A Saint Valentine’s Day Gift for my Daughter Who Lives Far Away
An agent of the federal government
May or may not deliver a package to you
Tomorrow, or not just one but maybe two
Or maybe one package at one time…
Morgana and the Well of the Wyrd
“What if I told you that you could be one of the greatest magicians in the history of Britain?” queried the madman.
“I’d say you were mad,” said Morgana, chuckled.
“I’ve seen it. You will go down in legend.”
Submissions Information Spring 2021: Acts of Charity- Spiritual Works of Mercy
The theme for the Spring 2021 issue is Spiritual Works of Mercy. These are: instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish the sinner, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses, comfort the afflicted, and pray for the living and the dead. We want to know – what do these ideas mean to you personally? How do you see them in your church, in your life and in the lives of others?
Read MoreWinter 2021: Acts of Mercy: Corporal Works of Mercy
Join us as we explore the Corporal Works of Mercy. In these pages you will learn what the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy are, how having an open-door policy effects a family, what it’s like to be in need and overlooked, and what prison looks like from the inside. You will also find non-fiction, poetry, book and media recommendations, and puzzles, as well as our various views on war in Controversy Corner. We can’t wait to hear what you think!
Read MoreKristin Hannah’s Winter Garden, Sort Of
James Lee mentioned that he really liked Kristin Hannah’s novels, which I pooh-poohed as chick-lit. He assured me that they are really good, and that with my love of Russian literature I would appreciate Winter Garden, parts of which are set in Leningrad…
Read MoreIf Your Life Were a Time Capsule
If your life were a time capsule of sorts
In what cornerstone would you brick in
Against a mysterious opening day
When someone in the future would open you up…
The Dark Valley
“Who will take us to the City of Pearls?” the little boy asked the little girl. “There is no one out here and we are much too small to defend ourselves.”
“The giant will take us.” The little girl said pointing to him.
A Saturday Morning In The Bookstore
Why are there now so many books of lists of ten things we must do before we die? Why not nine, or eleven? And why should pay someone for a list of experiences he says you and I must fulfill before we shuffle off what Shakespeare is pleased to call this mortal coil? Will my life be meaningless if I don’t jump out of an airplane over Scotland, see a famous statue in a Buddhist temple in Bangladesh, eat fried snake in Singapore, bicycle through Kenya, visit some snaky island off Honduras, or flush a certain Czarist toilet in St. Petersburg?
Read MoreThis Fog Won’t Last
Oh, no. The night is misty indeed, but the stars –
The stars still shine; be brave, and look for them.
Some Say This is the End
Some say this is the end of the Trump era
Some with glee
Some in mourning…
At No Time
“Coffee with Bob!” I muttered under my breath. “What was I thinking?” Bob isn’t just any guy. His bakery was my biggest competitor in town before I had to take the bakery gluten free, and also a person I’d known since I was five years old.
Read MoreKarens
I love me my Karens, good, sweet, and kind:
Junior high love-notes and school yard flirtations…
Tale Half Told Author Interview
Killarney: I did the writing, and I would give it to her to review, chapter by chapter. [To Margaret] Then I’d call you up, panicked, and say, “OMG this won’t work!” And you’d be like, “We worked this all out…”
Read MoreIreland
I’ve never seen the Emerald Isle
Nor walked where Patrick trod,
But I’ve heard tell of it’s great beauty
Formed special by the hand of God.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko Admires Himself
Recently I finished a book only half-remembered from my youth, Yevtushenko’s A Precocious Autobiography. I had no idea that a poet I had long admired was such a phony.
Read MoreStorm Heaven, if You Will
By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall (Rated G) In the midst of a world of light and love, of song and feast and dance, he could find nothing to think of more interesting than his own prestige. -C.S. Lewis, A Preface to Paradise Lost Storm Heaven with your selfless prayers, if you willBut not your […]
Read MoreChristmas Spirit
Where has the love gone, the magic that everyone associated with Christmas? Is it because we insist that the world should be devoid of the love that Jesus Christ brings in the manger, that it should be devoid of the wonder and magic that Santa Claus brings down every chimney?
Read MoreChristmas Joy
The lakes are frozen this time of year
The carolers are out, singing of joy and cheer…
A Covid Christmas
But first we celebrate the great world’s turning
With Advent and the holy Christmas time
With liturgies followed by the Yule log burning
Through feasting and cheer, and each well-sung rhyme
Midnight Mass Christmas Eve
All around lays a gentle silence, as if the world is holding its breath in anticipation of a momentous occasion. In sharp contrast to the silence, cold, and darkness is a church all aglow with the light of several candles as voices raise in joyous song. Jesus Christ has been born!
Read More
LogoSophia Magazine 