Don Yorty

In my words, September 2 – 8

… South Mountain, PA Sunday morning I was puzzled by an animal at a distance in the field. At first I thought it was a bird, not the usual crow, but a brown bird whose beak became a sliver of … Continue reading →

In my words, August 26 – September 1

2 Sep ’13

… It’s been muggy in the mountains; hot and always about to rain, the flies biting, stinging the legs. When the sun was out, I chased after the butterflies around the Rose of Sharon and the pond trying to catch … Continue reading →

Sonnet for Rosa Parks

27 Aug ’13

… Out of the ordinary there will come from time to time the good and very brave extraordinary, someone who can save us from our own damned selves and make us one humanity. Children take Rosa Parks for an example, … Continue reading →

In my words, August 19 – 25

26 Aug ’13

… Years ago when I was flush, I bought a bunch of passes to the Russian Baths on 10th Street. Cleaning through drawers, I found the card with one pass left. It’s been over seven years, but believe it or … Continue reading →

Shakespeare’s Sonnets 1 – 10

24 Aug ’13

… The texts for the following sonnets are taken from The Pelican Shakespeare and read by Simon Callow. Enjoy. … Sonnet 1 From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty’s rose might never die, But as the riper should … Continue reading →

In my words, August 12 – 18

18 Aug ’13

… Today, Sunday the 18th, looks overcast. Some large truck is hissing; the M9 bus goes by quieter disappearing as it heads toward Avenue C. I’m going to the gym in a minute and will work on this blog when … Continue reading →

In my words, August 5 – 11

11 Aug ’13

… … Yesterday on my way to catch the L to catch the C to get up to 96th Street and walk through Central Park with my friend Tom who was on his sixth day without a cigarette after forty-six … Continue reading →

In my words, July 29 – August 4

4 Aug ’13

… If you were going to teach English to someone who didn’t speak it, what would be the first thing you’d teach? There is a game I sometimes play with beginners, a kind of bingo with a die and some … Continue reading →

In my words, July 22 – 28

28 Jul ’13

… Today is refreshing and cool; no matter what else happens that is good. I wanted to go to a poetry reading on Governor’s Island this afternoon. In fact, last night I took a nice hot bath and shaved before … Continue reading →

The Beacons (Les Phares) by Charles Baudelaire

25 Jul ’13

… Les Phares Rubens, fleuve d’oubli, jardin de la paresse, Oreiller de chair fraîche où l’on ne peut aimer, Mais où la vie afflue et s’agite sans cesse, Comme l’air dans le ciel et la mer dans la mer; Léonard … Continue reading →

In my words, July 15 – 21

21 Jul ’13

… I recently came across a poem by Baudelaire I’d translated in my thirties; it had been lying on a shelf in the dark between closed pages all but forgotten, then there it was, and seemed to fit the weather, … Continue reading →

In my words, July 8 – 14

14 Jul ’13

……… It has just begun to rain, freshening the remains of the day. Cachito was glad to see me when I came home. I threw his toy mouse and he ran batting it down the hall, grabbing it in his … Continue reading →