Monthly Archives: August 2016

Wednesday  August 31  –  “A little faith will see you through” For this last day of August,  here’s a short Garrison Keillor poem, crackling with wit, the trenchant, sour sort woven into the playful, kind and wise.  A mid-week break … Continue reading →

Monday, August 29   “Young as she is, the stuff Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy: I wish her a lucky passage.” Students moved into our residence halls these past two days  —  muggy … Continue reading →

Friday –  August 26 —  Freshmen Convocation, turning toward the working year The university’s formal gathering of first year students, in Calihan Hall, home of our athletic teams, locker and training rooms most days.  But this morning the hall makes … Continue reading →

Wednesday  August 24 –  “to face in the wind’s teeth” Yesterday, new freshmen arrived in the residence halls; lots of parents came, too, to help haul the stuff of residence hall life — refrigerators, sound systems, soap and toothpaste — setting … Continue reading →

Monday, August 22 We had a new faculty half day retreat this morning — a fine conversation about the identity of their new university;  we ended with lunch in the Jesuit courtyard. That’s why today’s post is tardy.   Last … Continue reading →

Maggie Smith’s poem “Good Bones” went viral around the world in the days and weeks after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub.  I am not certain why; neither is she.  And yet, it seemed to me like all that could … Continue reading →

Does poetry matter in the face of violence or suffering? Can words arranged on a page or spoken alter the facts of war or terror, racism, poverty? W. H. Auden, famously, said, “poetry makes nothing happen.”  And yet he wrote … Continue reading →

Does poetry matter in the face of violence or suffering? Can words arranged on a page or spoken alter the facts of war or terror, racism, poverty? W. H. Auden, famously, said, “poetry makes nothing happen.”  And yet he wrote … Continue reading →

Thursday, August 11 from Santa Clara, CA Hi, This California morning welcomes in a third and last day where I am helping to welcome back some Santa Clara U undergrads just back from 8 weeks, some in India, some and … Continue reading →

Monday, August 8   “over and over announcing your place in the family of things.” Yesterday, I was catching up with an old friend after too long a hiatus.  I tracked his email address and found a batch of emails. … Continue reading →