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Michael Simms
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Blog posts including essays by author Michael Simms.
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Michael Simms
- Jul 10, 2023
- 2 min
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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Michael Simms
- Jul 1, 2021
- 5 min
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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Michael Simms
- Mar 14, 2021
- 8 min
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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Michael Simms
- Feb 28, 2021
- 3 min
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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Michael Simms
- Nov 28, 2020
- 5 min
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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Michael Simms
- Sep 26, 2020
- 5 min
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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Michael Simms
- Jul 25, 2020
- 4 min
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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Michael Simms
- Jun 27, 2020
- 4 min
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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Michael Simms
- May 10, 2020
- 5 min
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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Michael Simms
- May 9, 2020
- 2 min
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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Michael Simms
- Jan 24, 2020
- 6 min
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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Michael Simms
- Aug 25, 2019
- 6 min
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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Michael Simms
- Aug 11, 2019
- 7 min
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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Michael Simms
- Feb 24, 2018
- 5 min
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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Michael Simms
- May 1, 2017
- 7 min
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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Michael Simms
- Jun 15, 2016
- 4 min
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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Michael Simms
- Feb 6, 2016
- 5 min
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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