Don Yorty

Fifteen Paintings of the Spring by Charles Burchfield

… Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) painted every season wearing a wide brimmed hat to keep the sun from making him squint. He wanted to see nature clearly, the dark with the light, knowing full well that he needed the darkness to … Continue reading →

Siblings

17 Apr ’16

… Here is my brother Scott and I. My mother gave me the photo, perhaps because I’m the oldest, but I don’t have any children so I’ve given it to Scott to pass along. It will go a lot farther … Continue reading →

Learning English: Main Verbs

9 Apr ’16

… To the English Learner: If you want to learn English, begin with the verbs. That is where the action is. This is true with any language, and very true with English because what makes English English are its helping … Continue reading →

Tennessee Williams reads The Broken Tower by Hart Crane

7 Apr ’16

… Written by Hart Crane earlier in the year of his death, and rejected by Poetry, The Broken Tower was printed in the New Republic soon after his suicide on April 27, 1932. Why did Hart Crane jump into the … Continue reading →

Tennessee Williams reads Eternity by Hart Crane

5 Apr ’16

… There is something about Eternity that has always played on my heart strings. It may be that I heard the poem first read by Tennessee Williams on an LP I’d bought, a Caedmon recording. It is one of the … Continue reading →

Branches and Clouds

28 Mar ’16

… I am walking in the woods. I took some pictures of treetops and clouds. Still on the phone, I am not sure if any of them are really good but it will give you an idea of the walk. … Continue reading →

On Climbing Up and Down a Mountain

25 Mar ’16

… Well, here I am on top of the mountain. Ready to walk down the mountain. And then I will walk back up again. You might think of it as easy first and hard second or you might think of … Continue reading →

Barbara Henning reads from A Day Like Today

13 Mar ’16

… Barbara Henning’s new book, A Day Like Today, is about a day among days, that one among many, meditative and observant. The cover is a drawing by the poet Cliff Fyman entitled Woman Walking on Avenue B. Barbara, who … Continue reading →

Sleep Vanishes

7 Mar ’16

… … Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto. A few swimmers appear in a huge whirlpool. —Vergil … When sleep vanishes then you swim. Awake is no island merely swift stroke and breath. The moon is not the sun’s skull … Continue reading →

On Grand Street, March 4, 2016

5 Mar ’16

… Went to Grand Street today to get a haircut ($5 + $2 tip = $7) at the Chinese barber. I saw the man who would be after me reading the newspaper. Mitt Romney was on the front page. He … Continue reading →

February, South Mountain, Sun and Fog, Remembered, Forgotten

29 Feb ’16

What a difference a day makes even at my father’s pond in the South Mountain, sunny one day, next day full of clouds. The beginning of the month, February 2 and 3. Who remembers those days now?

Bob Rosenthal reads Morning Poems

29 Feb ’16

… I am so happy that I finally got around to recording Bob Rosenthal reading Morning Poems, poems he had written when he was a senior at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the early 70s, poems jotted down … Continue reading →