Author Archives: jackpelham

What vanity it isTo bear either conceitOr shameOver the deedsOf one’s ancestors,As if we had done those deeds ourselves.

James wrote this in 2016, at 13 years old—for Father’s Day, I suppose. I had forgotten about it until it came up in my FB memories. He comments on some things I had done quite on purpose. Glad it worked … Continue reading →

Perhaps no one can appreciateAs much as you doThe great effort you have expendedIn providing a non-answerTo the question.

It’s getting so oldThat it’s almost not funny anymore—That error by which we take Him literallyWhen He was speaking figuratively,Or vice versa—

There is surviving the injury itself,And there is surviving Whatever one tells oneself about it.

I simply must rememberThat he who sounds like a jerkMay simply be a poor communicator.

It’s stupid, you say,To start working a puzzleBefore you’ve got all its piecesLaid out on the table.

I saw a snake—Quite a large one, actually—And some days afterward,When most of the excitement had subsided,I realized in my quieter momentsThat I had begun to feel as if,By appearing to me unannounced as it had,The thing had done me … Continue reading →

Ask a few questions in a single post (in a topical discussion group) and observe how the average joe responds. See how often it happens that he answers one question and doesn’t touch the others—and makes no mention of why … Continue reading →

We look back in disbeliefAt the horror of the sins and errorsOf a generation past,Shaking our heads At how anybody could haveBeen involved in that,And glad that we know better ourselves. But surely our generationHas its own sins and errors,And … Continue reading →