By Joseph Ross We have come to the year’s last day, the end of 2010. Like any year in human history, 2010 brought us moments of rich joy and episodes of significant suffering. Whether we think of 2010 through the lens of the whole world or the lens of our own families and [...]
Archive for the ‘joseph ross’ Category
The Year’s Last Day
Posted in joseph ross on December 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Gratitude & Hope
Posted in joseph ross, tagged December Guest Blogger, gratitude, hope on December 30, 2010 | 2 Comments »
By Joseph Ross As 2010 comes to an end, I am brimming over with gratitude. I hope you are too. I have to admit, this December Guest Blogger gig has been great fun for me. I’m thrilled that the series on Hope enriched so many people. I am grateful to the poets [...]
The Future of This Country Belongs to Us
Posted in joseph ross, tagged hope, Melissa Tuckey on December 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
By Joseph Ross Poet and friend, Melissa Tuckey closes out our series on Hope. Melissa’s poetry has appeared in many journals and anthologies. Her chapbook Rope As Witness is awesome. She lives with her husband and the best dog in America in Ithaca, New York. THAT HOPEY CHANGEY THING I [...]
The Sky Is Not Falling
Posted in joseph ross, tagged Brian Gilmore, hope, no eulogy on December 27, 2010 | 4 Comments »
By Joseph Ross Brian Gilmore is an attorney, poet, journalist, and all-around clear thinker. In the excerpts below, from an essay of his, he tackles hope, Reagan, the social contract, and the election of 2010. This is a longer than normal posting but it’s well worth reading. Below, I have posted excerpts, so assume [...]
Of All Who Give Gifts: High School Seniors, Christmas, and O. Henry
Posted in joseph ross, tagged Christmas tradition, Gift of the Magi, high school students on December 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »
By Joseph Ross For many years, when I taught high school seniors, I had a Christmas tradition I kept on the day before Christmas break. The seniors, who were often annoyed that they had to come to school on a day when not much would happen, rambled into the classroom in their usual [...]
Kindness Creates Hope
Posted in joseph ross, tagged hope, kindness, Sarah Browning on December 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
By Joseph Ross Sarah Browning is a good friend, a strong poet, and a fierce activist in the D.C. poetry community. She founded D.C. Poets Against the War and the Split This Rock Poetry Festivals, which she directs. In this beautifully simple poem below, she shows hope in an unremarkable act of kindness. I [...]
Alan King on Hope
Posted in joseph ross, tagged Alan King, Anne Reis, Ellicott City, Fritz Perls, Homewood Center, Horizon Foundation, Howard County School District, Legacy Poetry Project, Passages, Tina Maddox, Truth Thomas on December 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
By Joseph Ross Continuing our series on hope, my friend and poet Alan King recounts experiences conducting a poetry workshop for troubled teens near Washington, D.C. Alan is a fine poet, as is Truth Thomas who conducts these workshops with him. Alan blogs at http://alanwking.wordpress.com and he is a terrific part of the D.C. [...]
On Niki Herd’s The Language of Shedding Skin
Posted in joseph ross, tagged MainStreetRag, Niki Herd, The Language of Shedding Skin on December 21, 2010 | 3 Comments »
By Joseph Ross A few nights ago, I heard the remarkable Niki Herd read her poetry. What a talented and fresh poet. She read mostly from her new book The Language of Shedding Skin. This book offers the reader poems that provoke and move. Her language is, at times conversational, then she [...]
How Has Literature Helped You Live Better?
Posted in joseph ross, tagged Damien High School, los angeles, loyola, marymount on December 18, 2010 | 2 Comments »
By Joseph Ross When I was a senior at Damien High School in La Verne California, I took an elective English class on Shakespeare. It was taught by Mrs. Carney in a basement typing classroom. I remember the room was always cold, at least by Southern California standards, and the desks were covered [...]
