Author Archives: sputterpub

Taste

Posted on April 25, 2011 by sputterpub

   My memory bank contains some odd food entries. I’m sure I put small things in my mouth when I was a toddler, and I remember biting my fingernails and learning the pleasures of reading-and-eating when I was a child of … Continue reading →

Posted in Food | Leave a comment

Good Friday, Riding Westward

Posted on April 22, 2011 by sputterpub

    John Donne is one of my favorite poets. Most years I read his divine poem on Good Friday, and I send love to the close friends I have who are believers. I started this sonnet in 1998 and just … Continue reading →

Posted in Lessons, Poetry | 4 Comments

Empty Barrel

Posted on April 21, 2011 by sputterpub

   When I was 10 or 12 or so, my father said to me, “Empty barrels make the most noise.” I got the meaning from the context – we’d just listened to an egotist engage in bombast (although I didn’t know … Continue reading →

Posted in Lessons | 1 Comment

Pandemonium

Posted on April 20, 2011 by sputterpub

How can you not love that word? Pan-demon-ium = All hell breaking loose. Clearly and obviously. This should be the shortest entry I ever post. I think we think of it as a condition – pandemonium in the streets – … Continue reading →

Posted in Language | 1 Comment

Kid Prayers

Posted on April 19, 2011 by sputterpub

     My parents were not very observant, and although they always belonged to a temple my father expressed consistent distrust of organized religion. Even so, they taught me to pray. Or Mom did, anyway. She helped me memorize that childhood … Continue reading →

Posted in Kidspeak, Poetry | Leave a comment

Gauss

Posted on April 18, 2011 by sputterpub

  I’m not sure how old I was when I heard the anecdote about Carl Friedrich Gauss, but he was in primary school when the event occurred, and I recall admiring his cleverness and feeling a little humbled, so I … Continue reading →

Posted in Lessons, School | Leave a comment

Perspective

Posted on April 15, 2011 by sputterpub

   Today is traditional tax day. They’ve provided a little extension this year, as if tax returns were term papers, but April 15 is a time when it’s natural to contemplate our system. Usually I’m not negative. But sometimes I sink … Continue reading →

Posted in Lessons, Poetry | Leave a comment

Bad Idea

Posted on April 14, 2011 by sputterpub

     When I was around 14, I was in like with a girl named Jill. I admired her name, her thick cooperative dark blonde hair, the faint freckles on her face, her athletic medium-sized body. I liked her woodsy home … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Lessons | Leave a comment

Paraphernalia

Posted on April 13, 2011 by sputterpub

Usually it’s a thin device, to begin a piece with a dictionary definition. I remember receiving criticism for such a thing in high school assignments. So I’m impressed with the new Sprint ad on TV right now, featuring the CEO … Continue reading →

Posted in Language | 3 Comments

Eloi 1966

Posted on April 12, 2011 by sputterpub

     I found this in the old poetry folder. I was 16 when I wrote it. I was starting my senior year of high school. The Summer of Love would come right after graduation. I remember that I composed it … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | 2 Comments