FEAST OR FAMINE

Omi, with laughter deep as roots,   hands cradling the swollen bulbs of kohlrabi,   you stood in your Berlin garden,   woven into the earth like the trees that knew your name.     The sun stitched golden threads through your curls,   wrinkles unfolding in joy,   a face etched with seasons of giving,   harvests of care, always enough, always more.     You, who whispered to seedlings,   sang lullabies to the wind,   and taught love through the simple grace   of soil beneath fingernails.     I still hear you in the rustle of leaves,   feel your warmth in the scent of cut herbs,   your hands still guide me—   soft, unseen, yet certain.     Omi, your garden still grows in me,   your wisdom, your kindness, your quiet strength.   And when I stand beneath the sky,   I know—   yo...

  Owen, 21 March 2024: 2 days old

  Tamar Zhghenti and I are  releasing our second Podcast in our    new series   on literary book reviews  called  TRIPLE TREAT BOOK CHAT.   We created the Podcast TRIPLE TREAT BOOK CHAT to present , in 20-30 minutes,   a  review  of  3 contemporary books under one theme. For our  second  Podcast, the theme is  Father and Son.    The TRIPLE TREAT BOOK CHAT Podcast include s  a literary review of each of the 3 contemporary books, an author bio, and a short excerpt  from each book .   The  Podcast follow s  a theme with a triple format: 3 contemporary books, 3 bios, 3 reviews, 3 excerpts, 3 questions, 3 answers, and 1 classic literary book. Voila!   Episode 2: Father and Son In this 20-minute Podcast, Tamar and I chat about contemporary books related to Father and Son. We’ve chosen books by Swedish author Patrik Svensson, French author Richard Morgieve, and Nigerian author Chi...

  Broken Glass: A Young Girl Named Ginger – sex, drugs and gambling on love in today’s Cambodia by Utara Norng (2010) is set in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, from 1975 to the 2000s.   It is based on the true story of a mother and daughter, narrated by each of them alternately. Both of them are known to the author Utara Norng, and remain anonymous.    Both women are survivors. Mother Malis is a survivor of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979: the three years, eight months and 20 days that changed the country. Sixteen-year-old daugther Ginger is a survivor of the late 1990s and 2000s when gangs and guns ruled Phnom Penh.    Of her children, Malis says Ginger is the smartest and strangest. They disagree, argue, and fight. In a world where Malis fought to survive, she chose life. It seems that her bar-working, modeling (or sex working) daughter is associating with the wrong crowd and choosing to spiral downwards to addiction, crime, abortions, ...

  Deep Down Curious: Stories and Poems  by Michael Barnett (2000) is a collection of six short stories and six poems, written over a period of nine years, mainly set around the author’s home state of Texas in America.    I like the The Weeping Willow. Keelie has two brothers: 16-year-old Lanny and 13-year old Keith.  They have a tree house in a willow tree ‘older than the Rock of Ages’ on the bank of a pond where they go fishing: ‘In the tree house, things made more sense.’ But something ‘deep down curious’ happened on this day.   Gentle Cycle Cold Separate is a story about Valerie and the male narrator. They had argued the day before, over international politics, and Valerie arranged for them to meet over breakfast. He arrives. He waits. ‘Changing the time thing: that’s what brought this on.’    There is also the story The Zen of Conductivity and Resilience.    The stories and poems combine both urban and rural living, especially f...