Mountains, Men, Mines and Minerals
We have just returned from six weeks in the Western Cape of South Africa and ten days exploring central Namibia, its neighbor to the north. While it is the people …
Mountain Mysteries
Much of South Africa lives in the shadow and the inspiration of mountains — Table Mountain, the Drakensberg, the Winterberge, and many more that lie between the oceans and the …
Titanic Revelations
Sometimes we don’t know where certain messages come from as we muse, fingering some words to give our intuitions substance. I think this poem comes from the haunting reverberations of …
The Question of All Saints
It is All Saints Day in the Church calendar here in the Latin West. We expand the horizon of our indebtedness to all those who have gone before and passed …
Lefkaritiki
When we returned from Cyprus we got out the old tablecloth my grandmother had bought there ninety years ago and admired its intricate lacework. It had new depth and meaning …
Turnings in Profile
I have been spending a lot of time lately reworking the poems in a collection I am calling Turnings. I have been sending it out, in various versions, to publishers …
Beginning Again
In the past year my wife, Sylvia, has pulled back from her big artistic projects and gone back to the piano, which took a back seat to her other pursuits …
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day has always been my favorite holiday, with its simple focus on a gathering of family, friends, and sometimes strangers for a feast to celebrate God’s abundance. Like the …
Tsunami Wings
The earthquake and tsunami that devastated Sendai, Japan, last March continues to reverberate in our minds and hearts, just as the painful task of recovery continues for the Japanese people. …
Finns at Folkmoot
Waynesville’s signature event is FolkmootUSA, a gathering of folk dancing groups from around the world to celebrate traditional dance and music as a way of promoting mutual understanding and appreciation …