Kurt Vonnegut’s death last night will bring much analysis of his contribution to American literature and culture in the past half century, and much-deserved praise (see WaPo‘s Achenblog). I’m grateful he gave up chemistry for literature, that his work escaped the science-fiction ghetto, and that he once travelled the streets of my adopted hometown, Schenectady, New York (where he located the 1951 novel Player Piano, his first book). In a post in January 2006, we discussed Vonnegut’s last book, A Man Without a Country (Seven Stories Press, Sept. 2005). Here’s a favorite quote from that slim volume, which echoes a frequent theme at f/k/a [e.g., here, here, there, and here]
” . . . vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. “Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break.” (at 98)
new paperback —
the sun sets
without me
alone —
hugging
warm laundry
Please
Tell President Bush to take definitive action
now to stop the massacre and genocide in Darfur. He can and must act to: Strengthen the understaffed and overwhelmed African Union peackeeping force already in Darfur; Push for the deployment of a strong UN peacekeeping force; Increase humanitarian aid and ensure access for aid delivery; Establish a no-fly zone. If ever the world’s sole superpower should be considering unilateral action, it is now on behalf of the suffering people of Darfur. See MiaFarrow.org for
Ten Things You Can Do Right Now. It is scandalous that the world hasn’t found a solution to Darfur. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on June 7,
2004 (quoted in a prior
post), “What is happening in Darfur? Let us not say we did not know. . . . They are our sisters and brothers. Let us act now before it is too late.”
water striders
I roll my pants
a little higher
new year’s eve
he sops up gravy
with a heel of bread
…………………………………… by
Carolyn Hall – Frogpond XXX:1 (Winter 2007)