In my last post, I reflected on my writing life and my body and the history between the two. At the end, I announced I was going on a bike…
Read moreThe Embodied Life of the Mind: A Brief Improvisation
Between the time I finished my first book and came to the serious drafting stage of my second (note: I’m in that phase right now), I learned something vital about…
Read morePoetic Faith 2016: Child Studies & Literacy
The first week of reading was intense, exciting—and random. I set a VERY ambitious goal for myself in trying to keep up my drafting of The Hymnal Before the Notes while…
Read morePoetic Faith, 2016 edition: Introduction
Last summer, I devised an imaginary seminar titled “Poetic Faith” to guide myself through a mass of readings on topics related broadly to my research. I’ve found myself drawing on…
Read more“You Will Live in Silence”: A Descent into Lent
This morning in Philadelphia, a light snow is falling over Mardi Gras. The rushers are still rushing, the panhandlers are still panhandling, the laughers are still laughing, and the honkers…
Read moreWord from Porter Street, #3 (new series): Brett Foster, pt. 2
This installment of The Word from Porter Street is the second and last part of my reading of the late Brett Foster’s poetry. Here’s the list of poems: “City Church…
Read moreWord from Porter Street #2 (new series): Brett Foster, pt. 1
This latest installment is the first part of a multi-installment tribute to the late Brett Foster, poet and Renaissance literature professor at Wheaton College, Illinois. I met Brett at a…
Read moreWord from Porter Street returns! 1st installment, new series
After a long hiatus, The Word from Porter Street is back! I’m starting a new series of the podcast, focused on the reading of poetry. I start this time with a…
Read moreVeterans’ Day: A Retrospective Across Space and Time
One of the great gifts of holidays is the call to remember. We can take or leave that call, just as we decide whether and how to observe holidays, but…
Read morePoetic Faith: Embodied Reading
The blog has been a bit quiet lately. The reading has been a bit less intense as well. This is because reading is not merely a mental activity. It is…
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