A few more poems about how my life is going since I moved. And I'm happy to say the final boxes have been unpacked, the stuff has been all put away, and the last piece of furniture - a chair and ottoman - has been recovered and moved in. Now I have no more excuses for not getting my writing work done. I’ve been stalling Lallygagging over breakfast Reading the next Old New Yorker From my pile, Reading the news, Taking the trash out, Filing away last month’s Journal entries into My secret folder. Finally here I am Writing my daily Ten-minute poem Which stinks, by the way. And is much too short And void of meaning Or details. But still I keep my fingers moving The advice I got early on When I didn’t have An idea in my head To write about. I must be getting religious I bought a kosher Mezuzah scroll To fill the empty Mezuzah We bought in Israel. I never knew it was missing We just put it up in our old house Thinking it was a blessing. So I found the scroll on … [Read more...]
Yes, I have to weigh in on the most recent celebrity suicides
I’ve been grappling with the two suicide deaths by famous people last week – Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. Both successful and productive. Both seemingly having no reasons to end their lives. So what made them do it? I’ve heard that Spade was suffering from depression and was getting help. I've recently learned that Bourdain also had bouts of depression, and that in his early days he had drug and alcohol problems. Needless to say, they both had their demons. However, they say it isn’t only mental illness – it could be what’s going on in our world, including poverty, homelessness and unemployment or stress on the job – that trigger suicide. In a recent "New Yorker" article, Andrew Solomon states: "There is another factor that should not be underestimated. On a national stage, we’ve seen an embrace of prejudice and intolerance, and that affects the mood of all citizens. My psychoanalyst said that he had never before had every one of his patients discuss national politics … [Read more...]
