One of the things I have learned about myself in the last year or so is that I can sometimes … More
Category: Life Lessons
Advent meditation
I like to think of myself as a pretty consistent person. I look askance with a certain smugness at the … More
Not much
What’s been happening? Well, not much. Which is another, deflecting, way of saying quite a lot, actually. So much that … More
The blanket
Though you may disappear, you’re not forgotten hereAnd I will say to you, I will do what I can do … More
Standing up to cancer?
I am not completely stupid. I know celebrity culture is here to stay. As my children frequently remind me, ‘It … More
A day he won’t have
I had bumped into a friend at the cash machine. We greeted each other, as we always do, with a … More
Be kind
Be Kind Not merely because Henry James saidthere were but four rules of life—be kind be kind be kind be … More
You’ve got to write it all down
The unexamined life’s no different from … More
The Thing Is
The Thing Is to love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you’ve held dearcrumbles … More
When I am Asked
When I am Asked When I am asked how I began writing poems, I talk about the indifference of nature. … More
Open letter to Arthur Frank (on reading At the Will of the Body)
Dear Arthur Frank I’m writing to say thank you for your extraordinary book At the Will of the Body. It is … More
The fear of poetry -by Muriel Rukeyser
The Fear of Poetry In this moment when we facehorizons and conflicts widerthan ever before, we want our resources,the ways … More
Lifesaving Poems: Sean O’Brien’s ‘Before’
To safe and almost universal silence I published How Far From Here is Home? (Stride) a few days before Christmas in … More
Courage
Courage It is in the small things we see it. The child’s first step, as awesome as an earthquake. … More
We never keep to the present
We never keep to the present. We recall the past; we anticipate the future as if we found … More
Living in the layers
The Layers I have walked through many lives, some of them my own, and I am not who I … More
On the Edge
On the Edge After your mother dies, you will learn to live on the edge of life, to brace … More
A quiet moment
I can’t be alone in experiencing the coronavirus crisis and resulting lockdown as something of an infringement on my … More