I am, as I have noted repeatedly, an atheist – but you will have noticed, no doubt, that I am not one of the cliche snarky sneering contemptuous variety. The way the whole thing presents to my mind is different from many,
A fascinating study was conducted some years ago, which demonstrated that when people were being lied to, they experienced greater levels of stress, depression, paranoia and a host of other ill effects – even when they didn’t actually know for sure about
Here’s another reading from my poetry collection “Night Song for Cigar-Box Banjo” a piece with more conventional (that is, rhyming) form than usual for me – and a modern romantic take on some very old human themes. With so many things at
“Recess Only?” is the opening piece in my poetry collection “Night Song for Cigar-Box Banjo” and while the subjects and form of the other pieces range widely, it is still in a way also a natural overture. Readers will no doubt have
Photo credit: Nada Nesin I feel incredibly lucky to have so many artistic and creatively engaged friends – there is something quite wonderful about finding a reason to grapple with problems which one could just as easily ignore – and treasures are
Hello my friends! I’m delighted to announce that “Structural Happiness” is now available! This book (and the several volumes which are to follow) is the reason we created Large Ess Small Press in the first place, and we are very proud of
More than once, I have considered writing some version of “All I ever needed to know about Life…” (or politics, or philosophy, or even the revolution) “…I learned in retail.” Amazingly, we continue to act as if our “customer is always right”
Here’s one of a cluster of five poems that came to me all at once as a gift, a few days after finishing Ladinsky’s translation of “The Gift” by Hafiz (superb). It’s another one of those very small poems with a good
Caught a curious assortment of saplings, cut lumber, and many stages between those extremes the other day, which struck me as oddly suggestive of a useful meditation on humility and self awareness. It can be hard to talk about psychological realities nowadays,
About a hundred years later (top photo) Here’s a poem I wrote a couple of nights ago, that might appeal to my more environmentally and historically interested friends. I’ve seen more and more discussion of late about the question of whether we
Medicine gets a bad rap nowadays – thanks to a whole constellation of social changes, well outside it’s scope. The strangest of these is probably the way we have gone from a society with too much respect for arbitrary authority, to one
Your bookshelf is lonely (top photo) Night Song for Cigar-Box Banjo is a new collection of twenty-first century poetry, informed in spirit by compassion, in mind by a wide range of history, science, and psychology – and in form, by centuries of
“The beauty of everything will certainly kill me” (top photo) All paintings and photos in this piece – Courtesy of Tristram Pinney I have met a lot of interesting and beautiful people through Facebook, and as a long-time skeptic, I’m still regularly
This may come as a surprise to those who haven’t yet read my book, only the more personal and incidental poetry I’ve shared here so far – but the majority of my serious poems are very specifically purposeful. Weirdly-so, for modern poetry,
What a long heavy winter this has been. I know so many people who are feeling depleted and badly beaten-down. Made me think this poem might be just the thing with which to begin my read-aloud series. I do take great enjoyment
Hello friends, artists, fellow-travellers and various and sundry curious investigators – we are delighted today, to announce the inaugural book-release from Large Ess Small Press. – Yes, the mission-clock is at last, running! The official release-copy follows. Thanks sincerely for contributions, inspirations,
Photo credit: Nada Nesin (finally found it – thanks for a perfect image my friend!) I’m not an easy sell on sport or spectacle – happy to join-in and play, mind you, just haven’t ever got back into the league-following habit, since
Memory is a strange thing. How to use it creatively is even stranger – it’s definitely unpredictable stuff – never quite what you expect it to be, when you first start digging (though often as not, what you find is extra richness).
You’ve probably already noticed that I’m very interested in extending our awareness of the means of perception we all use, but tend not to examine. One reason for this is really simple – and it’s also why I’m constantly recommending Julian Jaynes’
My atheism is no secret – nor, frankly is the very sad proliferation of betrayals of principle by legions of those who self-proclaim spirituality. No figurehead, nor call to live only peace and love has ever been strong enough to convince even
A friend of mine mentioned Pythagoras recently – as a very powerful very early example of someone who was trying to extrapolate philosophical rigour, from mathematical clarity and principles. Better still, he didn’t just sit around thinking about stuff, like some nervous