Author Archives: ksedinger

National Poetry Month, day 27: A Lesson from Mr. McLeod on “slipping the surly bonds of Earth”

I suppose there’s an entire genre that can be summed up as “Young person meets the teacher who unlocks their potential”. It’s a type of story that I’ve always warmed to, from Luke Skywalker seeking the wisdom of Ben Kenobi … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month AND Tone Poem Tuesday: Messrs Meredith and Vaughan Williams

Back in my high school years, I was able to attend a performance of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo. There were three works on the program. I don’t recall the first, sadly, and I … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, Day 25: A Library is…

In honor of yesterday’s anniversary of the establishment of the Library of Congress, a poem about libraries by Nikki Giovanni. A LIBRARY (for Kelli Martin) a Library Is: a place to be free to be in space to be in … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day 24: The Bard of Stratford-on-Avon

William Shakespeare was supposedly born right around this day: his actual date of birth is not known, but his baptism date is. Shakespeare was baptized April 26, 1564–if in fact that is his real name!!! Um, sorry about that. We’ve … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day 23: Raging against the dying of the light….

One of the pieces we played in the concert band in my first year of college was a piece by Elliot Del Borgo, called Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. It was a dramatic work, sometimes atonal, with a … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day 22: when I first started getting it

In 8th grade, I was skeptical about all the stuff my English teachers the last few years had been saying about things like meaning and symbolism and all the rest of it. I would read a work, be it a … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day 21: Nine hundred years and half a world ago….

One of my favorite collections is An Anthology of World Poetry, edited by Mark Van Doren, a poet and scholar who lived in the 20th century. Van Doren’s collection is an extensive gathering of poems in translation from all over the … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday

I really hate to play the “[thing] was so much more [quality] back in my day!” game, but…damn, folks, sexy songs were so much sexier back in my day!” I heard this song on Sirius yesterday and I’m telling you, this thing is … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day 20: Poetry in the face of awful events

Poetry, like all art, must reflect and address all matters within the mess we call The Human Condition, which means that poetry can’t only be focused on positive matters or on beauty. Poetry must also look unflinchingly at the awfullest … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day 19, and Tone Poem Tuesday: Mr. Poe and Maestro Schmitt

Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite poets and always has been. In fact, his work partially provides inspiration for my John Lazarus novels; the plan is that each book in this series alludes to Poe or makes reference … Continue reading

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