Charles Davidson: Reflections on “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.” (the Movie and the Man)
Despite the film’s deficiencies, excesses, and flagrant exploitation by those willing to corrupt Bonhoeffer to their own sinister purposes, there is something to be said for the film’s implied warning about the rising tide of authoritarianism in America.
Chana Bloch: The New World
That’s the old country for you:
they ate with their hands, went hungry to bed,
slept in their stink. When pain knocked,
they opened the door.
Cecilia Zavala: Pardon Me | Ending the Stigma That Harms Generations
When we reduce people to their convictions, we fail to see their humanity, their potential, and the harm this judgment causes not just to them but to their families.
Charles Reznikoff: The lamps are burning in the synagogue
Let us begin then humbly. Not by asking:
Who is This you pray to? Name Him;
define Him. For the answer is:
we do not name Him.
Once out of a savage fear, perhaps;
now out of knowledge—of our ignorance.
Joseph Bathanti: High Mass
Winter Sundays,
when my father was on strike from steel,
he and my mother woke late,
then rose and prepared for high mass at Saints Peter and Paul.
Barbara Hamby: Ode to the ‘Messiah’, Thai Horror Movies, and Everything I Can’t Believe
When I decide to go to hear Handel’s Messiah in London
at the composer’s parish church, my husband says
he’d rather see a Thai horror movie, so we plan to meet later
at our favorite Moroccan lair
Baron Wormser: Striving with a God
In his best poems, something elemental is occurring – the clash between a lone life and the accrued verity of socialized watchfulness, the adages that are spoken without a second thought.
Derrick Z. Jackson: Republicans Line Up for the Real Scam on Renewable Energy
For all that President-elect Donald Trump trashed renewable energy on the stump, much of his ranting may very well become a murmur when he returns to the Oval Office.
Pablo Otavalo: Scorched Earth, Illinois
the bears never seemed to wander
far, they just milled around town, knocked down
a few garbage cans and waited to be brought back
to their pens
Abby Zimet: Deny, Defend, Depose: They Eat Off Your Family Member’s Grave
Exposing “the rotten core of American health care,” the shooting of United Health’s CEO/ mafia kingpin sparked a flash flood of long-simmering fury at the “legalized murder practiced by all … Continue reading
Sharine Taylor: The Transgressive Pleasure of Carnival
While tourists flock to Grenada for Carnival, lifelong residents are holding closely to Jab Jab, which symbolizes rebellion and liberation.
Richard Hoffman: Looking at Photos of Gaza | November, 2024
I am no longer bewildered by cruelty,
have not been speechless facing suffering,
but I have nothing now to say to anyone
to move them to change their minds.
Joy Gaines-Friedler: Guest Appearance
In the end, grenade pins sparkled in the desert sun
outside the packed then blown-to-pieces shelters,
miles of machine gunned cars,
(drivers plastered against glass & rubber),
babies killed in their cribs & bunk beds
Aru Shiney-Ajay: To Confront Trump and the Climate Crisis, Democrats Must Stand Up for Working People
Taking on corporate power and putting workers at the center of the party’s agenda is the best defense against the divide-and-conquer strategy of the populist right. That means backing policies … Continue reading
