 28, 20205 min read


A Few Thoughts from a Cowboy Vegan
I grew up in Texas beef country down the street from a world-famous barbecue stand. I didn’t become a vegan until I was 56 years old. I...
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Sep 26, 20205 min read


Praise the Poet
A writer without a reader is an empty thing, a thumb without a finger to oppose it, a traveler without a companion. I was appalled by the...
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Jul 25, 20204 min read


A Brief History Of Tree Hugging
The first known tree huggers were 294 men and 69 women belonging to the Bishnois branch of Hinduism, who, in 1730, died while trying to...
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Jun 27, 20204 min read


On my recent experience with Covid (maybe)
Yesterday afternoon when I got home from the hospital and booted my computer, I was overwhelmed by the thousands of people who sent me...
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May 10, 20205 min read


A True Story of How I Almost Became a Rock and Roll God (with special appearance by Iron Butterfly)
So there I was, jumping up and down on a king-sized bed in an expensive hotel in Miami Beach, drinking rum straight from the bottle. And...
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May 9, 20202 min read


Re-reading Christina Rossetti’s ‘In an Artist’s Studio’
In an Artist’s Studio One face looks out from all his canvases, One selfsame figure sits or walks or leans: We found her hidden just...
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Jan 24, 20206 min read


Dogsbody to the Muse
My work in the poetry field the last 40 years has been largely behind the scenes — editing, publishing, promoting, organizing, raising money
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Aug 25, 20196 min read


On the Spectrum with Garrison Keillor
I have a mild version of Asperger’s syndrome — also known as “high functioning autism.”
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Aug 11, 20197 min read


An Appreciation of the Poetry of Robert Gibb
Robert Gibb is a poet’s poet. By that phrase I mean that he’s widely admired among poets across the country, but virtually unknown to
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Feb 24, 20185 min read


A Short History of May Day
The origins of the world holiday known as May Day or International Workers Day. Originally a pagan holiday, the roots of the modern May...
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May 1, 20177 min read


The Apothecary in the Back Yard
In our garden of blueberry, elderberry, rose, zinnia, sage, oregano, and tomato, Eva and I have decided to reserve a corner that will be...
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Jun 15, 20164 min read


The Vagaries of Publishing Poetry on the Internet
Once again, a poet has emailed me, peeved that a poem of hers that appeared in Vox Populi is not anything like the version she sent me....
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Feb 6, 20165 min read
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