v. anastasi
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Like many of these songs, I’ve wanted to avoid the obvious retelling of the classic mythological tales that these constellations represent, but I found this story so compelling that I chose to structure my stanzas around the four movements or seasons of the life of Orpheus. What stood out to me as the real takeaway…
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Ebullience: (noun) the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts or feelings : exuberance “Ebullience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ebullience. Accessed 21 May. 2023. Ebullience by Vincent H. Anastasi 2019 The baby chimpanzee: upside-down jester on its mother’s knee (mouth wide, tongue out) face of buffoonery, twisted strands of straw defying gravity dangle upward while…
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Either Wendell Berry and I share the same mother, or he just perfectly captured the power of forgiveness that many mothers exhibit. As I read this poem for the first time, I imagined myself as the speaker. Though not outwardly rebellious to my mother’s face, the boy I presented at home bore no likeness to…
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As the school year draws to a close, it admittedly becomes more challenging to plan engaging lessons to rein in the drifting minds of students who smell the fresh-cut grass and can only imagine the summer days stretching out before them. (Admittedly, I TOO feel the same way!) We always talk about the Three Rs…
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Sabbath Poem II (1995) by Wendell Berry The best reward in going to the woods Is being lost to other people, and Lost sometimes to myself. I’m at the end Of no bespeaking wire to spoil my goods; I send no letter back I do not bring. Whoever wants me now must hunt me down…
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Am I having a midlife crisis? After over two decades of teaching, I am spent. Over the past few months, I have begun to seriously question my role as an educator. The kind words of Wendell Berry, reminding me that “as a high school English teacher you are necessary, and I’m guessing with some confidence…
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Here’s one of those photos that immediately captures your attention with the “perfect” moment. I would have loved to had access to a series of photos taken before, during, and after this potentially bone-shattering encounter, but this Guardian Photo of the Day snapshot is enough to teach a valuable lesson. I may not understand “the…
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Originally posted on My Pastoral Ponderings: If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain … But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 1 Corinthians 15:14,20 I was pleasantly surprised to learn that “Seven Stanzas…
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Good Friday by Christina Rossetti Am I a stone, and not a sheep, That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross, To number drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss, And yet not weep? Not so those women loved Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee; Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly; Not so the…
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Unlike what you see above, perhaps the most recognizable constellation in the evening sky over Western Pennsylvania is Orion. His myth inspired the first in this series of constellation songs FIVE YEARS AGO! While his belt may be one of the easiest things to identify in the evening sky, both the lyrics and music for…
the deepening ground 