Author Archives: sputterpub

Gifted Kids

Posted on October 4, 2011 by sputterpub

I was 44 when I drafted this sonnet, and my kids were 17 and 12. My interlocutor had sons age 11 and 4. Our biggest area of disagreement was parenting. My goal was to raise self-regulating individuals who could handle … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Leave a comment

What’s Right

Posted on October 3, 2011 by sputterpub

A couple of months ago, Danny got wise with me. He said, “It seems to me there are two ways of being right. One depends on remembering the correct answer and the other requires solving a problem. In my opinion, … Continue reading →

Posted in Question | Leave a comment

A Future Memory

Posted on September 30, 2011 by sputterpub

As cool as foliage, this morning feels, as sweet as cantaloupe and light as fern. I walk to downtown Berkeley and my heels don’t ache, my neck is loose; I do not yearn for anything beyond my limbered reach. Mature … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Weather | Leave a comment

Common Sense

Posted on September 29, 2011 by sputterpub

When you become a grownup at five, your big questions are different than the issues interesting to chronological adults. You wonder why the 30 other kids in your kindergarten class listen to the one teacher. (And as you age and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lessons | Leave a comment

Redundant Repetition

Posted on September 28, 2011 by sputterpub

Katie and I were conversing awhile ago about words that have taken on a pejorative tone even though they shouldn’t. “Critical” has come to suggest finding fault in something, and “judgment” is so tainted that exercising the ability, about other … Continue reading →

Posted in Language | Leave a comment

While Reading Ouspensky

Posted on September 27, 2011 by sputterpub

He gave a book to me to read him in, as if it were a key to see his heart, as if it were a magic talisman to treasure, that can wedge the rocks apart to plumb the reach of … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Leave a comment

Three Little Words

Posted on September 26, 2011 by sputterpub

I met with a tough-talking attorney some years ago. He interviewed me to determine whether he wanted my little firm to handle his retirement plan. We sat in his conference room and discussed where I’d been and my approach and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lessons | Leave a comment

Backtitled

Posted on September 23, 2011 by sputterpub

I watched a striving author try to write a novel once, a score of years ago, except his search for perfect title quite disabled him. His story wouldn’t grow until he had initiated it with words he mined, and screened, … Continue reading →

Posted in Lessons, Poetry, Writing | Leave a comment

Power

Posted on September 22, 2011 by sputterpub

I hated the powerlessness of childhood. My parents tried to determine what I ate and what I wore and when I slept, peed, or felt angry. At least one of them answered most of my why questions with that button-pushing … Continue reading →

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Pomes Away

Posted on September 21, 2011 by sputterpub

Someone told me recently that a pomegranate is really an apple bomb. I think that’s correct. In fact, the dictionary says the pomegranate (punica granatum) comes from the Latin words pomum (apple) and granatus (seeded). We’ve all seen pome before. … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Language | 2 Comments