John Samuel Tieman: Remembering Daniel Berrigan
In 1995, the literary magazine River Styx invited Daniel Berrigan to St. Louis for the 2nd Annual Thomas Merton Commemoration. A three day weekend filled with this poetry, that speech, and … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Tuesday
You think of Sigmund Freud. You have a little bust of him on your desk, one you bought at the Freud home when you and your wife were in Vienna. … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Then
nothing goes away in the darkness you can hear light finding its way – and if one night, sitting in an airplane, quiet but for the whine of an engine, … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Basho in Love
when Basho forgot a word, he did not forget to stare at her skin It was only in his old age that The Master, invited to a neighbor’s home for … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Sanders, My Dad, And The Last Hurrah
I am on my way to vote in the Missouri Primary. I’ll cast my ballot for Bernie Sanders. I’ll cast my vote, and, in a sense, I’ll also cast my … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Translating Texan In St. Louis
The Texas primary is held today. I know what’s coming. A lot of friends will ask, with the best of intentions, questions that begin, “John, you lived in Texas. Why … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: A First Draft
a cloudburst but not a cloud – you always wonder about the sources of your words – which came first – I you we When you look up from your … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: a pilgrim’s hymn
the myth of the hermit monk speaking either strange tongues or none becomes your story you coming home after years to clean the house and build a fire to use … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: A Benediction
Who would have guessed, feeling the ancient river as I board the ferry, that the Mississippi flows slower than my veins? Who would have thought a pulse could flow downstream? … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: For Thine Is The Kingdom
after a confession and The Stations Of The Cross after the Mass and the benediction after the deli for breakfast and the Sunday stroll home after these two make love … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Socialism is good for business
In a recent Democratic presidential debate, Anderson Cooper mentioned, when questioning Bernie Sanders, that about 50% of all Americans said they would never vote for a democratic socialist. I rejoiced. … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Down Home St. Louis
In a few hours, I’ll have to go the university’s extension in southern Illinois. I have to leave before four, to beat the early traffic across the bridge. (One bridge … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Poem
October and the days grow slowly shorter the leaves drop and you light a fire in silence there’s a rumor the power will fail every now and then so you … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: Analyst
first thing this morning the kitchen table her short black hair mostly combed her Sunday Times open to something she sets aside . she makes notes about desire and the … Continue reading
