We’re a month away from Valentine’s Day, but it’s never too early to share some of the most beautiful love poetry ever written. Admittedly, the love poem I quote the most is Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” followed closely by Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Sonnet 43,” and who can speak of love poetry without noting that profound 27thContinue reading “#LovePoems: e. e. cummings”
Author Archives: thedeepened
An Epiphany: Brokenness Turned Kaleidoscopic!
Though it may seem odd to some to return to the stable on Epiphany, it’s the culmination of the celebration of Christmas, and, personally this year, a reminder of my late mother who passed away five years ago on New Year’s Day. According to NationalToday.com: “Epiphany is a Christian feast day celebrating the revelation ofContinue reading “An Epiphany: Brokenness Turned Kaleidoscopic!”
Hey Scrooge! Imagining The Beatles Christmas Carol
What if John, Paul, George, and Ringo provided the soundtrack for a musical revival of Charles Dickens’s immortal A Christmas Carol? Thanks to The Muppets, we already have at least one spectacular musical version of Dickens’s classic, and I’ve even seen one staged in Pittsburgh. But as I wrapped up our study of the novellaContinue reading “Hey Scrooge! Imagining The Beatles Christmas Carol”
Coming Home
Christmas reminds me just how much I’m not at home. Strangers now own the house where I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Five years ago, my parents sold it and moved to central Pennsylvania to live closer to my sister. Shortly thereafter my mother passed away. As much as I enjoy visiting my family thereContinue reading “Coming Home”
Seeing My Way to Rest
As I hinted in my last post, I had an unforeseen trip to the optometrist last Wednesday. What I initially thought was a pernicious eyelash playing hide-and-seek beneath my eyelid ended up being a two-day ordeal that led to the removal of a minuscule calcification that had been abrading my cornea. And though I can’tContinue reading “Seeing My Way to Rest”
Living Wisdom
My first encounter with Malcolm Guite came when he visited Grove City College years ago. A poet-priest-musician, my heart echoed with his song. Though I did not get up to the chapel to see him face-to-face, multiple friends of the family brought me excerpts of his work. Years later, we now own multiple collections authoredContinue reading “Living Wisdom”
First Things First
We’ve begun Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol in British Literature, and as we plumb the depths of Ebeneezer Scrooge’s character, I am reminded of how easily we can be distracted from the things that are truly most important in life. Indirect characterization often speaks louder than any direct statement made about one’s character. Watch howContinue reading “First Things First”
The Bonsai & Family Tree
At the end of the summer, I bought a bonsai tree. I planned to bring it to school to enrich the ambiance of my classroom (so much wall-to-wall gray!). For a few weeks, it served as the unique centerpiece of our kitchen table. With all of the light in the observatory (our dining/living room area),Continue reading “The Bonsai & Family Tree”
Welcome, First Snowfall!
Last Sunday brought the first true snowfall to our region of Western Pennsylvania. I came outside to find my younger sons flitting about the driveway, mouths open wide, chasing the elusive snowflakes. In all honesty, they didn’t have to try that hard. The air was aflutter with crystalline moths; our tongues, the warm branches uponContinue reading “Welcome, First Snowfall!”
Longing for Innisfree
For weeks now, there has been silence – the stationary pen that only marks the page of my journal when I nod off in bed. Some call it writer’s block; I call it “the dehydrated soul groping about in desert landscapes.” I feel like one of T. S. Eliot’s hollow men. I am a driedContinue reading “Longing for Innisfree”
the deepening ground 