They’re trying to kill us, and cis people still want to quiz me about gender theory. Dear cisgender friends and allies: I’m glad you value our relationship enough to be honest about what’s challenging for you. I’m glad you see that I’ve changed significantly in the past four years. If gender matters to me, of
Happy June, a/k/a Queer Pride Month! Which begs the question…is there a Queer Lust Month? Queer Sloth Month? I need some rest. I have finished both seasons of the “Animaniacs” reboot on Hulu, and I am convinced that Pinky and the Brain are a T4T asexual couple. The Tumblr site wakkoswish delves deeper into “The
June Links Roundup: Six Dildos, Infinite Guns Read More »
I left Christianity because… …the people who took its mystical, supernatural, and personal transformation aspects most seriously are the people currently turning our country into a fascist theocracy. …the paradigm of redemptive sacrifice of the innocent was counterproductive to my healing as a child abuse survivor. …I couldn’t keep fighting for space for my bodily
The Reactionary Pull of Sacred Texts Read More »
I had a whole list of links to recommend this month, and then Politico broke the story today about the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that seems likely to overturn Roe v. Wade. As feminist journalist Jude Doyle lays out in chilling detail in “We Have Entered the ‘Anti-Gender’ Endgame” at Medium, the Court’s proposed
May Links Roundup: Courting Fascism Read More »
Suzanne Ondrus is a poet and literary scholar whose work explores cultural exchange and understanding, intimacy, oppression, and history. Her poetry book Passion Seeds, about love and longing long distance between an American woman and a Burkina Faso man, won the 2013 Vernice Quebodeaux Prize from Little Red Tree Publishing. Suzanne has taught writing and
Two Poems from Suzanne Ondrus’s “Passion Seeds” Read More »
Israeli poet and painter Helen Bar-Lev was born in New York in 1942. She has held over 90 exhibitions of her landscape paintings and published eight illustrated poetry collections. She kindly permitted me to reprint the poem below, inspired by Russia’s war against Ukraine. It was first published in ESRA Magazine. The Wrong Tree Look
Poetry by Helen Bar-Lev: “The Wrong Tree” Read More »
Happy April Fool’s Day to the readers of this increasingly sporadic blog. I pranked my son this morning by telling him that the Nutella company was going out of business. We both love to eat this sugary spread for breakfast (him without benefit of spoon). Never fear, the nut supply is still abundant. For genuine
April Links Roundup: And the Real (Estate) Monster Was… Read More »
Happy March–the month when, theoretically, spring will arrive, even in New England. As they say, if you don’t like the weather, wait a day. As changeable, too, are the fortunes of books. This essay by Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), reprinted in Narrative Magazine, limns the author’s destiny in terms that are simultaneously humble, noble, and humorous.
March Links Roundup: The Transience and Greatness of Books Read More »
Time for some more hard-hitting poems about war and American manhood from my friend The Poet Spiel, a/k/a the artist Tom W. Taylor. Watch this space for news of our collaboration on my next poetry book! returnee: commandments 6 and 3 on his knees, in reverse of the sacred thou shalt commandments, first taken to
The Poet Spiel: “Returnee” Series Read More »
When the pandemic started, my spiritual guide Julian said to me, “We’re all going to die, darling–wear your good shoes.” (For more advice from an imaginary fashion photographer, read this book.) The sudden closeness of death and impermanence brought home to me that there may be no “later” that we’re saving our luxuries for. Or,
February Bonus Links: Go Ahead, Break That Dish Read More »